VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova used a late spurt to pull away from St. John's to post a 71-60 BIG EAST victory in the final regular season game of 2019-20 Wednesday at Finneran Pavilion. The No. 12/12 Wildcats (22-6 overall, 11-4 BIG EAST) led 53-51 at the 8:02 mark before outscoring the Red Storm 18-9 to register the victory.
 
Maryland natives Saddiq Bey (23) and Justin Moore (21) combined for 44 points. Junior Jermaine Samuels spearheaded a strong night on the glass with 10 caroms as Nova outrebounded St. John's 46-31, improving to 16-1 on the season when collecting more rebounds than their opponent.
 
The Red Storm dropped to 14-14 overall, 3-12 BIG EAST.
 
At halftime, Villanova retired the No. 1 jersey of six-time NBA All-Star and 2019 NBA champion Kyle Lowry.
 
"I'm happy," stated Wildcats head coach Jay Wright. "I know it was ugly but St. John's deserves a lot of credit. They're in the top five in the country in turning teams over. You know that's what it's going to be. We finished with 13 turnovers, had nine at halftime. It's just what they do. No matter how hard you try to prepare, they're good at it.
 
"We survived, we learn from it and we move on."
 
Some accurate shooting from distance in the game's early minutes helped Villanova craft a 14-4 lead as Bey and Moore both dropped in a pair of 3-pointers. Three steals by the Red Storm helped it shave the deficit to 21-16 after a baseline jumper by Marcellus Earlington with 7:42 to play in the period.
 
However, the Wildcats were able to extend their advantage to 35-22 after a Cole Swider 3-pointer and pair of Collin Gillespie free throws. But St. John's pressure defense ignited a 10-0 burst that drew it back to within 35-32 in the final minute of the half. The Wildcats were without a field goal in the final 3:12 of the half. When Rasheem Dunn dropped in a driving basket and added a free throw it was 36-34.
 
That's where matters stood at intermission.
 
"We had a 13-point lead in the first half and we just got into a funk offensively," Wright noted. "We missed a couple of free throws. They make you tentative. We were attacking the basket hard, making extra passes but then we got tentative."
 
After St. John's tied the game at 36 early in the period, Bey led the Wildcats on a 10-0 run to move the lead back to double digits after 3:49 of the second half.
 
"We kind of regrouped at halftime," stated Wright. "Saddiq got it going a little bit."
 
Yet the Red Storm clamped down at the defensive end and when Dunn converted a traditional 3-point play at 8:02, it was a two-point contest (53-51).
 
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl sank seven free throws and Moore supplied additional firepower to slowly allow the Wildcats to extend their margin. Yet the sellout crowd of 6,501 couldn't quite exhale until the final two minutes.
 
The final score was 71-60.
 
After the game, Lowry was in the Finneran Pavilion named in his honor with the current edition of the Wildcats.
 
"We talked about his toughness and competitiveness," Wright said. "It's something our young guys have to learn. We learned a lesson against St. John's tonight."
 
Prior to the game, the Wildcats honored lone senior Tim Saunders and six student managers and office assistants for their contributions to the program over the last four seasons.
 
Villanova concludes the home portion of its regular season slate Saturday when it hosts Providence at noon at the Wells Fargo Center.
 
The 2019-20 season – Villanova's 100^th college basketball campaign – is presented by Hartford Funds and Coca-Cola.