VILLANOVA, Pa. – With the non-conference portion of its regular season in the books – and a riding a four-game winning streak – Villanova (6-5 overall) is set to open the BIG EAST season Wednesday night against St. John's (11-1 overall, 1-0 BIG EAST) at Finneran Pavilion. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m.
 
Tim Brando and Bill Raftery will have the national television call on FS1. Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby will be courtside to describe the action on the Villanova Sports Radio Network (IHeart Radio app and Sirius/XM channel 382 and 972 on the SXM app).
 
The Wildcats are the last of the 11 BIG EAST teams to play a league game in 2022-23. They will do so against a red-hot Red Storm unit that knocked off Florida State 93-79 Saturday to improve its non-conference mark to 10-1. Center Jose Soriano registered a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead St. John's in that one.
 
Meanwhile, Villanova captured a share of the Philadelphia Big Five title Saturday when it held off Saint Joseph's 71-64. The Wildcats' Eric Dixon – likely to be matched against Soriano much of the game Wednesday night – produced a double-double of his own in that one with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune liked the Wildcats' defensive work over the final 30 minutes Saturday on Hawk Hill.
 
"We tend to think about the stops more than the big shots," noted Neptune. "We know have talented players, guys who can make shots. I thought we had a number of stops and big-time rebounds in that game. There were a lot of scouting report things that we executed down the stretch against a really talented team. The way they shoot 3's is really hard to stop for any defense.
 
"Take out the first five or ten minutes and I thought our guys did a great job defensively."
 
The challenge ramps up against a Red Storm team that averages 80.9 points per game this season. It features an up-tempo attack with ball pressure that has already produced 186 turnovers this season (15.5 per outing). Soriano leads a balanced offense that includes four players averaging double figures in points per game (David Jones, Andre Curbelo and Montez Mathis are also in that bunch).
 
"We compete in the Big East and we take a lot of pride in that," stated Neptune.
 
"St. John's is a really tough team that gets into you defensively and plays extremely hard. They're formidable, a challenge for anyone that plays against them. What we're going to try to do is come out and play harder than them. That's our goal."
 
Villanova's exam week is at an end and the focus now turns to a BIG EAST slate that offers no shortage of challenges. After meeting the Red Storm and taking a short break for the Christmas holiday, the Wildcats will return to campus next week to prepare for a daunting week of battles against Top 25 competition. That stretch begins on Dec. 28 at No. 2 Connecticut and continues with a New Year's Eve afternoon home date against No. 24 Marquette at Finneran Pavilion.