VILLANOVA, Pa. — The positive vibes lasted all of 10 minutes for St. John’s on Saturday. Then, reality hit in the form of an avalanche of 3-pointers and an aimless half-court offense.

All the optimism from the blowout victory Monday over Seton Hall quickly dissolved. St. John’s wasn’t going to pull off another upset. Instead, the disappointment that had preceded the win over the Pirates returned in a 73-62 loss to Villanova.

The No. 14 Wildcats rode a 16-0, first-half run to the easy victory at jammed Finneran Pavilion. Julian Champagnie’s shooting struggles continued, Posh Alexander was ineffective, and the press, which worked so well against Seton Hall, was sliced apart by the sharpshooting Wildcats.

“We allowed their guys to really use the 3-point line as a weapon, which we know that’s the strength of their basketball team,” St. John’s coach Mike Anderson said. “In terms of staying with their people, we didn’t do a good job of that. We did a much better job of that in the second half.”

By then, with the offense unable to get back on track, it was too late.

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Villanova (16-5, 9-2 Big East) made it a half-court game, and St. John’s (11-8, 3-5) struggled mightily on the offensive end. The Red Storm were stagnant, settling for poor shots. They were unable to get into the paint. Possessions frequently lacked direction and cohesion, ending in desperation drives as the shot clock wound down.

Champagnie’s slump continued in the form of a nine-point performance, his third straight game in single digits after 47 in a row scoring at least 10 points. He was 0-for-4 from 3-point range and is 4-for-23 from deep in his last five games.

“He’s getting shots. He’s just got to be able to knock them down,” Anderson said after his team fell to 1-6 in Quad 1 games. “I [have] got all the faith in him. It’ll come to him. … Obviously, we need that scoring punch he gives us.”

The junior wasn’t alone. The Red Storm were 4-for-21 from 3-point range. They shot a worse percentage from the free-throw line (47.1 percent) than Villanova did from 3-point range (47.8). Only Montez Mathis scored in double figures, finishing with 14 points.

“We didn’t make ours, and they made theirs,” Anderson said. “People don’t talk about their defense [enough]. Their defense is pretty good.”

Villanova shot just 30 percent from the field in the second half, and it didn’t matter. St. John’s couldn’t get closer than nine until the final minutes, and never threatened.

Afterward, Anderson said he was encouraged by the finish, but it was cosmetic. The Wildcats were on cruise control.

St. John’s did start well, holding Villanova to four points and 1-for-9 shooting over the first 7:20. The Red Storm held a six-point lead. Then, everything went wrong.

Villanova got hot from deep. St. John’s threw the ball away. The Wildcats beat the pressure and used it against the Red Storm, working the ball around the perimeter for wide-open looks. The lead didn’t just vanish, Villanova nearly ran away with it and hid. The Wildcats ripped off that 16-0 run and led by as many as 18, torching St. John’s from beyond the arc. The lead was 14 at the half, and the result was all but determined.

“With [their] pressure, you have to [make them pay] to be good against them,” said Villanova’s star guard, Collin Gillespie, who scored a game-high 17 points.