It didn’t come without some unnecessary stress, but Villanova was able to earn a 75-69 win over St. John’s on Tuesday night.

“Great road win,” Jay Wright said. “Big East game, they’re never gonna quit. I was proud of our guys sticking it out.”

The teams played a tight first half. St. John’s led by one with 15:04 to go in the period before ‘Nova used a 7-0 run to go up six. From there the Wildcats kept the Johnnies at arm’s length but also didn’t open a ton of separation. St. John’s would close within four while the ‘Cats would lead by as many as nine before taking a six-point lead into the break.

The first half was a near 180 from the first meeting between the teams. Eric Dixon continued his strong play, helping ‘Nova flip the script on the inside with 12 first-half points. Brandon Slater and Caleb Daniels also did a great job attacking the rim, and as a result the ‘Cats had a 20-8 advantage in points in the paint. They shot 62.5% on 2-point attempts while St. John’s hit just 30%. It was the 3-point line that was keeping the Johnnies in the game, as they were +6 from beyond the arc in the first half.

St. John’s opened the second-half scoring with a 3 to pull within three, but the ‘Cats answered with a 13-0 run to break things open. St. John’s would close to within 10 after stopping the Villanova run and would get within 10 several times over the next few minutes. But a 10-1 ‘Nova push ran the lead back to 20 with 4:27 to play and it looked like the ‘Cats would cruise to a win.

St. John’s had other ideas and would set to work giving Nova Nation a heart attack. The lead remained 17 with 3:08 to play before St. John’s ripped off an 8-0 run to pull within nine with 1:59 left. A pair of Slater free throws stopped the bleeding and pushed the lead back to 11 with 1:50 to play, but St. John’s ripped off another frantic 10-2 push over the next 1:15 to close within three with just 35 seconds left. A Villanova turnover on the ensuing possession gave St. John’s the ball with the chance to tie the game. Tareq Coburn missed from 3 and Jermaine Samuels pulled down the rebound with 12 seconds left. Samuels calmly hit two free throws to extend the lead to five and a Slater steal would seal the game as he hit 1-2 free throws with three seconds on the clock. Villanova was able to escape with a six-point win.

Just to go over exactly what transpired over the final four-and-a-half minutes: after ‘Nova took a 20-point lead with 4:27 to play, the ‘Cats were outscored 23-9. They were outscored 18-7 over the final 3:08. After scoring 46 points over the first 36:14 of the game, St. John’s scored 23 points over the final 3:46. Villanova committed seven turnovers over the final 3:54. St. John’s outscored Villanova 18-3 in points off turnovers in the second half.

“It’s just amazing,” Wright said. “I don’t know what to say. I gotta watch the film. I don’t know how two teams can play that way for 35 minutes and everything just completely changes.”

Now, it wasn’t all bad. Most importantly, ‘Nova was able to withstand the shaky ending and hold on for an important win. The ‘Cats were dominant inside, shooting 60.6% on 2-point attempts while holding St. John’s to 35.7%. They had a 40-22 advantage in points in the paint and did a decent job on the glass as St. John’s managed just a 12-10 edge in second-chance points.

It was also a strong defensive effort for the ‘Cats. Despite St. John’s shooting a whopping 21 more field goal attempts than ‘Nova the ‘Cats were able to get the win. A big part of that was the fact that ‘Nova held St. John’s to 32% shooting overall and 27.3% from 3.

“I do like where we are defensively,” Wright said. “I thought tonight we did a really good job. A lot of the points they got at the end were our turnovers. Our halfcourt defense when we were set, I thought was really good.”

Dixon continued his stellar play, finishing with 16 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. “He’s just playing great basketball,” Wright said of his big man. “He’s playing smart basketball, defending, rebounding, scoring, he knows our scouting reports as well as anybody. He’s just developed into a hell of a player. I’m really proud of him.”

Slater continued to look more like his early-season self, showing some aggressiveness offensively and hitting 6-9 shots for an efficient 15 points. He added seven rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block. Daniels made solid contributions as well, chipping in 13 points and seven rebounds.

In somewhat of a surprise, both Justin Moore and Collin Gillespie played despite dealing with ankle sprains. “They have not practiced,” Wright said. “They both really gutted it out. They came to us in warmups and said ‘we’re gonna try it.’”

Moore, a week removed from his sprain, willed his way to 16 points and five rebounds. Gillespie, meanwhile, just days removed from his injury, was held scoreless but grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and nabbed two steals, gutting his way to a team-high +15 despite the zero points. The performance was a testament to just how important he is to Villanova and all the ways he contributes to the team winning.

“His guts to play, the trainer told me he’s not gonna be able to play,” Wright said of Gillespie. “His presence is so important for us whether he’s scoring or not.”

Villanova played 35 minutes of pretty good basketball and then five minutes of awful basketball. Fortunately, the 35 minutes were enough and the ‘Cats got an important road win as it prepares to enter a difficult five-game stretch that includes three top 25 games. They would have liked the ending to go a bit differently, but they’ll take the win and will have some clear things to work on to keep the focus.

The ‘Cats will now prepare to host Seton Hall on Saturday.