Moore scores 16 to help No. 15 Villanova hold off St John’s

By MIKE FITZPATRICK
AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Justin Moore scored 16 points on a sore ankle and No. 15 Villanova held off a furious late charge by St. John’s in a 75-69 victory at Madison Square Garden. Eric Dixon also had 16 points and the Wildcats overcame a scoreless outing by banged-up star Collin Gillespie to stay two losses behind first-place Providence in the Big East standings. Aaron Wheeler rallied the cold-shooting Red Storm with 31 points — 14 more than his previous career high. St. John’s trailed by 20 with under four minutes remaining but suddenly started making plays on both ends and trimmed the deficit to three before Villanova held on. Tareq Coburn missed a 3-pointer that could have tied it in the waning seconds.