Rapid ascent of Dunlap not yet slowing down

VILLANOVA, Pa. — From out of the rotation to into the starting lineup.

Freshman wing Brady Dunlap has suddenly become a key part of this St. John’s team.

After his surprise contributions to a victory over Butler on Tuesday, he was even better in Saturday’s 81-71 win over Villanova at Finneran Pavilion. Dunlap scored a career-high 15 points in 31 quality minutes — including a 3-pointer that iced the game with 2:42 left, pushing the lead to 13.

“It’s one of the best feelings ever,” Dunlap said after St. John’s won at Villanova’s on-campus arena for the first time since 1993. “You work in the offseason, you wake up early in the morning, you do all that to hit that shot right there. I just credit all my teammates. If you watched the whole play, a lot of ball movement.

“[Nahiem Alleyne] catches it in the middle. He’s hit that mid-range shot a ton of times, but he trusted to give me the ball in the corner. I’m so appreciative of him to trust the freshman to take that shot and make it.”

Starting in place of injured power forward Chris Ledlum, Dunlap hit five of eight shots and sank three 3-pointers. He’s developing into an offensive weapon. His teammates have seen it in practices. But now it is happening in games.

“I feel like with him it’s a confidence thing, getting his feet wet in games and believing in himself, because we believe in him,” Joel Soriano said.

Before the Butler game, Dunlap had scored 18 points all season. He hadn’t appeared in the previous four games. Now, as Big East play is really getting going, he’s becoming a significant piece to coach Rick Pitino’s first St. John’s team.

“I would say it’s a surprise just given the way the trajectory of the season was going for myself,” Dunlap

said. “At the same time, I never lost my confidence in who I am as a player.” ➤ Chris Ledlum (sprained ankle) has missed two of the past three games. He reinjured the ankle against Butler on Tuesday. Pitino said the swelling has gone down, but the ankle is still weak.

“We have screwed up so much in certain situations by trying to bring guys back a little too early,” Pitino said. “The trainer said he’ll play, but he’s only 50 percent. I said, ‘Well, he’s not playing then.’ ”

His status for Wednesday’s game at the Garden against Providence is uncertain.