PHILADELPHIA — The thought of St. John's using Saturday's showdown at Villanova as a chance to rest ailing players ahead of the Big East Tournament was about as appealing to Sir'Dominic Pointer as another NIT berth.
Red-hot St. John's, firmly in the NCAA Tournament field, is in Philadelphia to win a basketball game, to beat the No. 4 team in the country. The Red Storm will have five days to rest up for the Big East Tournament.
"For us as seniors and the St. John's basketball program, we're trying to get a win we haven't gotten in our four years here," Pointer said, referring to the 0-6 record against the Wildcats for the senior class. "We did it with Syracuse."
Coach Steve Lavin plans to treat the Villanova game like any other on the schedule. Chris Obekpa (ankle) is expected to play and guard Jamal Branch (groin strain) will be a game-day decision after missing the Marquette game. D'Angelo Harrison (calf strains) will start.
There is a slim chance St. John's (21-9, 10-7) could finish third in the Big East. Georgetown would have to lose to Seton Hall and Providence must fall at Butler, in tandem with a Johnnies win over the Wildcats (28-2, 15-2).
Whatever happens elsewhere, a win in Philadelphia would be significant — a road victory over a top-five team in the country and the kind of statement-making triumph that certainly would elevate St. John's in the eyes of the seeding committee.
"We're trying to do something to add to our résumé and try to get a win, try to get as many wins as possible before the NCAA Tournament," said Pointer, the reigning Big East Player of the Week and a Player of the Year contender.
One major difference between Saturday's showdown and the first meeting, a 90-72 Villanova rout at the Garden on Jan. 6, should be Rysheed Jordan. The sophomore from Philadelphia scored just two points on 0-of-6 shooting in his first game back after taking a four-day leave of absence from the program.
Jordan has played the best basketball of his college career of late, averaging 16.5 points, 4.2 assists and just 1.5 turnovers in the Red Storm's current four-game win streak. He scored a team-high 23 points and made five 3-pointers in Wednesday's road win over Marquette.
"He's maturing and he's just playing great basketball," Pointer said. "He's confident right now. He's playing like the Rysheed Jordan we know he can play like."
St. John's has come a long way in five weeks, from being in danger of landing in the Big East cellar to an imminent NCAA Tournament berth, its second in five seasons after a nine-year drought. The Red Storm have won seven of eight games and eight of 10 — the only losses in that span coming at Butler and Georgetown — and look like a team capable of reaching the Sweet 16. The only Big East team hotter is Villanova, which carries an 11-game winning streak into Saturday's contest.
"We're just playing to our potential right now," Pointer said. "At the beginning of the year, we let a lot of games slip away, honestly. I think we should be better than we are right now. But we're rolling right now.
"I'm not surprised. We knew we would be this good."
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