Since the start of the Chris Mullin era in Queens, St. John’s players, coaches and even fans have preached the ongoing “process” of rebuilding the Red Storm into the national power that they once were.
Well, that process missed a golden opportunity to take a major step forward on Jan. 14.
St. John’s failed to jump on a second-ranked Villanova team that had one of its worst performances of the season, and they suffered a 70-57 loss to the defending national champions at Madison Square Garden.
The Wildcats got just 21 points combined from their senior leaders, Josh Hart (11 points) and Kris Jenkins (10 points on 1-10 shooting), and they turned the ball an uncharacteristic 20 times.