St. John’s basketball splits weekend against Villanova and Xavier

St. John’s basketball splits their weekend contests against Villanova and Xavier 

The St. John’s basketball team was hoping the momentum of seeing its head coach, Joe Tartamella, become the program leader in wins would carry into the weekend but it couldn’t quite create a winning streak.

The Johnnies (8-15, 4-9 Big East) split their weekend contests against Villanova and Xavier as the Red Storm try to climb into the middle of the pack of the Big East standings.

St. John’s hosted Villanova (15-6, 9-3 Big East) on an ugly Friday afternoon in Queens and was hoping to avenge a 70-68 loss earlier in the season.

ALSO READ: Joe Tartamella breaks all-time wins record

However, the friendly confines of Carnesecca Arena would not help the Red Storm to a victory as Villanova dominated the contest from start to finish.

The Wildcats used a 12-0 run to begin the game and never looked back, winning 82-58.

Maddy Siegrist exploded for 34 points as St. John’s had no answer for the star junior forward.

Kadaja Bailey had 18 points for St. John’s while Camree Clegg chipped in 11 points.

Leilani Correa, the second-leading scorer in the Big East, had just nine points on 3-for-7 shooting from the field.

The Johnnies have now lost six straight games to the Wildcats.

St. John’s basketball looking to get back to winning ways

Despite the disappointment of Friday, St. John’s would bounce back on Sunday afternoon in a big way on the road against Xavier (7-15, 2-11 Big East).

The Red Storm had defeated Xavier in Queens just four days prior to clinch the milestone for its long-tenured head coach and its second meeting of the season was even more dominant for the Johnnies.

St. John’s put together an offensive masterclass in the Cintas Center as Tartamella saw his team pull off a wire-to-wire win over the Musketeers.

The Johnnies shot 51.6-percent from the field and 52.0-percent from 3-point range in the 92-62 victory.

It was the 13th straight win for St. John’s over Xavier.

The Red Storm scored 58 points in the first half, its highest-scoring half of the season, and its 96 points was the largest output of the season.

Bailey and Correa would combine for 40 points in the game as Rayven Peeples also came close to a double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds.

St. John’s will now visit Hinkle Fieldhouse to take on Butler (1-18, 0-10) on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.

The Johnnies have won the last four straight contests against the Bulldogs.