Figueroa propels Red Storm past Villanova
St. John’s gets first win vs. Wildcats at MSG in 17 years
A 70-foot shot just before halftime gave St. John’s momentum, and Sophomore LJ Figueroa and the Red Storm used a strong defensive effort in the second half to surprise No. 13 Villanova.
Figueroa scored 22 points and St. John’s rallied to beat the Wildcats 71-65 on Sunday night. It was the first win for the Red Storm at Madison Square Garden against Villanova in 17 years, and they accomplished the feat in front of an energetic sellout crowd of nearly 20,000 fans.
Trailing by 17 late in the first half, the Red Storm scored the final six points, including Justin Simon’s shot from the opposite 3-point line that banked in just before the buzzer and made it 37-26.
The Red Storm (19-7, 7-6 Big East) were down 48-34 with 12:30 left. They scored 20 of the next 25 points to take their first lead on Figueroa’s 3-pointer from the corner.
The teams traded the lead over the next few minutes before Figueroa hit another 3-pointer that gave the Red Storm a 58-57 advantage with 3:12 left and started an 8-0 run.
The Red Storm led 63-57 with 50 seconds left when Villanova’s Phil Booth was fouled shooting a 3-pointer. He made two free throws to get the Wildcats within four.
That’s as close as they could get as St. John’s converted its free throws down the stretch.
Former Ualbany standout Joe Cremo scored 14 points for Villanova. Houston 85, Tulane 50: Corey davis Jr. made eight 3-pointers and scored 26 points to help no. 9 Houston beat tulane for its 10th straight victory. Armoni Brooks made six 3s on his way to 24 points. Michigan State 62, Ohio State 44: Kenny Goins had 10 points and 10 rebounds for no. 11 michigan State. the Spartans pulled into a first-place tie with michigan atop the Big ten.
women Miami 79, Louisville 73:
emese Hof scored 25 points and no. 20 miami rallied to beat no. 2 Louisville on the road. Uconn 78, UCF 41: naphessa Collier had 18 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four steals for uconn on the road. Miss. St. 92, Texas A&M 64: Andra espinoza-hunter set career highs with seven 3-pointers and 24 points for no. 5 mississippi State.
Iowa 86, Maryland 73: megan Gustafson scored 31 points and no. 14 iowa beat no. 7 maryland to tie the terrapins for the Big ten lead. Marquette 109, Seton Hall 63: natisha Hiedeman scored a career-high 34 points and danielle King added 20 to lead no. 8 marquette past Seton Hall. Stanford 69, Southern Cal 67: Alanna Smith made a layup with three seconds left to lift no. 10 Stanford past USC.
South Carolina 96, Florida 77: Alexis Jennings scored a season-high 22 points for no. 11 South Carolina.
Kansas St. 69, Texas 60: Kayla Goth scored 15 points as Kansas State rallied to beat no. 15 texas.
Syracuse 77, Wake Forest 57: miranda drummond had 17 points and six rebounds for no. 16 Syracuse.
Kentucky 61, Arkansas 59: rhyne Howard hit a pull-up jumper from the foul line with 1.3 seconds left and scored 18 points in no. 17 Kentucky’s win. Arizona St. 60, Utah 58: Courtney ekmark made two free throws with under a second remaining to cap no. 19 Arizona State’s closing 20-0 run. Florida St. 78, Pittsburgh 46: Kiah Gillespie had 18 points and 10 rebounds for no. 21 florida St. at home. Nebraska 82, Michigan St. 71: Hannah Whitish scored 16 points and nebraska held off no. 24 michigan State at home.