Ian Jackson has been on a rollercoaster this season with the St. John’s basketball team, but he saved his best performance of the year for when the Johnnies needed it most.
On Saturday night against Villanova, he led the charge for the Red Storm with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. He made his first five shots of the game, which led into the 20-4 run for the Red Storm second half.
His five consecutive points in the second half, a layup and his lone 3-pointer of the game, pushed the Red Storm lead to 13 points, 52-39.
Jackson committed three turnovers in the game with the most egregious coming on the first offensive possession for the Johnnies, a bad pass that led to an easy layup for Villanova.
The other two, both which occurred in the first half, were a travel immediately after he recorded a steal but lost his footing and fell to the court and he was credited with a turnover on his double technical foul in the first half with Devin Askew.
“It’s very difficult for a player who’s never played the position to make the adjustment at this level, and he’s doing great at it,” Rick Pitino said after the 86-79 victory. “Better than I ever imagined.”
Jackson’s 18 points were the most he’s scored in a game since he went for 20 points against Bucknell in mid-November. In his previous four games, he averaged 7.2 points and 0.5 turnovers per game on 31-percent shooting (9-for-29) from the field.
He never attempted more than eight shots in the stretch, and his 12 shots were also the most since his outing against the Bison.
“Any time you score, you play better defense,” Pitino added.
St. John’s is 9-2 this season with Ian Jackson in the starting lineup and will hope the team can continue its success in the Big East with another resume building opportunity on Tuesday night (7:00 p.m. ET, FS1) against Seton Hall.