Tyler Perkins, Villanova hang on to stun No. 9 St. John's

Rick Pitino’s win streak in the Big East is over.

Villanova held on down the stretch on Wednesday night to pull off a stunning 73-71 upset over No. 9 St. John’s at Finneran Pavilion. That win snapped the Red Storm’s 10-game win streak, which had propelled them to the top of the Big East standings and into the top 10 of the national rankings for the first time in decades.

Villanova nearly ran away with the game twice. They jumped up by 10 points just before halftime, but the Red Storm cut it back within just two points before the break. The Wildcats pushed back up by 11 points midway through the second half, too, but then let St. John’s right back into it after they gave up a 14-0 run.

St. John’s had multiple chances in the final minutes to retake control of the game, but it stumbled just about every single time. They finally took the lead off a clutch Simeon Wilcher 3-pointer just inside of the 30-second mark, but Tyler Perkins responded on the other end with a deep 3-pointer of his own. That put the Wildcats up by two points with just nine seconds left.

Wilcher had one last look at a game-winner for the Red Storm, from nearly the same spot he hit the previous one, but he was off the mark at the buzzer. That sealed the two-point upset win for the Wildcats.

This post will be updated with more information shortly.