National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Villanova 79, St. John's 76
When: 1:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 21, 2012
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Officials: # James Breeding, # Ed Corbett, # Ed Hightower
Attendance: 11430

Maalik Wayns poured in 22 of his 28 points after halftime as Villanova erased a 10-point second-half deficit to defeat host St. John's 79-76 in overtime Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

Dominic Cheek had six of his 20 points in the extra session, while Wayns' only points of overtime came on two free throws with 22 seconds left that produced the final margin. JayVaughn Pinkston added 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Wildcats (10-10, 3-5 Big East), who picked up their first road victory.

D'Angelo Harrison pumped in 28 points before fouling out in OT and led three freshmen in double figures for St. John's (8-11, 2-6), which has dropped seven of its last eight to Villanova.

Moe Harkless added 16 points and Phil Greene for 14 for the Red Storm, who entered off losses to Georgetown and South Florida in which they mustered just 49 points in each.

St. John's bolted to a 12-4 lead, as Harrison opened the scoring with back-to-back 3-pointers. The Johnnies had made two 3-pointers total in their last two games.

Villanova capitalized on 11 offensive boards to lead 29-24 at the half. Harrison sparked a 13-3 Red Storm run to start the second half.

After Wayns' 3-pointer reclaimed a 43-41 lead for Villanova, the junior was called for a technical foul that spurred nine unanswered points for St. John's. The Red Storm pushed the margin to as much as 10 at 60-50, but Wayns led the Wildcats' rally and regulation ended tied at 67.
Top Game Performances
 
Villanova   St. John's
Maalik Wayns 28 Scoring D'Angelo Harrison 28
Dominic Cheek 3 Assists Phil Greene 5
Mouphtaou Yarou 13 Rebounds Sir'Dominic Pointer 9
Dominic Cheek 7 Free Throws Made D'Angelo Harrison 8
James Bell 4 Steals Sir'Dominic Pointer 3
Dominic Cheek 1 Blocks Maurice Harkless 4
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Villanova 79 38.7 6-24 15-26 10 46 2 13 23
St. John's 76 48.3 4-16 14-25 12 30 7 10 21