MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia's 3-point offense faltered for a second straight game. This time, the Mountaineers found an alternative in D'or Fischer.
Fischer had 18 points as No. 21 West Virginia rebounded from its worst loss in six seasons with a victory over St. John's.
The Mountaineers (11-1, 1-1 Big East) lost 84-46 to Villanova on Wednesday night, largely due to 6-of-29 shooting from 3-point range.
"It's great to get that loss behind us," Fischer said. "There are no more emotional scars from Villanova. We really had to have this one."
The Red Storm (6-6, 0-2) held West Virginia to 6-of-19 from behind the arc, but Fischer made up for it in the paint.
Fischer scored West Virginia's first seven points as the Mountaineers took an early 20-10 lead.
"They threw us off with how much they threw it down to D'or early," said Daryll Hill, who led St. John's with a career-high 29 points. "We lost our focus a little, and then they came down and hit some 3s. He is real tough to guard."
Reserve center Kevin Pittsnogle added nine points, including a 3-pointer at the end the first half to give West Virginia a 35-29 lead.
"That was as big a shot as we have had," said West Virginia coach John Beilein. "That was a big, big play to allow us to come in (to halftime) with that lead."
The Mountaineers are 4-0 in Big East home openers under coach Beilein. St. John's has lost its last 10 Big East road games.
"WVU's outside guys are so good that we couldn't play inside as much as we like to," St. John's coach Norm Roberts said. "Fischer did a great job of getting the ball inside and Pittsnogle does a great job both inside and out."
West Virginia is off to its best 12-game start since 1997-98, the last time the team appeared in the NCAA tournament.
