New York, NY – Behind Tray Woodall's hot shooting, the 20th- ranked Pittsburgh Panthers returned to their winning ways by topping St. John's, 63-47, at Madison Square Garden.
Woodall shot 8-of-14, including 4-of-7 from behind the arc, for a season-high 25 points as the Panthers (21-7, 9-6 Big East) snapped a two-game skid.
"We responded and we came out and we beat a really good team by 16. I think that says a lot of good things about our guys," Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said.
Lamar Patterson scored 11 points and Steven Adams had eight in Pittsburgh's eighth win in the last nine matchups with the Red Storm.
JaKarr Sampson paced St. John's (16-11, 8-7) with 14 points. Leading scorer D'Angelo Harrison, who entered play averaging 18.3 points per game, finished with six points on 1-of-12 shooting.
The Panthers led throughout the opening frame and carried a 30-27 advantage into the break. St. John's started the second half with a Sir'Dominic Pointer layup and two Sampson free throws to grab its first lead.
Pitt trailed only briefly, however, and pushed its advantage to 55-41 when Patterson followed consecutive 3-pointers by J.J. Moore and Woodall by sinking two free throws with 5:32 remaining.
"We just didn't execute down the stretch," Sampson said. "We definitely feel like we let this one go."
Game Notes
Woodall previously totaled 24 points against Duquesne on Dec. 5 ... Patterson led Pitt with six rebounds ... St. John's has dropped five of seven against ranked opponents this season ... Phil Greene IV supplied 11 points for the Red Storm, while Pointer had six points with a game-high eight boards ... St. John's was held to 31.6 percent shooting.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.