Instant Replay: No. 3 Villanova 70, St. Johns 57

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NEW YORK – Red-shirt freshman Donte DiVincenzo came off the bench to score a career-high 19 points, and No. 3 Villanova escaped Madison Square Garden with a sloppy 70-57 win over St. John’s in a Big East game Saturday.
 
DiVincenzo, whose previous career high was 13, was 7 for 10 from the field and 3 for 5 from 3. He aded three rebounds and two assists.
 
Villanova’s five starters combined to shoot 13 for 37 from the field and 4 for 16 from 3. The bench was 11 for 17 and 3 for 5.
 
National championship game hero Kris Jenkins missed his first nine shots and his first seven threes before finally burying a three with 4:55 left.
 
Villanova’s lead was as small as five with 6:31 left at 53-48 before the Wildcats closed on a 17-9 run.
 
What it means

Villanova improved to 17-1 overall and 5-1 in th Big East. The Wildcats have now won three straight games since their only loss of the year, at Butler on Jan. 4. They’re 35-3 in their last 38 games.
 
In four years with Hart and Jenkins on campus, they are a combined 114-14. That’s not only the most wins in Division 1 since the start of the 2013-2014 season, it’s also the highest winning percentage (.891).
 
With its fourth straight loss, St. John’s fell to 8-11 overall and 2-4 in the Big East.
 
Stat of the day 
In the game’s first 34 minutes, Villanova’s bench – namely DiVincenzo (6) and Eric Paschall (4) – had more baskets than all five Villanova starters combined (9).
 
Turning point
St. John’s led by six late in the first half when DiVincenzo came off the bench and hit two threes and a drive to the hoop in a four-minute span to highlight a 17-4 run.
 
By the numbers
• Hart shot just 4 for 13 and 2 for 6 for 11 points. Mikal Bridges added 10 points, three rebounds and two steals for the Wildcats. Jenkins finished 1 for 10 from the field and 1 for 7 from three but had six rebounds.

• Malik Ellison, a native of Voorhees and graduate of Life Center Academy in Burlington City, scored 10 points for the Red Storm. Shamorie Ponds scored 13 and Marcus Lovett and Bashir Ahmed scored 10 each for St. John’s.

• Villanova outrebounded St. John’s, 31-19.

• Jalen Brunson had a career-high seven of Villanova’s 20 turnovers.
 
What's next
After one day off, Villanova is back on campus for a Monday night game against Seton Hall. Tip-off is 6:30 p.m. It will be Villanova’s first meeting with Seton Hall since the Pirates beat the Wildcats in the Big East championship game at the Garden last year.

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