Dwight Hardy continued to make his case for Big East Player of the Year with a career-high 34 points to lead No. 25 St. John’s past No. 14 Villanova, 81-68, in Philadelphia on Saturday.

D.J. Kennedy added 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Red Storm (19-9, 11-5 Big East), who won their sixth straight and sixth game over a ranked team this season.

Corey Stokes scored 20 points for the Wildcats (21-8, 9-7), who have dropped two in a row and four of six. They could slip all the way down to .500 in the conference with their final two games on the road at No. 9 Notre Dame and No. 6 Pittsburgh.

Villanova got within 65-64 with 4:00 left but could not find a way to stop Hardy from getting into the lane. The senior guard scored eight points in the final 3:20 as St. John’s closed with a 16-4 burst to pull away.

The Red Storm jumped out strong, opening up an 18-4 gap after the first 5:06, but Stokes hit three 3-pointers to help bring Villanova back to within 41-37 at the break.