RJ Luis Jr. scores 30 points, grabs 10 rebounds to lead St. John's over Villanova 80-68

AP
Jan 11, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) RJ Luis Jr. scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead St. John's over Villanova 80-68 on Saturday night.

Aaron Scott and Deivon Smith each added 12 points for the Red Storm (14-3, 5-1 Big East Conference).

Wooga Poplar led the way for the Wildcats (11-6, 4-2) with 22 points. Eric Dixon added 18 points for Villanova. Jhamir Brickus also recorded 13 points and six rebounds.

St. John's led Villanova 36-31 at the half, with Smith (12 points) its high scorer before the break. St. John's took the lead with 4:01 left in the second half and never looked back. Luis helped their team pull away for the victory with 23 second-half points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

1st Half
NOVA
Wildcats
31
SJU
Red Storm
36

Time		Play	Score
20:00		(Red Storm gains possession)
19:45		Enoch Boakye personal foul
19:43	+2	RJ Luis Jr. makes two point jump shot (Kadary Richmond assists)	0-2
19:07		Enoch Boakye misses two point layup
19:05		Zuby Ejiofor defensive rebound
18:59		Aaron Scott misses three point jump shot
18:57		Wooga Poplar defensive rebound
18:43		Eric Dixon misses two point jump shot
18:41		Aaron Scott defensive rebound
18:33		RJ Luis Jr. misses three point jump shot
18:31		Wildcats defensive rebound
18:06	+3	Eric Dixon makes three point jump shot (Wooga Poplar assists)	3-2
17:41	+3	Deivon Smith makes three point jump shot (Kadary Richmond assists)	3-5
17:12	+3	Jhamir Brickus makes three point jump shot	6-5
16:49	+2	Kadary Richmond makes two point layup	6-7
16:26	+3	Wooga Poplar makes three point jump shot (Eric Dixon assists)	9-7
16:06		Zuby Ejiofor turnover (bad pass) (Jordan Longino steals)
15:58	+2	Jhamir Brickus makes two point layup	11-7
15:45		Aaron Scott misses three point jump shot
15:43		Jhamir Brickus defensive rebound
15:24		Jhamir Brickus turnover (bad pass)
15:24		TV timeout
14:55	+3	Deivon Smith makes three point jump shot (Aaron Scott assists)	11-10
14:26		Eric Dixon misses three point jump shot
14:24		Enoch Boakye offensive rebound
14:24		Zuby Ejiofor personal foul
14:21		Jump ball. (Wildcats gains possession)
14:05		Eric Dixon misses three point jump shot
14:03		Zuby Ejiofor defensive rebound
14:03		Enoch Boakye personal foul
13:48	+3	Deivon Smith makes three point jump shot	11-13
13:12	+2	Josiah Moseley makes two point layup	13-13
12:59		Kadary Richmond turnover (lost ball)
12:39		Eric Dixon misses two point jump shot
12:37		Josiah Moseley offensive rebound
12:35	+3	Jhamir Brickus makes three point jump shot (Josiah Moseley assists)	16-13
12:21		Deivon Smith misses three point jump shot
12:19		Aaron Scott offensive rebound
12:16	+3	Aaron Scott makes three point jump shot (Simeon Wilcher assists)	16-16
11:50	+3	Jhamir Brickus makes three point jump shot (Eric Dixon assists)	19-16
11:47		Red Storm 30 second timeout
11:47		TV timeout
11:39	+2	Deivon Smith makes two point jump shot	19-18
11:39		Tyler Perkins shooting foul (Deivon Smith draws the foul)
11:39	+1	Deivon Smith makes regular free throw 1 of 1	19-19
11:33		Jhamir Brickus turnover (bad pass) (Deivon Smith steals)
11:28		RJ Luis Jr. misses two point jump shot
11:26		Deivon Smith offensive rebound
11:07		Deivon Smith misses three point jump shot
11:05		RJ Luis Jr. offensive rebound
10:57		Ruben Prey misses three point jump shot
10:55		Red Storm offensive rebound
10:54		Tyler Perkins personal foul
10:51		Simeon Wilcher misses two point jump shot
10:49		Jhamir Brickus defensive rebound
10:41		Eric Dixon misses three point jump shot
10:39		Kadary Richmond defensive rebound
10:33		Kadary Richmond turnover (bad pass) (Jordan Longino steals)
10:11		Josiah Moseley turnover (lost ball)
10:06		Kadary Richmond turnover (lost ball) (Kris Parker steals)
10:02		Ruben Prey blocks Wooga Poplar's two point layup
10:00		Vince Iwuchukwu defensive rebound
9:56	+2	Simeon Wilcher makes two point dunk (Kadary Richmond assists)	19-21
9:33		Simeon Wilcher shooting foul (Jordan Longino draws the foul)
9:33		Jordan Longino misses regular free throw 1 of 2
9:33	+1	Jordan Longino makes regular free throw 2 of 2	20-21
9:06		Kadary Richmond misses two point jump shot
9:04		Kris Parker defensive rebound
8:47		Wooga Poplar misses three point jump shot
8:45		Vince Iwuchukwu defensive rebound
8:35		Josiah Moseley personal foul (Kadary Richmond draws the foul)
8:27		Official timeout
8:28		Kadary Richmond turnover (bad pass)
8:14		Eric Dixon misses two point jump shot
8:12		Vince Iwuchukwu defensive rebound
8:00		Kris Parker personal foul
8:00		TV timeout
7:58		Vince Iwuchukwu offensive foul
7:58		Vince Iwuchukwu turnover (offensive foul)
7:34	+3	Wooga Poplar makes three point jump shot (Jhamir Brickus assists)	23-21
7:19		Zuby Ejiofor misses three point jump shot
7:17		Wildcats defensive rebound
6:53		Wooga Poplar misses two point jump shot
6:51		Simeon Wilcher defensive rebound
6:45		Simeon Wilcher misses three point jump shot
6:43		Eric Dixon defensive rebound
6:31		Jordan Longino misses three point jump shot
6:29		Aaron Scott defensive rebound
6:02		Aaron Scott misses three point jump shot
6:00		Jhamir Brickus defensive rebound
5:52		Wooga Poplar misses three point jump shot
5:50		Deivon Smith defensive rebound
5:44		Wooga Poplar personal foul (Zuby Ejiofor draws the foul)
5:44		Zuby Ejiofor misses regular free throw 1 of 1
5:44		Eric Dixon defensive rebound
5:24		Wooga Poplar misses three point jump shot
5:22		Deivon Smith defensive rebound
5:08		Jhamir Brickus shooting foul (RJ Luis Jr. draws the foul)
5:08		RJ Luis Jr. misses regular free throw 1 of 2
5:08	+1	RJ Luis Jr. makes regular free throw 2 of 2	23-22
5:04		Jhamir Brickus turnover (bad pass) (Kadary Richmond steals)
4:57	+2	RJ Luis Jr. makes two point layup (Zuby Ejiofor assists)	23-24
4:27		Aaron Scott personal foul (Wooga Poplar draws the foul)
4:14	+2	Eric Dixon makes two point layup	25-24
3:52		Eric Dixon shooting foul (Zuby Ejiofor draws the foul)
3:52		TV timeout
3:52	+1	Zuby Ejiofor makes regular free throw 1 of 2	25-25
3:52	+1	Zuby Ejiofor makes regular free throw 2 of 2	25-26
3:23		Jordan Longino misses two point jump shot
3:21		Deivon Smith defensive rebound
3:13	+2	Zuby Ejiofor makes two point layup (Kadary Richmond assists)	25-28
2:54	+2	Wooga Poplar makes two point layup	27-28
2:31		RJ Luis Jr. misses two point layup
2:29		Zuby Ejiofor offensive rebound
2:27	+2	Zuby Ejiofor makes two point layup	27-30
2:20		Kadary Richmond personal foul
2:02		Eric Dixon turnover (lost ball)
1:53	+2	Aaron Scott makes two point jump shot (Zuby Ejiofor assists)	27-32
1:35		Jhamir Brickus misses two point jump shot
1:33		Zuby Ejiofor defensive rebound
1:23		Jhamir Brickus shooting foul (RJ Luis Jr. draws the foul)
1:23	+1	RJ Luis Jr. makes regular free throw 1 of 2	27-33
1:23	+1	RJ Luis Jr. makes regular free throw 2 of 2	27-34
1:06		Tyler Perkins misses three point jump shot
1:04		Kris Parker offensive rebound
0:53	+2	Kris Parker makes two point layup (Eric Dixon assists)	29-34
0:36		Kris Parker shooting foul (Zuby Ejiofor draws the foul)
0:36	+1	Zuby Ejiofor makes regular free throw 1 of 2	29-35
0:36	+1	Zuby Ejiofor makes regular free throw 2 of 2	29-36
0:35		Jaiden Glover personal foul
0:05		Jordan Longino misses three point jump shot
0:03		Jordan Longino offensive rebound
0:01		Aaron Scott shooting foul (Eric Dixon draws the foul)
0:01	+1	Eric Dixon makes regular free throw 1 of 2	30-36
0:01	+1	Eric Dixon makes regular free throw 2 of 2	31-36
0:00		End of period

RJ Luis Jr. scores 30 points, grabs 10 rebounds to lead St. John's over Villanova 80-68

1st Half NOVAWildcats31SJURed Storm36

1st Half
NOVA
Wildcats
31
SJU
Red Storm
36