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Villanova Basketball: Takeaways from wire-to-wire win over St. John’s

By Michael Walton

VILLANOVA, PA - FEBRUARY 26: Saddiq Bey #41 of the Villanova Wildcats shoots the ball against the St. John's Red Storm in the second half at Finneran Pavilion on February 26, 2020 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The Villanova Wildcats defeated the St. John's Red Storm 71-60. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
VILLANOVA, PA - FEBRUARY 26: Saddiq Bey #41 of the Villanova Wildcats shoots the ball against the St. John's Red Storm in the second half at Finneran Pavilion on February 26, 2020 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The Villanova Wildcats defeated the St. John's Red Storm 71-60. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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Villanova Basketball
VILLANOVA, PA – FEBRUARY 26: Jermaine Samuels #23 of the Villanova Wildcats (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

Villanova Basketball picked up a solid win on Wednesday, avoiding an upset loss to St. John’s as they continue their pursuit of the Big East title.

Villanova Basketball took down St. John’s Red Storm in a solid 71-60 win on Wednesday night, a victory that brings them one step closer to chasing down Seton Hall for first place in the Big East. The Wildcats sit at 11-4 in conference play entering Thursday morning and have been playing great as of late, winning five straight games.

Villanova basketball head coach Jay Wright has group locking in at right time, with March creeping up on us as conference tourney season nears. St. John’s is among the dregs of the Big East but nonetheless, put up a solid fight on Wednesday. The Red Storm capitalized on some early sloppy play from the Wildcats and got enough the boards to go into the half trailing by a respectable 2 points.

https://twitter.com/BIGEASTMBB/status/1232819682853388288

Things changed in a big way after the break and Villanova settled down on offense and on defense, held St. John’s to 26 points.

While the Wildcats were truly never scared on Wednesday, St. John’s never went away and made sure Villanova truly earned the win. With the win, Villanova is tied with Creighton, one game back of Big East-leading Seton Hall with three games to go. It was even more special for the Wildcats to pick up the win on the same night that the university was retiring the jersey of alum and NBA champion Kyle Lowry, and they certainly received some gutsy, Lowry-like performances from several players on their team.

Guard Collin Gillespie and forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl combined to shoot 2-for-13 from the field yet both still have positive impacts on the game for Villanova. And though the defensive effort made this a team-win, there was a familiar face at the forefront of the Wildcats’ win in double-digit scorer Saddiq Bey.

So with the Villanova basketball still firmly entrenched in their tight race for the Big East title, what were our takeaways from their win over St. John’s?