Tyler Perkins’ game-winning three leads Villanova to 73-71 upset of No. 9 St. John’s

Two nights ahead of Valentine’s Day, the Villanova men’s basketball team gave its fans a Big East upset they had to love.

Hosting No. 9 St. John’s, the Wildcats’ Tyler Perkins sank a three-point shot with nine seconds left to wipe out a one-point deficit and give Villanova a 73-71 victory Wednesday night at Finneran Pavilion.

The Wildcats (15-10, 8-6 Big East) snapped St. John’s 10-game winning streak and dropped the Red Storm’s record to 21-4, 12-2.

With Villanova down by one with 28 seconds left, the Wildcats had one final possession to secure the upset. The ball landed in the hands of Perkins, and the sophomore guard put up the eventual winning shot.

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From there, it was a matter of getting a singular stop. St. John’s guard Simeon Wilcher missed a three-pointer with one second left to secure Villanova’s third win over a ranked team this season.

“I’m just more glad we got the win,” Perkins said, “If it was me shooting, Eric [Dixon] shooting, it doesn’t matter. We got the win.”

Long before St. John’s lost on a three-point shot, the Red Storm put on a three-point clinic, hitting 5-for-11 from behind the arc in the first 8 minutes and 18 seconds of the game.

“It felt like they went 7-for-7 [from three] to start the game,” Wildcats coach Kyle Neptune said. “I’m just happy we were able to [survive] that run.”

Senior guard Wooga Poplar scored the Wildcats’ first six points, and his teammates slowly started to fall in line..

St. John’s helped the Villanova cause with five turnovers in a 3:50 stretch, and Perkins ended a Wildcats scoring drought of nearly three minutes with a three-pointer that started a 7-0 run put them up 32-22 with 5:47 left in the first half.

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St. John’s finally snapped its scoring drought after a three-pointer from Sadiku Ibine Ayo that sparked a 7-0 run. Villanova took a 34-32 lead into halftime.

The second half was about keeping composure. Villanova saw an 11-point lead erased when three turnovers contributed to a 14-1 run that gave St. John’s a 62-59 lead with 6:22 left. But the Wildcats refused to surrender.

Back-to-back threes from Eric Dixon had the home crowd going bananas as Villanova regained its lead to go up 68-64 with 3:22 left to play.

“Teams are just bullying Eric,” Neptune said. “ … So much attention is going toward him, and other guys are getting open, so, you know, he does a good job.”

But it didn’t take long for Villanova to fall into the same scoring drought pattern. The Wildcats had a two-minute scoring drought, while the Red Storm scored on four of its last seven field goal attempts.

Yet, the Wildcats kept their composure.

“I think we have a big-time team,” Neptune said. “I think our guys know that on any given day we come out, we play harder together, we can win.”

Villanova ended the night shooting 53% from the field and going 11-for-24 from deep, while St. John’s shot 44.3% from the field and 11-for-37 from behind the arc.

Poplar dropped a team-high 22 points, going 9-for-14 from the field, including 2-for-4 on three-pointers.

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But Poplar wasn’t entirely alone in his efforts. Dixon made some noise in the second half, scoring 12 of his 17 points in the second half. Perkins (12 points) and Jordan Longino (13) also scored in double figures for the Wildcats. Graduate guard Jhamir Brickus chipped in with five points and five assists.

St. John’s was led by Aaron Scott’s 22 and Kadary Richmond’s 17.

St. John’s leading scorer, RJ Luis, who entered Wednesday’s game averaging 17.6 points, was unusually quiet, dropping 12 points, all in the second half. Wilcher also scored 12 points.

Villanova will take the court again Saturday against Providence (11-13, 5-8) at Amica Mutual Pavilion (6 p.m., CBS). The Wildcats defeated the Friars, 75-73, in their previous meeting on Jan. 17.