Villanova controls the game and St. John’s in a 73-62 win

Villanova teams coached by Jay Wright have always been good at making opposing teams play the way the Wildcats want them to play.

That was necessary Saturday during one of the biggest clashes of styles college basketball will see all season. Let St. John’s dictate the tempo, and anything can happen.

The veteran Wildcats team ran their stuff, and at the other end made St. John’s work for every shot attempt.

It helps when the shots are falling, too.

No. 14 Villanova (16-5, 9-2 Big East) built a big lead behind 11 made three-pointers and held off St. John’s (11-8, 3-5), 73-62, Saturday inside Finneran Pavilion.

Collin Gillespie led three Wildcats in double figures with 17 points. Eric Dixon and Caleb Daniels each had 15.

There are 358 Division I men’s basketball teams. The analytics website KenPom had St. John’s third in adjusted tempo, and Villanova 356th.

Entering Saturday, St. John’s averaged 77.9 possessions per game, tied for the second most in the country. Villanova ranked 347th with 65.1.

But Villanova forced St. John’s to slow down. The Wildcats made it difficult early for St. John’s to get off quick shots, and their patience on the offensive end limited the Red Storm’s ability to get out in transition and run.

“It’s a hard game to play,” Wright said of playing against St. John’s, saying it’s difficult to prepare for in practice. “It doesn’t simulate their speed and quickness until you get on the floor with them, and it always takes you a couple minutes to settle in.”

St. John’s finished the game with 67 possessions, 11 below its average.

Pressure from St. John’s gave Villanova trouble early, and a game that featured a lot of missed shots and turnovers was tied at 17 with 8:39 on the first-half clock after St. John’s forward Joel Soriano dunked over Villanova’s Brandon Slater for the second time in the half.

But then the Wildcats got hot. A 19-2 run over the next 6 minutes, 25 seconds featured five made three-pointers — two by Justin Moore and Daniels and another by Gillespie — to blow the game open.

“We had a period there where we were good,” Wright said. “We had our heads up. We were moving the ball and making extra passes and getting shots. The rest of the game we were not.

“The pressure was getting to us. We had our heads down. We didn’t see open people. But you have to give them credit, that’s what they do.”

Villanova made 12 of its last 13 shots (nine three-pointers) from the field over the last 12:40 to close the first half with a 40-26 lead. The Red Storm, meanwhile, made just four of 13 shots after the 17-17 tie.

The Red Storm shot just 4-for-21 from beyond the arc during the game. Villanova made 11 of 23 attempts.

The second-place Wildcats have a chance to separate themselves from the rest of the pack in the Big East over the next two weeks.

They play in Milwaukee Wednesday night vs. No. 22 Marquette before hosting No. 20 Connecticut Saturday at Wells Fargo Center. A road game at St. John’s (Feb. 8) leads into a home game vs. Seton Hall (Feb. 12) and a visit to No. 17 Providence (Feb. 15), the Big East leader.

“You don’t have to say anything to these guys about it,” Wright said of his players. “They know.”

Villanova forward Bryan Antoine missed Saturday’s game with an ankle sprain suffered this week in practice.