St. John’s completes season sweep of Villanova for key Big East win
Just less than a minute remained when Joel Soriano exited the game for the last time.
St. Johns held a big lead over Villanova and his work was done.
Before he could take a seat, the Red Storm fans acknowledged the performance, giving the center a rousing ovation.
The Yonkers native smiled as he thought back to that moment, and what it felt like.
I was just saying, finally, Soriano recalled. Finally, I got a bounce-back game. Its been too long.
After three straight losses had begun to jeopardize what had been a strong first season for the Johnnies under Rick Pitino, Soriano wasnt the only one who felt a sense of relief by this 70-50 bludgeoning of the Wildcats in front of 12,859 at the Garden.
3Joel Soriano, who scored a game-high 21 points, slams home a dunk during St. John’s 70-50 win over Villanova. Charles Wenzelberg/New York PostPitino said this was a game St. Johns desperately needed, before a week off. Soriano, shaking off a recent slump, made sure Pitinos team got it.
The Red Storms leading scorer and rebounder found his game at the exact right time, notching game-highs of 21 points and nine rebounds as St. Johns completed its first season sweep of Villanova since 1992-93.
Of all the positives on this night from the Johnnies limiting the Wildcats to 16 percent shooting from 3-point range to winning the rebounding battle by 19 to Jordan Dingle returning after a bout with COVID-19 to notch 12 points, four rebounds and four assists Soriano was the biggest one.
For the second time, he got the better of Villanova forward Eric Dixon (16 points).
3Rick Pitino yells out instructions during St. John’s win over Villanova. Charles Wenzelberg/New York PostSoriano wasnt himself of late, getting outplayed by lesser players, averaging 11.5 and 7.7 rebounds over the previous four games.
Soriano was admittedly thinking too much, letting mistakes stick with him instead of moving onto the next play.
To be honest, most of my play that had been going on recently really was on me, said Soriano, who made eight of his nine field-goal attempts. I knew I could be way better than I was. I give a lot of credit to my teammates, because they pushed me to be better today, and gave me great looks today.
With this game in the balance midway through the second half, he took over. Soriano had 15 points and eight rebounds after halftime, and scored five in a row in a game-turning 19-5 run that put away the Wildcats.
3Glenn Taylor is greeted by Drissa Traore (No. 55) during St. John’s win over Villanova. Charles Wenzelberg/New York PostOver the final 10:02, St. Johns (13-7, 5-4) outscored Villanova, 28-13, beating the Big East rival by 20 for the first time since 1998.
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Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges sit courtside to watch alma mater Villanova play St. John’s
The big fella tonight came to play, Pitino said. He knew how important this game was for us, and he was magnificent. Really happy for him, happy the way he played, happy the way the whole team played. We lost a couple of tough games at the buzzer, and tonight we cast no doubt who was going to win that game.
Soriano shined, but he had plenty of help.
Dingle made a difference after missing the previous two games. Glenn Taylor Jr. saw his role expand off the bench and scored nine points. In his 19 minutes, St. Johns outscored Villanova (11-8, 4-4) by 17.
The Johnnies did the little things that had been missing in recent one-point losses to No. 14 Marquette and No. 17 Creighton.
They outscored the Wildcats in the paint (30-24), off the bench (26-14) and in second-chance points (17-14).
I just kept reminding them about the Marquette game, how we came out in the second half and let them score 18 of 22. I said rebounding and defense is going to win this game, Pitino said. We outrebounded them, 42-23, and had 17 assists. I thought these guys were brilliant. Their full-court pressure was great. The Garden was great. They deserved the victory.
Senior guard Nahiem Alleyne (sprained right ankle) missed the game. He worked out beforehand, but was unable to play. Pitino expects him to return to practice on Friday. Knicks players and Villanova alums Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Ryan Arcidiacono were in attendance. So was Nets wing Mikal Bridges.
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