His strip of Wildcats star Eric Dixon and layup pushed the St. John’s lead to three with 3:30 to go and he also sank a big pull-up jumper with 2:05 to go after Villanova had gotten within one.
He wasn’t allowed to be tired.
Wilcher made two very big plays in the Johnnies’ come-from-behind, 80-68 win over Villanova at the Garden on Saturday night.
“Sim’ gave us big minutes, made big steals, did all the right things,” coach Rick Pitino said. “It may not show in the stat sheet, but he played tremendous. I’m very, very proud of Sim’.”
With starting point guard Deivon Smith missing almost the entire second half due to a left shoulder injury, Wilcher was called upon to log heavy minutes and the sophomore sixth man came through when it mattered.
Wilcher only made 3-of-10 shots from the field, but he didn’t let it get him down.
He defended well and came through in the clutch.
It marked the second-largest crowd for a St. John’s home game since Pitino arrived.
