NEW YORK– St. John’s loves to refer to Madison Square Garden as their house.

But top-seeded defending national champion Villanova staged a home invasion here last night, destroying the property during a 108-67 victory over the Red Storm in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament.

The Wildcats made a powerful statement, punishing St. John’s with the most lopsided win in tournament history. Redshirt freshman guard Donte DiVincenzo, who has owned the Johnnies in all three games the two teams have played, led the way with 25 points while forward Kris Jenkins had 24 and three other players– senior guard Josh Hart, the Big East Player of the Year; sophomore forward Eric Paschall, sophomore all-conference guard Jalen Brunson and 6-10 seldom used freshman center Dylan Painter contributed double figures for the Cats, who shot 63.2 percent and a blistering 19 for 24 (79.2 percent) when they scored 56 points in the second half.

What made the Cats’ win even more impressive was the fact promising sophomore forward Mikal Bridges only played a minute because he was suffering from a stomach virus.
This is a Villanova team that is starting to peak at the right time because coach Jay Wright has maxed out the players in his seven man rotation.

The Cats have played at less than full strength all season. They lost a potential 6-9 franchise center Omai Spellman in pre-season when the NCAA ruled he had to sit freshman year as an academic red shirt because he took five years to complete his core courses in prep school. They lost junior guard Phil Booth, who scored 20 points against North Carolina last year in the national championship game, to tendinitis.

“We have a next-man-up mentality,” Jenkins said. “We don’t want Mikal to go down or anybody. But our guys are ready. They’ve been put in this situation before They get more minutes, more minutes for E(ric), more minutes for Donte, more minutes for Dylan who played great for us today, gave us great minutes. Hopefully, we’ll get Mikal back for Seton Hall and get better.”

The Cats, to their credit, have rarely missed a beat, rolling to a 29-3 record and a fourth consecutive Big East regular season championship.

“When we didn’t have Omari, we thought, okay, we can handle that,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said.

“Then we didn’t have Phil. Then it got a little shaky. We said it’s going to take time to develop this. And you never know if it’s going to work.

“But we’ve actually developed, not us, these guys– Donte and Eric Paschall and Dylan Painter– our rotation. If they weren’t playing at the level they are, we wouldn’t be able to do it. And it really does give us the ability to stay fresh in tournaments.”

The Cats, who just two weeks ago looked gassed in a loss to visiting Butler, have gotten their second wind, getting to recharge their  batteries and refresh their legs by playing just one game in the past 12 days.

Given the fact Kansas lost to TCU in the Big 12 tournament yesterday, the Cats could be the No 1 seed overall in the NCAA tournament if they defeat Seton Hall in Friday night’s semi-final and then capture their second conference tournament championship in three years.

Villanova, whose biggest player is 6-8 senior Darryl Reynolds, has never allowed their size to be a disadvantage. The Cats overwhelmed the Johnnies inside, scoring 34 points in the paint.  “I felt good about our interior all year,” Wright claimed. “Kris, for as good a shooter as he is, could be our best post up player. Josh is good in the post. Brunson is good in the post. Part of that points in the paint comes from having good shooters and being able to drive the ball and get to the rim. So it’s a combination. I feel good about that. I feel good about our balance.”

The Cats won their first national championship in 31 years last spring without an NBA draft pick. Hart, Bridges, Brunson and possibly may have NBA careers in their future because none of them came to Villanova with a one and done mentality and have worked to improve their skills.

“When you look at the really, really good teams, Villanova being one of them, they’ve got experience,” St. John’s coach Chris Mullin said. “They’ve won and lost together and they’ve spent summers together.”