skip navigation

Quick Report: Villanova 73, St. John's 63

02/13/2016, 10:00pm EST
By Dan Newhart

ARTICLE/VIDEO GOES HERE

Latest Headlines

Dan Newhart (@danny_newhart)
--

Playing in front of a home crowd as the No. 1 team in the country for the first time ever, Villanova survived an early scare against a struggling St. John’s to win its fifth straight game, 73-63 on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

At first…
‘Nova looked poised to run away with this one early, jumping to a 6-2 lead out of the gate. However, the Wildcats shot a lowly 0-for-11 from three point range in the first half which allowed St. John’s to hang around. For the half, ‘Nova shot 9-for-24 from the floor while St. John’s shot 11-for-30.

‘Nova stretched its lead to 24-17 with 4:43 to go in the half, but a St. John’s layup from freshman guard Malik Ellison just before the break made it 28-27 in favor of the Wildcats at intermission.

Turning Point…
After holding just a one point lead at the half, the Wildcats opened up pounding the ball down low to Ocehfu. The big man scored eight of the team’s first 11 points en route to setting a career high in scoring with 25 points . During a 23-13 stretch that put ‘Nova up double digits 51-40 the team made its first two three pointers of the game, courtesy of senior Ryan Arcidiacono.

Standout Stars…
Ochefu, who was absent the last time the two teams met on Jan. 31, was absolutely dominant inside against an undersized St. John’s frontcourt. The 6-foot-10 senior center poured in a career-high 25 points on 11-of-14 from the floor and pulled down nine boards while bullying Red Storm shorter and less bulky defenders down low a majority of the evening.

Arcidiacono had a relatively quiet first half with just two points on two free throws. However the senior got it going in the second half, hitting ‘Nova’s first three pointer of the gamem and knocking down three-of-four total to finish the game with 13 points, four rebounds and two assists.

For St. John’s, sophomore big man Amar Alibegovic was one of the lone bright spots on the night. The 6-foot-9, 235 pound forward notched his sixth double-digit scoring effort of the season finishing with 18 points six rebounds and four assists. He shot 7-for-15 from the field including 4-for-10 from downtown.

Noteworthy Number(s)...
0: Villanova went 0-for-11 from 3-point range in the first half...

23: The Wildcats forced 19 turnovers and converted them into 23 points at the other end.

40: Both teams shot below 40 percent in the first half, including a combined 4-for-25 from beyond the arc.

Up Next…
Villanova (22-3, 12-1 Big East) @ Temple (Feb. 17, 7 PM)
St. John’s (7-19, 0-13 Big East) vs. DePaul (Feb. 17, 8 PM)

Latest Headlines

Tag(s): Home  Events  Division I  Villanova  Big 5