Villanova's four-game winning steak came to an end Saturday afternoon, along with its unblemished Big East record, in an 81-71 loss to St. John's.

Villanova once again suffered through a terrible start, missing its first five shots and spotting St. John’s a 10-0 lead. The Wildcats didn’t hit their first basket until TJ Bamba connected on a three at the 16:18 mark.

The ‘Cats struggled at both ends of the court, with the missed shots and turnovers compounding defensive issues as Villanova had trouble getting matched up defensively in transition. The Johnnies took advantage, pushing the lead to 15 with 9:03 to play in the first half.

Villanova played much better over the final nine minutes of the half. The ‘Cats outscored St. John’s 15-8 over the final 7:12 of the period, closing the half on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to a manageable six heading into the break.

Turnovers and second-chance points were key issues for ‘Nova in the first half. The ‘Cats committed eight turnovers, which St. John’s turned into 14 points (‘Nova scored four points on five Red Storm turnovers). Despite pulling down seven offensive rebounds to just four for St. John’s, the Johnnies took much better advantage of their extra opportunities, outscoring the ‘Cats 9-2 in second-chance points.

Villanova was unable to carry that momentum into the second half, with St. John’s scoring 10 of the first 12 points of the period, building its lead back to 14 four minutes into the half. A 9-2 push from ‘Nova cut the deficit to seven, but St. John’s doubled Villanova up 16-8 over the next six minutes to reestablish a 15-point advantage. The Wildcats tried to hang in there but would never truly threaten again before falling by 10 points.

It was a rough performance at both ends. ‘Nova shot just 39% overall and 21% from three, while St. John’s connected on 48% overall and 44% from deep. The Wildcats actually won the offensive rebounding battle 11-9 and committed 11 turnovers to 12 for St. John’s. But the Red Storm did a much better job taking advantage of those opportunities, outscoring ‘Nova 18-11 in points off turnovers and 16-8 in second-chance points. Ultimately, the poor start was too much too overcome.

A pair of bright spots for ‘Nova were Bamba and Mark Armstrong. Bamba finished with 23 points on 8-14 shooting, seven rebounds, four steals, an assist and a block. Armstrong added 14 points, four rebounds and three assists. Brendan Hausen didn’t produce a ton on the stat sheet (five points, one rebound, one assist, one steal) but was a team-high +15, one of only three Wildcats to produce a positive +/-.

With the loss, Villanova falls into a tie atop the Big East standings with UConn, St. John’s and Seton Hall. The ‘Cats will look to get back on track Friday against DePaul.