A 70-foot shot just before halftime gave St. John’s momentum, and L. J. Figueroa and the Red Storm used a strong defensive effort in the second half to surprise No. Figueroa had 22 points and 12 rebounds, 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 capacity crowd of nearly 20,000. “It was as loud as I can remember, maybe louder,” said St. John’s Coach Chris Mullin, a former Red Storm star. He added: “There are some great places to play college basketball, but when you get a full Madison Square Garden against a championship team like Villanova, there’s nothing like that.

Source: New York Times February 18, 2019 00:49 UTC