St. John's and Villanova tip off at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. (Photo: Aaron Bracy)
By AARON BRACY
January 24, 2024
Big5Hoops.com
NEW YORK – Villanova brought energy. Brought intensity. Brought fight to Madison Square Garden.
The Wildcats wanted to start fast, wanted to throw the first punch, wanted to dictate the game.
Sometimes, as your mom probably said, you don’t always get what you want. That was the case with the Wildcats.
Another slow start and more struggles from long range combined to doom Villanova in a 70-50 loss on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Wildcats (11-8, 4-4 Big East) lost both contests in the two-game season series to St. John’s (13-7, 5-4), which snapped a three-game losing streak. It was the first time since the 1992-93 season that the Red Storm swept Villanova.
“I thought they played harder,” Wildcats coach Kyle Neptune said.
The Red Storm won 81-71 at the Pavilion on Jan. 6.
In that one, Villanova fell behind 10-0 and 24-9.
In this one, the Wildcats trailed 28-13.
In that one, Villanova shot 21.4 percent (6 of 28) from 3-point range.
In this one, the Wildcats were 16 percent (4 of 25) from the arc.
“Sometimes you make shots, sometimes you miss shots,” said Neptune, who was more disappointed at Villanova’s 11 turnovers and 15-5 disadvantage on offensive rebounds.
Three-point shooting has been a struggle all season for Villanova, and especially in its eight defeats.
In its 11 wins this season, Villanova is shooting 36.5 percent (107 of 293) from the arc. Not great, but acceptable.
In its eight defeats, the Wildcats are shooting 27.8 percent (66 of 237) from distance. Just not good enough.
The Wildcats trailed by 10 at the break, 32-22, after missing 11 of 13 shots from 3-point range in the first half. They twice got as close as within five after the intermission but couldn’t put together enough consistent offense to put smiles on the faces of alums, including Ryan Arcidiacono, Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges, all of whom were in attendance.
Villanova talked all about throwing the first punch after surrendering 11 straight points to start the game against No. 1 UConn in Saturday’s 66-65 loss to the Huskies at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Wildcats tried to do that early against St. John’s. They really did. There was TJ Bamba scoring a pair of early baskets, and Eric Dixon and Tyler Burton diving across the hardwood with abandon.
Villanova had energy. Had intensity. Had fight.
But they didn’t have their shooters’ touch. Shots need to fall to validate that energy, that intensity, that fight.
The Wildcats couldn’t find the range, though. Villanova had as many turnovers (five) as field goals and missed 10 of the first 15 shots overall, including seven of eight from long range. When you looked up, the Red Storm had a 28-13 lead with 6:42 to play in the first half after Joel Soriano’s turnaround jumper.
Down 11-0 to UConn on Saturday. Lose 66-65.
Down 10-0 and 24-9 to St. John’s on Jan. 6. Lose 81-71.
Down 28-13 to the Red Storm on Wednesday night. Lose 70-50.
Somehow, some way, the Wildcats have to start faster.
Have to make shots.
Have to score points.
The energy is there. The intensity is on display. They are fighting with all their might.
Eventually, though, the ball has to go in the basket.
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Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1996. His byline regularly appears on Associated Press stories. Big5Hoops.com is his second website dedicated to Philadelphia college basketball. Follow Bracy on X: @Aaron_Bracy and like his Facebook and Instagram pages.