St. John’s holds off Villanova for fourth straight win

Bryce Hopkins scored 20 points and St. John's topped host Villanova 86-79 in Big East action on Saturday in Philadelphia.

Ian Jackson contributed 18 points for the Red Storm (13-5, 6-1 Big East), who have won four straight games. Zuby Ejiofor added 17 points for St. John's, while Dillon Mitchell pitched in with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Wildcats (14-4, 5-2), who had won seven of their previous eight games, committed 14 turnovers, compared to nine for the Red Storm. St. John's finished with a 17-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

Tyler Perkins scored 23 points and Devin Askew had 21 to pace Villanova. Bryce Lindsay added 11 points for the hosts.

St. John's led by one point at halftime before two early buckets by Jackson and five points by Hopkins in under a minute led to a 20-4 run to open the session.

Baskets by Oziyah Sellers and Jackson pushed the St. John's lead to double figures for the first time, 49-39 with 15:20 left. Jackson then added a 3-pointer before layups by Hopkins and Sellers created a 56-39 advantage.

Villanova chipped away, getting within 10 on Lindsay's 3-pointer with 10:42 left and then within 66-59 on Perkins' 3-pointer with 8:13 remaining. Perkins' basket with 6:36 to play brought the Wildcats within five.

However, Ejiofor put back his own miss and Joson Sanon drained a 3-pointer as the Red Storm pushed the lead back to 11 with four minutes to go.

Villanova briefly got within five points with a minute left before Hopkins knocked down four free throws down the stretch to seal the deal.

Neither team led by more than four points in the first half until Hopkins' layup gave St. John's a 27-22 lead.

The Red Storm went on to lead by as many as seven late in the session. However, Askew made two 3-pointers down the stretch to bring the Wildcats within 36-35 at the break.

Askew led all players with 10 points in the first half.