In Thursday night Big East Tournament action, the St. John’s Red Storm will square off against the Villanova Wildcats. The Red Storm (17-14) finished three games below .500 in conference play and ranked 18th nationally in scoring (79.7 ppg). Last night, St. John’s outscored DePaul by 20 points in the first half and shot 50 percent from the field during a 92-73 victory.
St. John’s F Justin Champagnie tallied a game-high 26 points on 10-for-20 shooting and pulled down seven boards. Esahia Nyiwe added ten points and nine rebounds off the bench for the Red Storm.
The Villanova Wildcats won 16 of their 20 regular season conference games and are allowing 63.6 points per contest. Last time out, Villanova built a 14-point halftime lead and cruised to a 78-59 road victory against Butler. The eighth-ranked Wildcats (23-7) nailed 11-for-24 from the three-point line and outrebounded the Bulldogs by a 38-27 margin.
Justin Moore led five Villanova players in double figures with 16 points (6-11 FG) and five rebounds. Jermaine Samuels chipped in 15 points and four rebounds for the Wildcats.
