The Garden, so loud for most of the first half, had gone eerily quiet.&nbsp;

You could see the shift in the body language of St. John’s players. Deivon Smith, this team’s heartbeat, gingerly walked to the bench in a sling. Villanova quickly took control of the game.&nbsp;

It had all the makings of one of those 1-2 combinations this program has absorbed for so long: Bad luck and a bad loss.&nbsp;

<div class="nyp-slideshow-modal-image__wrapper"><a href="#" aria-controls="nyp-slideshow-modal" data-slideshow-modal="trigger" title="Open a slideshow of all 4 article images." aria-label="Open a slideshow of all 4 article images." data-slideshow-slide-number="1" data-slideshow-slides-total="4"> 4 </a></div><figcaption>Rick Pitino reacts during the St. John’s-Butler game on Jan. 4, 2025. Robert Sabo for NY Post</figcaption>

The atmosphere had been sapped out of the once-raucous building. But something different happened on the way to what would’ve been a momentum-busting defeat.&nbsp;

It might be time for fans to stop waiting for the other shoe to drop.{ai:summary}St. John's faced a challenging moment as key player Deivon Smith left the game injured, leading to a shift in momentum against Villanova. The once-vibrant atmosphere at The Garden turned somber as the team struggled, but a surprising turn of events prevented a potential defeat. #sports

This St. John’s team is unlike any in quite some time

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