Jan 20, 2002

Box Score

NEW YORK (AP) - Marcus Hatten scored 29 points, including the winning jumper with 8.4 seconds left, and St. John's beat Villanova 65-63 Sunday for the Red Storm's ninth victory in 11 games.

Hatten, a junior guard, gave St. John's (13-4, 4-2 Big East) the lead four times in the final 4:13.

Ricky Wright's layup with 49 seconds left brought Villanova (10-5, 3-3) into the game's final tie.

Willie Shaw of St. John's missed a jumper but teammate Anthony Glover grabbed the rebound and the Red Storm called a timeout with 28 seconds left.

Hatten, the team's leading scorer at 18.5 points per game, dribbled by himself near midcourt, almost slipping once. He started his drive with 10 seconds left and hit the jumper to make it 65-63.

Villanova's Derrick Snowden drove the lane to try and tie it but his shot was off the rim. It bounced to Villanova's Reggie Bryant, but his 3-point attempt at the buzzer was partially blocked.

Shaw added 13 points for St. John's and Kyle Cuffe had 11. Hatten finished two points off his career high.

Wright, Snowden and Brooks Sales each had 14 points for the Wildcats, who have lost three of four. Nine of Villanova's games this season have been decided in the final minute.

St. John's went up 32-21 with 3:03 left in the first half, but the Wildcats went on a 25-3 run and led 46-35 with 12:43 to play on a layup by Sales. The Red Storm missed 16 of 17 shots from the field during Villanova's run.

St. John's regained the lead at 54-52 on a 3-pointer by Shaw with 4:54 left and neither team led by more than three points the rest of the way.

The win was the sixth straight for St. John's over Villanova at Madison Square Garden.