St. John’s upsets No. 1 Villanova
Red Storm has their best week in 33 years, when Chris Mullin was player, not coach.
St. John’s took down another of the nation’s elite, stunning No. 1 Villanova 7975 on Wednesday night at Philadelphia for its second victory over a top-five team this week and first over the top-ranked team in 33 years.
Shamorie Ponds scored 26 points for the Red Storm (12-13, 1-11 Big East Conference), which had their best week since Chris Mullin was a player and not the team’s coach.
Mullin helped St. John’s beat No. 1 Georgetown 66-65 on Jan. 26, 1985. And he was on the sideline exhorting the Red Storm in the final minutes against Villanova.
“These are huge wins,” Mullin said. “It’s a testament to their perseverance, unselfishness with each other, their confidence.”
The Wildcats (22-2, 9-2) had a winning streak ended at nine games.
Jalen Brunson nearly rallied Villanova to victory down the stretch. He made a jump shot and scored on a fastbreak to cut the deficit to 67-63. St. John’s turned the ball over off the inbounds play and Brunson, who led the Wildcats with 28 points, made the Red Storm pay on a crashing layup that sent him to the line. He made the free throw to pull Villanova to 67-66 with 1 minute 34 seconds left.
Collin Gillespie made a three-point basket with 23 seconds to play and the Wildcats trailed 74-73. It was one of only nine three-pointers in 33 tries by Villanova.
No. 2 Virginia 59, at Florida State 55: Devon Hall scored 17 points, Ty Jerome had 15 and the Cavaliers (23-1, 12-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) rallied from a 32-22 deficit after the first half. Virginia is the third team since 2000-01 to win its first 12 ACC games, joining North Carolina (2000-01) and Miami (2012-13). It is the Cavaliers’ best conference start since they were 12-0 in 1980-81. MJ Walker scored 10 points for the Seminoles (17-6, 6-6).
No. 14 Ohio State 64, at No. 3 Purdue 63: Keita Bates-Diop scored 18 points, including the decisive putback with 2.8 seconds left, and the Buckeyes (21-2, 12-1 Big Ten Conference) won for the 11th time in 12 games to grab a share of the conference lead. Carsen Edwards had 28 points for the Boilermakers (23-3, 12-1), whose winning streak ended at 19 games.
at No. 7 Texas Tech 76, Iowa State 58: Zhaire Smith scored a career-high 21 points and the Red Raiders (20-4, 8-3 Big 12 Conference) reeled off their fifth consecutive victory. After the Cyclones (12-11, 3-8) scored seven points in a row in a 77-second span to get within one point after halftime, Smith made a steal. He passed the ball on the break to Jarrett Culver, who lobbed an alleyoop pass that resulted in Smith’s two-handed slam. Cameron Lard had 22 points for Iowa State.
Texas A&M 81, No. 8 Auburn 80: Duane Wilson made one of two free throws with four seconds left and the Aggies (16-8, 5-6 Southeastern Conference) held on for their third victory in a row after squandering a 17point lead in the second half. Guard T.J. Starks scored 23 points. The Tigers (21-3, 9-2) got 28 points from Mustapha Heron, whose three-point shot from a few feet across midcourt bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
at No. 25 Miami 87, Wake Forest 81: Lonnie Walker IV scored 19 points for the Hurricanes (18-5, 7-4 ACC), who withstood a late rally by the Demon Deacons (9-15, 2-10). A three-point basket by Bryant Crawford with 31 seconds to play cut Wake Forest’s deficit to 82-79. Crawford had 23 points.