Villanova Basketball Shines with Tyler Perkins' Game-Winning Three Against St. John’s

Despite the ups and downs of Villanova's season, there's just been something about top 25-ranked teams coming to Finneran Pavilion during this 2024-25 campaign. First it was Cincinnati, then it was UConn, and on Wednesday night — No. 9 St. John's. They've all been unsuccessful in defeating the 'Cats on their true home court. St. John's nearly snatched the game and almost escaped with a win in the final minute, battling back from a double-digit deficit late and getting a Simeon Wilcher three to go up by one with 28 seconds left, but the Wildcats made the most out of their final possession. Wooga Poplar drove inside, kicked it out to an open Jhamir Brickus in the corner, who made an extra pass and sent the ball to Tyler Perkins' way. With the game on the line, Perkins rose up and knocked down the go-ahead three with eight seconds left. The Wildcats got the stop at the end to hang on for a 73-71 upset win over the Red Storm. “I felt good,” Perkins said of his decisive shot. “My teammates are putting me in position to be helpful. I’m just glad we got the win. If it was me shooting or Eric or Jordan shooting, it really doesn’t matter to me. It feels good that we won.” Perkins kept up his hot shooting off the bench. He finished with 12 points and went 4-for-5 from deep. He also had three boards, three assists and two steals. The Red Storm is off to their best start in 40 years and Wednesday marked their first regular-season game as a top 10-ranked team since Feb. 27, 1999 — when they also suffered a loss at Villanova. “We had a play set, but we said if they blitz it and are trapping, go make a play,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said of the Wildcat's final possession. “I thought about calling a timeout, but I thought it was better being a broken play. They’re really good when they have a chance to get set. We just trusted the guys to make a play.” After a cold shooting slump for Perkins, where he shot a combined 1-of-28 from beyond the arc over eight January games, Perkins is starting to turn a corner during the Wildcats’ three-game shooting streak. He is 10-of-12 (83.3%) from three-point range during this stretch. The Wildcats lost 80-68 to the Red Storm back on Jan. 11 at Madison Square Garden, but on Wednesday night, Villanova was in front for a majority of the way. Villanova went on a 7-0 run late in the first half, which helped the 'Cats take a 10-point lead. St. John's answered back with a run of its own and Lefteris Liotopoulos knocked down a three for the Johnnies to trim the Wildcat lead down to 34-32 at the half. St. John's grabbed the lead momentarily after the break, but the Wildcats started to settle in. They went on an 8-0 run midway through the second half, a scoring surge bookended by Brickus and Perkins’ three-pointers to give them a 59-48 lead with 9:56 remaining. The Red Storm, known for their stingy defense, buckled down on that end of the court and rattled off a 14-0 run to take a 62-59 lead with 6:22 left. It was a close battle the rest of the way. Eric Dixon knocked down back-to-back threes to help the 'Cats reclaim the lead, but St. John’s was swinging the rest of the way. Wilcher had one final attempt at the end, but it was no good. “Tough loss for us — it wasn’t really about missing shots or making shots, but (Villanova) made a lot of terrific shots with one second on the (shot) clock,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said. “But twice we didn’t block out, and it cost us the game. That’s been a weakness of ours and it finally bit us in the ass, but great game. Guys played their asses off. (Villanova) is one of the best shooting teams in the country and we were unable to stop their outside shot.” The Wildcats shot 26-of-49 (53.1%) overall and 11-for-24 (45.8%) from deep as a team. “I’m really proud of our guys’ effort,” Neptune said. “That’s a very tough team. I give them a lot of credit – they’re fighters. I thought we played extremely tough early and played through some things we knew we would have to deal with going into the game. We settled in and got to it defensively.” Aside from Perkins, Poplar paced the 'Cats with 22 points on 9-for-14 shooting, with six boards and four steals. Dixon had 17 points, four rebounds and four assists. Jordan Longino had 13 points. For St. John’s, Aaron Scott had 22 points. Kadary Richmond finished with a 17-point, 10-assist double-double, with five rebounds, one block and two steals. Wilcher and R.J. Luis each had 12 points. The Red Storm shot 27-for-61 (44.3%) overall but only 11-of-37 (29.7%) from deep. Villanova looked to pack it inside and dared St. John's to shoot from deep. Villanova improved to 15-10 overall. They’re back on the road for their next two games, but next up, they have Providence on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET from Amica Mutual Pavilion.