VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova returns home after a productive stretch of three straight road games to meet St. John's Wednesday night at Finneran Pavilion. The No. 12/12 Wildcats (21-6 overall, 10-4 BIG EAST) downed Temple (76-56), DePaul (91-71) and Xavier (64-55) by an average of 13.0 points per game during that daunting stretch and have now won four in a row after dropping three straight in the first week of February.
 
FS1 will carry the national broadcast of this one at 6:30 p.m. with Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery courtside. The Nova Nation radio call can be found on 610 ESPN in the Delaware Valley and the TuneIn app everywhere (Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby).
 
At halftime, Villanova will retire the No. 1 jersey of six-time National Basketball Association All-Star and USA Basketball Olympic gold medalist Kyle Lowry. Prior to the contest, the Wildcats will celebrate the class of 2020 with "Senior Night" recognition. Guard Tim Saunders (Del Mar, Cal.) and six student managers/office assistants will be honored in a ceremony that begins at approximately 6:10 p.m.
 
On Saturday, the Wildcats produced one of their best defensive efforts of the 2019-20 regular season, holding Xavier to 55 points. Villanova also got timely offense from sophomore Saddiq Bey (22 points) and junior Jermaine Samuels, who supplied 17 points and eight rebounds.
 
In a physical contest where points weren't all that easy to come by, Samuels used a series of moves near the basket to help the Wildcats keep the Musketeers at bay.
 
"Jermaine does a lot of things for us," noted Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "He has a variety in a lot of things he does for us. Jermaine is a very unique person. He can defend in various ways, rebound in various ways and shoot in various ways."
 
Villanova defeated St. John's 79-59 when the two teams collided on Jan. 28 at Madison Square Garden. In that win, Bey tallied 23 points while junior Collin Gillespie added 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Perhaps most important of all, Villanova mostly handled the full court defensive heat favored by St. John's (14-13 overall, 3-11 BIG EAST). Nova committed 13 turnovers in that meeting.
 
"They can get after you and have great quickness," said Wright. "It's organized pressure that's tough to handle."
 
With four regular season games remaining, Villanova sits in third place in the BIG EAST behind Seton Hall (12-3) and Creighton (11-4). This game and Saturday's date at the Wells Fargo Center with Providence (9-6 in league play) represent the final two Villanova home games of the season.
 
Next week, Villanova visits Seton Hall on Wednesday and then closes out the regular season at Georgetown on March 7 in Washington, D.C.
 
For now, though, the 'Cats vision extends no further than Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. and the Red Storm.
 
The 2019-20 season – Villanova's 100^th college basketball campaign – is presented by Hartford Funds and Coca-Cola.