Things looked dire for the 'Cats but they were able to survive and advance.
After a poor first half shooting performance, the Villanova Wildcats bounced back in the second half to beat the Red Storm 66–65 in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.
With two seconds remaining, Villanova senior Brandon Slater threw two clutch free throws off the line to give the Wildcats a 66-65 lead. The Johnnys tried to respond with a desperate half-court, but it was way off the mark.
Slater, who decided the game in the final seconds, was not surprised when the Johnnys lined him up and attempted to snow his second free-throw with a timeout.
"We work on free throws every day in practice," Slater said. “So when I step up to my teammates and coaches, they were telling me, we do this every single day. He gave me that confidence and I managed to drop it.
Fellow senior Caleb Daniels led the scoring attack for the 'Nova', contributing 19 points and seven rebounds. Daniels was promoted to the starting lineup after news of Jermaine Samuels' back spasm while usually coming off the bench.
He made a massive move and didn't panic when his team got off to a slow start.
"We practice situations like this every day," Daniels said. "So we know we're going to fight for each other — every right, one right at a time, one stop at a time. And we're going to take it out of every game."
And Villanova undoubtedly had to work hard to get back in the game, as the 'Cats' shot 23% off the ground in the first half and fell 17 points in the second half with 15:38.
However, towards the end of the second half, the Wildcats began to rapidly break through Red Storm's press, converting to good looks, and relying on their upper-class men.
Just 31 seconds after St John's took their biggest lead, 'Nova started 21-6, ignited by a Justin Moore 3-pointer and closed with two foul shots from Daniels. His free throw put Villanova up 51-50 for the first lead of the game, with 8:11 remaining.
Along with Daniels, Colin Gillespie and Moore were also in double digits for the Wildcats, scoring 15 and 14 respectively.
Villanova's head coach was impressed, but not surprised, by the performance of their more senior leaders.
“We just took it hard,” Wright said. “Our upper class guys were great down the stretch, Colin made some big plays. The slate was great. And Caleb hit some big shots. I'm just proud of these people."
One leader who was not at full strength for Villanova was Samuels, as his injury prevented him from entering the starting lineup.
"The trainer said he couldn't move," Wright said. "He didn't even come out to start the game. He wasn't on the bench at the start of the game. We were ready to go without him.
"And then he just appeared on the bench. I don't know what the time was, but whenever he came I put him in the game. And we just said let's see what he looks like."
Samuels eventually returned to the game in the second half, still scoring eight rebounds and seven points in his limited performance.
For St John's, junior Julian Champagne shone, but his 23 points and nine rebounds weren't enough.
"I think we gave it our all," said Champagne. "We worked hard. And I wouldn't change that for anything."
While St. Johns was clearly an underdog in this matchup, Coach Wright never underestimated Johnnys.
"I mean, it's no surprise to us," Wright said. "We weren't disappointed in our game at all. If you saw [St. John's] last night, watch him last two games, he's playing great basketball. Credits for getting his team to play the way they are. Goes to Mike."
St John's head coach Mike Anderson was proud of his team, yet not thrilled with some of the calls made during the game.
"The thing I was more disappointed with tonight was the inconsistency of the free-throw line," Anderson said. "It happened here and it happened at his place. I thought our defense was very good. And that's the difference."
St John's season, a favorable nod on bar selection Sunday, has effectively ended.
With a close win, Villanova advanced to the semi-finals of the Big East tournament, where she will face Seton Hall or Yukon on Friday at 9 pm.