VILLANOVA, Pa. – After falling behind by 11 in the first half, Villanova leaned on its defense to outscore St. John's 60-34 on the way to a 78-63 victory over the Red Storm in its BIG EAST regular season opener Wednesday night at Finneran Pavilion. The win was the Wildcats' ninth in their past 10 conference openers.
 
Eric Dixon's 18 points led a balanced Villanova attack while the Wildcats limited St. John's to 27-of-75 field goal attempts (.360).
 
"That was a great team win," stated Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune, whose team won its fifth straight game. "St. John's is an extremely tough team to play against. They play a lot of different defenses and keep coming at you. I was really proud of how poised our guys played, especially in the back half of the first half into the second half."
 
The two teams set a crisp early pace through the first 5:32 with Villanova grabbing a 12-11 lead on a Jordan Longino 3-pointer. St. John's however reeled off an 8-0 run out of that timeout, forcing a pair of Wildcats turnovers to move out to a 19-12 lead.
 
The smooth offense continued for the Red Storm, helping it to build a 26-18 edge thanks to the shooting of Montez Mathis and AJ Storr, who combined for 16 of those points. Villanova, meanwhile, searched for a formula to slow the St. John's pace. When David Jones sank a 3-pointer form the wing, the Red Storm lead was 29-18 as the clock dipped below the six minute mark of the period.
 
"There is nothing you can do to practice how they play," Neptune noted. "We don't play like that and we don't have those types of guys. That style takes you a second to feel it. We've got young guys who've never played against that type of style. It took us a minute to get comfortable and understand what they were doing. That was definitely a reason we stopped turning the ball over."
 
With the Red Storm holding a 31-22 edge, Villanova found its groove, kicking off a 13-0 burst to close the first half. Five points from Brandon Slater helped key the spurt offensively while a defense that held St. John's without a field goal for the final 3:53 of the period - during which it was 0-of-6 from the field - allowed Villanova to take a 35-31 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Dixon's nine points led Nova in the first 20 minutes while Slater added seven points.
 
"We really rely on Eric and Slate, Chris (Arcidiacono) and Caleb to be that calming presence," said Neptune. "That's always the best way to go, leaning on the veterans."
 
A Dixon 3-pointer on the second offensive possession of the second half made it a 16-0 burst before two Joel Soriano free throws at the 18:24 mark stopped the surge. But Villanova kept the defensive heat on and that led to a Mark Armstrong slam off a steal and was followed by a Dixon basket inside to push the advantage to 47-37 after 4:18 of the second half.
 
Another huge boost came courtesy of sophomore Jordan Longino, who contributed 13 points on the night, connecting on all five of his field goal attempts. That was one point away from a career high for the native of Doylestown, Pa.
 
"There were times in the preseason when Jordan was healthy when he looked like he could be one of our best players," stated Neptune. "But then he was hobbled by injuries. He's gotten some time off recently. We've got to continue to manage him. When's he right, he's one of the more talented players on our team and in this league."
 
The Wildcats kept the Red Storm (11-2 overall, 1-1 BIG EAST) at arm's length the rest of the way, answering every push to narrow the margin. Joel Soriano paced St. John's with 17 points and 13 rebounds inside but were just 6-of-25 from beyond the 3-point arc (.240).
 
Villanova improved to 7-1 this season when holding opponents to below 70 points in a game.
 
Redshirt guard Angelo Brizzi was not in uniform due to a non-COVID illness.
 
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 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.