Biggest takeaways from St. John's basketball victory over Villanova at The Garden

The Red Storm are rolling after its takedown of the Wildcats at Madison Square Garden

Jan 11, 2025; New York, New York, USA;  St. John's basketball guard Simeon Wilcher (7) drives to the basket against Villanova Wildcats forward Eric Dixon (43) in the second half at Madison Square Garden.
Jan 11, 2025; New York, New York, USA; St. John's basketball guard Simeon Wilcher (7) drives to the basket against Villanova Wildcats forward Eric Dixon (43) in the second half at Madison Square Garden. | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
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Simeon Wilcher is maturing in real time

RJ Luis gets most of the praise for St. John’s win, and deservedly so, but Simeon Wilcher made two of the biggest plays late in the second half to help seal the victory for the Johnnies.

His steal and layup on Eric Dixon put the Red Storm up by three, 64-61, with 3:30 to play and then he hit a jumper just inside the 3-point arc that, again, extended the lead to three points for St. John’s.

It was the last field goal the Red Storm made before closing the game out at the charity stripe.

Wilcher’s midrange jumper was a shot he doesn’t take earlier in the year, especially after he missed a 3-pointer just seconds prior that could have made the St. John’s lead grow to four points.

Prior to the clutch basket he was 2-of-9 from the floor and missed all four of his 3-point attempts yet he took the advice of Rick Pitino by not counting his missed shots and working in the flow of the game and the team’s offense.

Depending how long Deivon Smith is sidelined with his injury, Simeon Wilcher becomes that more of an important piece for St. Johns’ and the sophomore is growing and maturing before everyone’s eyes.

St. John's depth going to be tested like never before

St. John’s is going to have to dig deep over the next week.

Deivon Smith’s status is still unknown for its game against Georgetown on Tuesday night, but it appears likely that he could miss the game.

The Red Storm are still without Brady Dunlap, who could be sidelined for the remainder of the season, and freshman guard Jaiden Glover is still dealing with a bone bruise in his wrist that has prevented him from contributing over the last three games.

Glover could be fully available the next time the Red Storm take the floor, but St. John’s is going to need a lot out of him and its other unproven players like Vince Iwuchukwu and Ruben Prey to be able to spell its starters a couple minutes on the bench.