Final Score: Villanova 73, St. John's 71
 
Overview
 
Sophomore guard Tyler Perkins dropped in a 3-point field goal from the right wing with just over nine seconds left to help lift Villanova past No. 9 St. John's 73-71 Wednesday night at a sold out Finneran Pavilion.
 
The Red Storm had one final possession to tie the game or possibly take the lead but the Wildcats came up with the biggest stop of the night and walked off with their third Finneran Pavilion victory over an Associated Press Top 25 team this season (Cincinnati and UConn were the others.) It's the first time that has happened since the 2004-05 season.
 
"It's a tough loss for us," stated St. John's head coach Rick Pitino. "That was a great game. Our guys played hard. (Villanova) is one of the best shooting teams in the country. We weren't able to stop their shooting."
 
The Wildcats connected on 11-of-24 from beyond the 3-point arc (.458) and held their own against the BIG EAST's top rebounding team, losing the battle of the boards 33-27. The first half offense of senior Wooga Poplar (22 points) and some clutch second half work from Eric Dixon (17 points and four assists) were also instrumental to the win.
 
"I'm really proud of our guys' effort," said Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune. "That's a very tough team. I give them a lot of credit – they're fighters. I thought we played extremely tough early and played through some things we knew we would have to deal with going into the game. We settled in and got to it defensively."
 
Poplar's First Half Firepower
 
St. John's has been one of the BIG EAST's stingiest defensive team through its first 13 games. Villanova entered this contest having held its last three opponents to 59.7 points per game.
 
Yet those defensive credentials were tested early. St. John's sank a trio of 3-pointers while Villanova got its first six points from Wooga Poplar. When Jordan Longino sank a triple, the game was tied at 13 after 5:40 of action.
 
Poplar's offense (10 points) with some help from Jordan Longino (five points) helped the Wildcats grab a 19-16 lead with 12:01 to play in the first half.
 
Longino's Lift
 
Longino's work as a ball-handler and his mid-range game helped the Wildcats extend their margin to 29-22 through the first 12:06 of this contest. At that point Villanova had connected on 11-of-16 field goal attempts (.688).
 
Villanova forced four Red Storm turnovers and picked up a 3-pointer from Tyler Perkins to push the lead to 32-22.
 
But St. John's – fueled by its work on the offensive glass – used an 8-0 spurt to close the gap to 32-29 before a Jhamir Brickus jumper to push the lead to 34-29 with less than a minute to play in the first half.
 
The Red Storm answered with another 3-pointer to pull within 34-32 with 20.3 seconds left in the period. Eric Dixon misfired on a triple try and that's where the contest stood at intermission.
 
Poplar paced Nova with 13 points while Longino added nine points. Aaron Scott led St. John's with 10 points while Simeon Wilcher added nine points. St. John's owned an 18-13 edge on the boards and was fortified by eight offensive caroms, helping it overcome a .367 shooting effort over the first 20 minutes.
 
Second Act
 
St. John's scored the first five points of the second half to move back on top, 37-34. But Poplar's firepower, which included a 3-pointer from the left wing, helped the 'Cats move in front, 42-39 with 17:16 to play in the period.
 
The Wildcats were able to use defensive pressure and some offensive firepower from Perkins to extend their lead to 59-48 with just over 11 minutes remaining. St. John's, however, turned up the full court pressure and scored the game's next nine points to cut the deficit to 59-58 with 8:06 on the second half clock.
 
The game remained tense the rest of the way. Villanova inched its lead to 70-66 with 2:27 left but the Red Storm scored the next five points, including a Simeon Wilcher 3-pointer with 28 seconds on the clock, to grab a 71-70 lead.
 
That set up Perkins' final possession heroics.
 
"We had a play set," said Neptune of the final offensive possession. "But we said if they blitz it and are trapping, go make a play. I thought about calling a timeout, but I thought it was better being a broken play. They're really good when they have a chance to get set. We just trusted the guys to make a play."
 
"I felt good," said Perkins, who was 4-of-5 from beyond the arc in this contest and is 8-of-10 from deep in the last two games. "My teammates are putting me in position to be helpful.
 
"I'm just glad we got the win. If it was me shooting or Eric or Jordan shooting, it really doesn't matter to me. It feels good that we won."
 
Up Next
 
Villanova travels north to Providence for a clash with the Friars at 6 p.m. Saturday (CBS Sports Network and the Villanova Sports Network on IHeart).