St. John’s basketball: 3 keys to pull off massive upset against Villanova

The St. John’s basketball team has a chance to send a massive message. 

If the St. John’s basketball team wanted to win the Big East Tournament it had to take down the Villanova Wildcats sooner or later.

Well, that opportunity for the Red Storm is coming sooner rather than later.

After a Wednesday night beatdown of DePaul at Madison Square Garden the Johnnies advance to the quarterfinals and draw the dominant Wildcats.

A win would push the Red Storm to the semifinals of the Big East Tournament for the first time since 2000, a stat that seems too bizarre to be true.

ALSO READ: St. John’s overwhelms DePaul in Big East Tournament

However, Villanova has dominated St. John’s this year and would have two double digit victories over the Johnnies if it not were for a massive last minute collapse at Madison Square Garden in early February.

St. John’s last win in the Big East Tournament over Villanova came in the quarterfinals of the 1999-2000 season, the last time the Johnnies were the champions of the conference.

The Wildcats boast the Big East Player of the Year in senior point guard Collin Gillespie and All-Big East Second Team selection Justin Moore as the duo combine to average 31.6 points per game.

St. John’s basketball hoping its stars can shine

The Red Storm also have an All-Big East First Team selection in Julian Champagnie and a Honorable Mention Team member with sophomore point guard Posh Alexander.

Champagnie scored 22 of his 26 points in the first half against DePaul and Alexander dictated the uptempo style of play that caused fits for the Blue Demons.

It is always a challenge to try and speed up the veterans of Villanova but St. John’s has the players that will be up for the challenge.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on FoxSports1.