Villanova’s loss to St. John’s highlighted a few problems plaguing the Wildcats

There were two plays Saturday that exemplified how Saturday went for Villanova.

Villanova coach Kyle Neptune had gone to reserve big man Nnanna Njoku off the bench. Njoku really only gets minutes because Neptune has previously called him a “defensive juggernaut,” and true to the description, Njoku helped off his defender and swatted a St. John’s shot near the rim. But the ball landed in the hands of a Red Storm player, and the extended possession ended with a Brady Dunlap three-pointer just before the shot clock expired to extend Villanova’s deficit to 10 seven minutes into the second half.

Dunlap wasn’t done.

The St. John’s freshman, who had Villanova as a finalist before committing to Rick Pitino’s program, hit the game’s dagger shot. Villanova’s Hakim Hart missed a layup inside of three minutes to play that would’ve cut the deficit to eight. Instead, the ball went the other way and Dunlap drilled a corner triple that silenced the Finneran Pavilion crowd — save for the handful of Red Storm faithful who made their presence clear in celebrating what became the Red Storm’s first win at Villanova’s on-campus arena since 1993, a streak of 13 consecutive losses snapped.

And so Villanova, after falling, 81-71, is now 10-5 overall and 3-1 in Big East play.

It wasn’t just those two swings, though, that went wrong for Villanova. Saturday’s loss highlighted a few problems the Wildcats need to correct as the conference schedule heats up.

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Those four words really say enough. Villanova has been missing its best player since Moore went down with a sprained right knee during a Dec. 5 loss at Kansas State.

The Wildcats won four straight without him, but what they’re missing without Moore showed vividly Wednesday night and again Saturday. Forget the obvious of the offense. The Wildcats need his reliable ballhandling. They need his presence on defense. And they need his four-plus seasons of Big East experience.

“He’s, like, a vet,” said TJ Bamba, a transfer from Washington State who scored 23 points during Saturday’s loss. “He’s really experienced. He’s mature. If anything, we’re lacking that maturity, that leadership. In a game like this where St. John’s forced us to play at their tempo … I feel like Justin would’ve been able to calm us down in certain scenarios.”

Moore, Neptune said, “has been close” to making his return. The Wildcats are still labeling him as day-to-day. Moore was not on Villanova’s bench Saturday because of an illness.

Perhaps he’ll be available for Villanova’s next contest, which isn’t until Friday night vs. DePaul (8:30 p.m., FS1).

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Bamba’s 23 points were the most he’s scored at Villanova. He got them in a variety of ways, both from the outside and by penetrating toward the rim. Between Bamba and Hart, two of Villanova’s four key transfers are playing pivotal roles in Villanova’s success.

Right now, Tyler Burton and Lance Ware look to be a step behind.

Burton, a fifth-year forward who scored 19 points per game last season at Richmond, scored three points Saturday after scoring three points during Wednesday night’s win over Xavier.

In the five games Villanova has been without Moore, Burton is 10-for-35 from the floor.

Ware, meanwhile, a transfer from Kentucky, has not been a threat on offense. It’s fair to wonder what he’s doing better than Njoku right now to warrant more minutes.

“It’s just a long season,” Neptune said. “Defensively, those guys haven’t been bad. You go through a year, and sometimes you make shots and sometimes you miss shots. Most people judge players based off of that, but we look into what they’re doing on the defensive end and how they’re rebounding the basketball.”

» READ MORE: What have Villanova’s Jordan Longino and Nnanna Njoku learned from their minutes? Patience.

Joel Soriano’s powerful dunk opened the scoring and set the tone for 10 straight St. John’s points to start the game and 20 points on the day from the star big man.

The Wildcats didn’t hit double digits in points until more than 11 minutes went by.

“They just affected us with their pressure,” Neptune said. “I thought they played extremely hard, did what they wanted to do, and they dictated the tempo of the game.”

It’s been a common theme. Even during Wednesday’s win, Villanova’s offense started slow. And a slow start at Creighton meant Villanova had to work extra hard to earn a comeback victory.

Take your pick of any game that wasn’t played in the Bahamas, and it’s probably featured a less-than-stellar start for Villanova.

It’s hard to beat anyone when you make just six of your 28 three-point attempts.

But poor shooting nights are becoming way too common for a team that shoots as many from deep as Villanova does. The Wildcats entered Saturday taking 28.6 three-pointers per game. Only 14 teams in the country were shooting more.

After Saturday, Villanova is converting on just 32.6% of its three-point attempts, which is outside the top 200 in Division I hoops.

It’s a telling indicator for Villanova. The Wildcats are 9-1 when they shoot 30% or better from three-point range. They are now 1-4 when they don’t.

“We try to take what the defense gives us,” Neptune said. “It’s not an exact science. We’re playing off concepts most of the time. A big concept of ours is catching and shooting when we’re open. We have confidence in our guys if they’re open that they’re going to catch and shoot and make those shots, and if they don’t, it is what it is.

“We practice our shooting a lot. If they make it, great. If not, that’s fine, too. We try to really pride ourselves defensively, so if we make shots or miss shots it doesn’t affect the outcome as much.”

When neither is working, it makes winning nearly impossible.