No. 15 Villanova got a fight from St. John’s but held on, 75-69

NEW YORK — With Villanova facing St. John’s for the second time in 10 days, some ‘Nova fans feared familiarity might breed contempt Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. Especially considering how the Wildcats had had their way with the Red Storm in an 11-point win at the Pavilion on Jan. 29.

Once again, though, No. 15. Villanova was for the most part all business, ignoring a hostile crowd to build a six-point halftime lead, then gradually seeming to break it open as the margin grew to 20 inside five minutes.

Then, inexplicably, the Wildcats could do nothing right on the offensive end, turning the ball over repeatedly against the press. Meanwhile, St. John’s, which had shot poorly all night, suddenly couldn’t miss as the lead kept shrinking.

But Villanova was still able to avert disaster when Jermaine Samuels sank two clutch free throws with 11.9 seconds left — moments after Tareq Coburn’s three-point attempt spilled out, preserving the Wildcats’ 75-69 win.

With guards Collin Gillespie and Justin Moore laboring as they recover from sprained ankles, it was left to Jay Wright’s foot soldiers to carry the load. Moore and Eric Dixon led the way with 16 points apiece. Brandon Slater added 15 points, followed by Caleb Daniels and Samuels with 13 each.

“It’s amazing to me,” Wright said of the late-game collapse. “I don’t know what to say; I’ve got to watch the film. A game can go a certain way that long, then all of a sudden everything changes. I don’t know how two teams can play that way for 35 minutes and then everything changes. I don’t have an answer for that.

“I guess it’s college basketball, the Big East.”

On a night when the three-point shot wasn’t falling until the late in the game, Villanova (18-6, 11-3 in the Big East) won this one the old fashioned way — in the paint. The Cats missed 12 of their first 15 from beyond the arc, but were able to continually get to the basket for high percentage shots, Meanwhile, St. John’s (13-10, 5-7) spent most of the night tossing up bricks until the end, shooting just 34%.

While the Red Storm was content to bomb away from three-point distance — eight of their first 12 shots coming from beyond the arc — Villanova found early success taking it to the hoop. Back-to-back Slater driving layups, followed by Dixon’s three-point play and Daniels’ hoop put the Wildcats up 16-10

Later, Moore’s free throws and Daniel’s driving layup pushed it to 32-23, before St. John’s cut it to 34-28 at the half.

After Aaron Wheeler opened the second half with his third trey of the night to make it 34-31, Villanova responded with a 13-0 run over the next five minutes, extending the spread to 47-31. The play of the night came after Moore missed a pair of free throws. Somehow ‘Nova came out of a pileup on the floor with the ball, getting it to Daniels for a layup as he was fouled on what would be a three-point play.

St. John’s refused to go away even after that, staging a late rally to cut what had been a 66-46 deficit to 72-69. The Red Storm then came up with a steal and had a chance to tie it, only to see Coburn’s trey rim out before Samuels iced it at the line.

Wright decided to roll the dice and start both Gillespie and Moore even though they did not practice Monday. Gillespie sprained his ankle midway through the second half of Saturday’s 85-74 win over Connecticut. Moore sat that one out with an ankle sprain of his own suffered during last week’s loss at Marquette.

Gillespie clearly wasn’t himself, going scoreless in a 25-minute stint. He did, however, pull down 10 rebounds. Moore was only a tad better in the first half, scoring five points, before asserting himself after intermission.

“They both gutted it out,” Wright said of Moore and Gillespie. “We did all the treatment we could and they tried to see if they could play, came to warmups and said they’d try it.  They weren’t 100 percent.

“We played [Gillespie] as much as we could. His presence out there means a lot, whether he’s scoring or not. And the guys respect him so much.”

One of Wright’s biggest concerns heading into the game was St. John’s full-court press, especially after made baskets. Not to worry — until things got tight near the end. That’s how that 20-point lead nearly disappeared.

The Wildcats did a solid job taking care of the ball against the press, most of their 16 turnovers coming in the half-court with Wright alternating Gillespie, Moore, and Chris Arcidiacono bringing it up.

But things got frantic those last five minutes, as the Wildcats struggled to inbound the ball, and when they did cross midcourt, often gave the ball away.

Fortunately, it didn’t cost them in the end.