Villanova rolls over St. John's, 108-67, in Big East tournament opener

NEW YORK — Villanova played its first postseason game Thursday as the defending national champion, a status that normally would ratchet up the pressure, the attention and the target that has followed the Wildcats around all year.

Instead, the second-ranked Cats played their opening game in the Big East tournament against St. John's as if they were saying "What pressure?" for the entire 40 minutes.

The conference's regular-season champions were sharp from the outset against weary St. John's, racing out to a 26-point halftime lead, shooting 63 percent from the field, getting 52 points from their bench and drubbing the Red Storm, 108-67, in a quarterfinal matchup at Madison Square Garden.

The Wildcats (29-3) advanced to the semifinals Friday night against fifth-seeded Seton Hall, an 82-76 winner over No. 4 seed Marquette. It will be a rematch of last year's Big East Tournament final won, 69-67, by the Pirates, whom 'Nova has defeated twice this season by a total of 52 points.

In establishing a season high for points, Villanova played with focus and purpose against the Red Storm (14-19), a team that was feeling the effects of a tough, grind-it-out 74-73 win over Georgetown in the opening round Wednesday night. The Wildcats, who watched the second half of that game together at their hotel, took nothing for granted.

"We kept playing and that's the biggest thing about this game," said Josh Hart, who had 15 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.

"A lot of times during the season, we'll get big leads and then we'll think, 'this possession isn't that important' or 'this possession isn't that important,' and those possessions add up. We'll have a 20-point lead and then in four or five minutes, it'll be a two-point lead. So to play how we did, a full 40 minutes, was great."

Although the Cats were shorthanded again after starter Mikal Bridges left the game after less than two minutes with a stomach virus, they quickly established the tone. They held St. John's scoreless for six minutes to lead by 15 midway through the period, then converted six of their last seven shots — including Kris Jenkins' buzzer-beating 35-footer — to hold a 52-26 advantage at the break.

Villanova played the entire first half without committing a foul.

"That was a pretty good effort for us defensively," coach Jay Wright said. "Again, that is maturity. It's experience. The whole team watched the [St. John's] game together. If you're not prepared for that game, you're not really paying attention."

For the third time this season against St. John's, redshirt freshman Donte DiVincenzo recorded a career high, this time with 25 points including 5-of-6 shooting from three-point range. Jenkins also drilled five threes and scored 24 points to go with six assists.

A major contribution came from freshman Dylan Painter, who made all seven of his shots — three field goals, four free throws — and scored 10 points, equaling as many points as he scored in his 19 games before Thursday. He chipped in with six rebounds, tying Hart for game high.

Combined with Eric Paschall's 17 points and DiVincenzo's output, the Wildcats scored 52 bench points, their most of the season.

"Josh and Kris and Jalen [Brunson] did an amazing job of finding me," DiVincenzo said. "The defense collapsed when they had the ball and a lot of eyes turned, and I just found my way into their vision and they did a great job finding me."

The Wildcats never were in danger in the second half; their 79 percent shooting assured them they would continue on at the Garden.