St. John’s 78, Xavier 70: Sir'Dominic Pointer matched his career high with 24 points and notched four steals as the visiting Red Storm held on to beat the Musketeers.

D’Angelo Harrison added 18 points and Phil Greene IV finished with 15 for St. John’s (17-8, 6-6 Big East), which has won four of its last five. Jamal Branch contributed 11 points in a reserve role for the Red Storm.

Matt Stainbrook had 17 points and nine rebounds and Trevon Bluiett posted 16 points to lead Xavier (16-10, 7-7). Jalen Reynolds added 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench for the Musketeers.

St. John’s took a nine-point lead with 10 minutes left on a free throw by Harrison, but a 7-0 run by the Musketeers pulled them within two with 6:38 remaining. Xavier got as close as one but couldn’t get over the hump and a 3-pointer by Rysheed Jordan with 1:01 remaining put the Musketeers down by six points.

Xavier surged to a 13-3 lead after four minutes before St. John’s recovered and eventually moved ahead 25-21 on a jumper by Branch with 8:45 left in the first half. St. John's scored the last six points of the first half to take a 40-33 lead into the break, but the Musketeers opened the second half on a 9-2 run to knot the game at 42.

GAME NOTEBOOK: St. John’s F Chris Obekpa, the leading shotblocker in the Big East, returned after missing the previous game with a sprained ankle and went scoreless with five rebounds and three blocks. … The Red Storm, who came in fifth in the nation in blocks (6.75), finished with six blocks. … Xavier came in tied for ninth in the nation in assists per game (17.1) and the Musketeers finished with 19 on 27 field goals.