St. John’s enters the halfway mark of the regular season still looking for its first Big East victory, sporting a 1-6 record against major conference foes and, most alarming of all, not sure who it is exactly.
At least, that was JaKarr Sampson’s take after the Johnnies’ hard-fought, but ultimately disappointing 74-67 loss to No. 8 Villanova Saturday afternoon at the Garden.
“We’re trying find our identity,” the sophomore forward said. “We want to be a tough team, a team that plays with emotion.”
The Red Storm (9-6, 0-3 Big East) looked more like that team than it did a week ago in a lopsided loss to Georgetown, playing with desperation and a sense of purpose in giving Villanova a scare.
But for the second time in close to a month, St. John’s failed to finish off a national power — No. 2 Syracuse rallied for a 68-63 victory Dec. 15 — because of a poor finish. And, unlike the December non-conference setback, this was far more costly.
Considered a Big East contender in the preseason and a NCAA Tournament-caliber team, St. John’s dropped to 0-3 in the Big East after its loss to Villanova. The Red Storm surprisingly didn’t seem overly concerned by their spot in the Big East cellar, talking about how much it improved over the last week and the emotion and passion it played with on Saturday.
“We’re not worried,” said Sampson, who had 10 points and nine rebounds. “I feel like we played a really good game today. … Of course I’m surprised. I expected to be 3-0, competitor like me. I know our team expected to be 3-0, but we just got to play with energy. I feel like that gives us the best chance to win.”
St. John’s coach Steve Lavin said his preseason hopes — which included an NCAA Tournament berth — haven’t changed.
“My goal is to just get our team to be the best basketball come March,” the fourth-year coach said. “That objective doesn’t change.”
Villanova (15-1, 4-0) outscored St. John’s 19-11 over the final 6:15, taking command of the back-and-forth affair — there were 17 ties and 19 lead changes — with an 8-0 run, while the Johnnies misfired. St. John’s had a chance to create separation after going ahead on a Rysheed Jordan basket, but Jakarr Sampson missed a wild layup and D’Angelo Harrison back-rimmed a 3-pointer in transition.
Villanova answered with a Kris Jenkins 3-pointer, two free throws from Brooklyn native JayVaughn Pinkston (15 points, 10 rebounds) and a Darrun Hilliard 3-pointer, clutch plays St. John’s failed to make down the stretch.
“That was just enough for them to get the win because on our end we came up empty on a few key possessions,” Lavin said. “I thought our kids played together, we just didn’t convert down the stretch.”
Harrison and Jordan took turns keeping St. John’s around, making up for the foul problems that ravaged the Johnnies front line.
Harrison led St. John’s with 22 points, Jordan had 12 and Sampson 10, while Pinkston, the Bishop Loughlin product, finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for Villanova. Josh Hart added 14 points and Ryan Arcidiacono had 13.