Villanova torpedoes St. John’s men’s basketball’s ten-game winning streak with late Tyler Perkins three

The ninth-ranked Johnnies lose for the first time in 2025

Simeon Wilcher buried a three from the top of the key to silence the Finneran Pavilion crowd and give No. 9 St. John’s a one-point lead with 27 seconds remaining. After overcoming a double-digit deficit twice and two gutsy Eric Dixon triples in the clutch, the Johnnies were one stop away from pulling a rabbit out of their hat and stealing another close game on their month-long winning streak. Only their magic ran out before Villanova’s final possession on Wednesday night.

As the game clock ticked to nine seconds remaining, Tyler Perkins caught a pass by Jhamir Brickus and put up the game-winning three. Simeon Wilcher did not have a second go-ahead triple in him, missing an off-balanced attempt as the final buzzer sounded to cement a 73-71 defeat for St. John’s on Wednesday night. This loss snapped a ten-game winning streak for the Johnnies and stands as their first in 2025.

The Red Storm’s second-ranked defense uncharacteristically struggled to hold up in front of Villanova, with the Wildcats driving and kicking the ball against the Johnnies endlessly. Villanova shot 12-of-20 (60%) to open the game, including four threes to run out to a 32-22 first-half lead. St. John’s must have mistaken the early 6 p.m. start time for 6:30 p.m., as their defense came to play for the final five minutes of the half and used a 10-2 run to enter the locker room with a slim 34-32 deficit.

St. John’s briefly took the second-half lead but again faced the same defensive troubles in the first half. Philadelphia native Wooga Poplar spearheaded a 17-6 second-half run to give Villanova a 59-48 edge with 9:56 remaining.

However, despite another double-digit deficit, St. John’s retaliated with a 14-0 run to take a 62-59 lead. Aaron Scott had his best performance of the season, scoring a season-high 22 points and draining five triples.

Eric Dixon, the nation’s leading scorer, eclipsed Scott’s scorching play late in the game and put heavy pressure on the Johnnies late. After a Jordan Longino jumper tied the game at 62 with 5:20 left, Dixon capitalized on a Longino offensive board and buried a spot-up three. Less than a minute later, as the shot clock was about to expire, Dixon side-stepped a Red Storm defender and drilled his second three to give ‘Nova a 68-64 lead.

The Wildcats also forced the St. John’s offense into playing an uncomfortable game by crowding the lane and vacating the perimeter, as the Johnnies took a season-high 37 threes but only made 11 of those attempts to shoot 29.7% from deep.

All eyes turn to Sunday afternoon’s home game versus the No. 24 Creighton Bluejays that will likely decide the Big East regular season title race. With a win, St. John’s takes a commanding two-game lead for first place, but a loss would drop them to second place, as Creighton would own the tiebreaker in a potential season sweep. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Eastern, and the game will be broadcast on FS1.