February 28, 1999
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Villanova coach Steve Lappas will never be confused for a mathematician. But he's hoping the Wildcats' 66-60 upset of St. John's (No. 7 ESPN/USA Today, No. 8 AP), coupled with Villanova's 20-win season, adds up to a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
"This certainly solidifies our chances for the tournament," Lappas said after the Wildcats (20-9, 10-8) held off a late rally by St. John's (23-7, 14-4).
John Celestand led Villanova with 18 points, including 12 straight during a key first half runand two free throws with 23 seconds left in the game that helped the Wildcats pull away.
"What we did today was help the Big East tremendously, because now we have at leastfive team in the NCAA Tournament," St. John's coach Mike Jarvis said about the Wildcats' bolstered postseason hopes.
Jarvis' team almost burst Villanova's NCAA bubble with a late run keyed offensively by Erick Barkley's 17 second-half points defensive pressure that led to 19 points off turnovers for the Red Storm.
Down 41-28 with 16:03 left in the game, St. John's came back after a Lavor Postell 3-pointer and Reggie Jessie 16-footer tied the game at 58 with two minutes left.
Villanova answered with an 8-2 run to close the game, led by two short jumpers by Malik Allen. He finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
After St. John's missed several desperation shots in the game's final seconds, the sellout crowd of 6,500 stormed the court in jubilation.
"I've coached about 200 games here, but this is one I'll always remember," Lappas said.
Despite the loss, St. John's is still assured of the third seed and a first-round bye in next week's Big East tournament. Villanova will be seeded fifth in the tourney.
The loss snapped the Red Storm's six-game winning streak. St. John's shot a season-low 32 percent after being stymied by Villanova's 2-3 zone for the most of the game.
"They were laying off on a lot of us, and there was nothing else to do but shoot from the outside," said Barkley, who finished with 19 points.
Villanova's Brian Lynch finished with 14 points, and was 4-of-8 on 3-pointers, while Ron Artest added 15 points and 11 rebounds for St. John's.
Celestand, playing in his final home game, led a first half spurt that saw the Wildcats turn an early six-point deficit into 30-26 halftime lead.
After taking an early 10-4 lead, St. John's finished the half in a 4-of-23 shooting slump against Villanova's zone and a rare start by Wildcats senior center Rafal Bigus.
The 7-foot-1 Bigus was four inches taller than St. John's tallest starter and forced St. John's to alter many penetration shots.
"They were kind of physical -- I tried to move them and make them shoot over me," said Bigus, who scored six of Villanova's first 10 points.
Despite the loss, Jarvis wasn't worried.
"You'll see a better team come the Big East tournament," Jarvis said. "But I'm concerned because today we took an exam, and we didn't pass.
