VILLANOVA, Pa. – After a stirring Finneran Pavilion victory over No. 9 Connecticut, Villanova gets right back to it Saturday night when it meets the surging St. John’s Red Storm at Madison Square Garden.
“We enjoyed that (UConn) one for 15 hours,” said Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune. “We’re in a busy stretch. We’ve got another great test Saturday night against an outstanding team.”
Like Villanova (11-5 overall), St. John’s (13-3 overall), has won four of its first five BIG EAST games. Like the Wildcats, their only league loss came at Creighton. In the case of the Red Storm, it was a 57-56 decision. St. John’s picked up a road win Tuesday night at Xavier and received votes in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Saturday night’s game is set to tip just after 7 p.m. in Manhattan. CBS Sports Network will air the game nationally with Andrew Catalon, former Villanova head coach Steve Lappas, and Jon Rothstein on the call. The audio call can be found on the Villanova Sports Network on IHeart (Fox Sports Philadelphia and Sirius XM channel 389).
The Red Storm are listed at No. 20 in the advanced metrics of Ken Pomeroy as of Friday morning (+22.32). Their defensive efficiency numbers rank sixth in the nation (92.6 points per 100 possessions). Meanwhile, the Wildcats sit at No. 42 overall (+16.77) and tenth in the nation in offensive efficiency (122.5 points per 100 possessions).
In 16 outings thus far in 2024-25, the Wildcats have connected on 50 percent or more of their field goal attempts eight times. They connected on 50 percent or better from the field just six times in all of 2023-24.
In their last four games Villanova has committed just 20 turnovers. Jhamir Brickus, who handles the bulk of the ballhandling for the Wildcats, has 31 assists with only five turnovers in the five BIG EAST games played thus far.
When asked by a reporter what the reason for that ball security might be following Wednesday night’s win, senior guard Wooga Poplar replied, “we get the ball in (Jhamir’s) hands.”
Eric Dixon continues to lead the nation in scoring at 25.7 points per game and moved past Ed Pinckney into 11th place on the program’s all-time points list on Wednesday (1,882). Wooga Poplar has averaged 18 points and eight rebounds per game over his last four outings and is just six points shy of reaching the 1,000-point plateau for his college career.
St. John’s will provide a stress test, however. The Red Storm are second in the BIG EAST in steals (9.8 per game) and turnover margin (+4.8).
The Wildcats have won eight of their last nine games. Connecticut coach Dan Hurley took notice of the strides in his remarks in the press conference following the game.
“I don’t think many teams are going to win here (Villanova),” Hurley said. “They’re a good team. Dixon is obviously a bundle. Poplar looks like one of the best players in the league. Tough loss, but it’s hard to win against good teams in the league.”
For the Wildcats, the approach remains the same as it has been throughout 2024-25.
“We’ve just got to keep getting better,” Neptune stated. “It’s a long season and it’s the Big East. Everything is earned and we’re excited for another opportunity to compete.”
The Wildcats are scheduled to ride back to campus following the game Saturday evening. They will then have two days of practice to prepare for Tuesday night’s game at Xavier (6:30 p.m./FS1 and the Villanova Sports Network on IHeart).