‘Nova’s Moore injured, Perk product Arcidiacono steps up
Villanova coach Jay Wright took to Twitter to give an update on the status of guard Justin Moore. The news was not good.
“We are all praying for Justin Moore’s recovery,” Wright tweeted. “The evaluation is a severe ankle sprain. He will be doubtful for the Big East tournament.”
No other details were provided.
Moore, a 6-4 sophomore, turned his left ankle when he got tangled up with the David Duke of Providence with 5:37 to play in the first half of the Friars’ 54-52 victory over the Wildcats last Saturday. Moore did not return to the game and spent the second half in a walking boot.
It was the second injury to a starting guard in as many games for the 14thranked Wildcats. Three days earlier, senior point guard Collin Gillespie was lost for the season when he tore the MCL in his left knee in the first half of Villanova’s 7260 victory over Creighton last Wednesday. He is expected to have surgery sometime soon, possibly this week.
Moore is third on the team in scoring (12.7) and rebounding (4.3), and second in assists (3.0). He was expected to step into the point guard role but that plan had to be scrubbed when he went down against the Friars. The loss of both Moore and Gillespe leaves the Wildcats (16-5 overall) woefully thin in the backcourt heading into the Big
East tournament. Starter Caleb Daniels is the only other guard who has played significant minutes this year.
With Moore on the bench, Wright was forced to play little-used sophomores Chris Arcidiacono and Bryan Antoine for extended minutes against Providence. Arcidiacono, who finished off his scholastic career at Perkiomen School, played a career-high 25 minutes and Antoine saw a career-best 22 minutes. Wright credited Ar
cidiacono with settling the Wildcats down in the second half to help Villanova battled back and nearly pull out the victory.
“I thought Chris Arch did an incredible job,” Wright said after the game. “He was really good. He got us under control and brought energy to us defensively. I thought he was outstanding.”
The Wildcats are the top seed in the Big East tournament, which begins Wednesday. Villanova takes on the winner of Wednesday’s game between ninthseeded Georgetown at No. 8 Marquette in the quarterfinals on Thursday (Noon, FS1).
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The honors continue to mount for Gillespie and teammate Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.
Gillespie and Robinson Earl are among the 15 finalists for the John R. Wooden Award, given annually by the Los Angeles Athletic Club to the most outstanding player in college basketball.
The announcement was made Monday, one day after both were named to the AllBig East first team in a vote by the conference coaches.
Teammate Jermaine Samuels received honorable mention.
Robinson-Earl, a 6-9 sophomore forward, was one of two unanimous selections to the first team. The other was Seton Hall senior forward Sandro Mamukelashvili. Also named to the first team were Julian Champagnie (St. John’s), James Bouknight (Connecticut) and Marcus Zegarowski (Creighton).
The Big East Player of the Year will come from the first team. That award will be announced Wednesday.
Robinson-Earl leads the 14th-ranked Wildcats (165) in scoring (15.2) and rebounding (8.4). He is eighth and second, respectively, in those categories in the conference. He also ranks 11th in field goal percentage (48.3).
Gillespie was having the best season of his career before his campaign ended when he torn the MCL in his left knee against Creighton last week. The 6-3 senior guard averaged 14 points and ranked third in the Big East in assist at 4.6 per game.
Samuels had 21 points in Villanova’s 54-52 loss to Providence last Saturday. The 6-7 senior forward is averaging 11.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
In action Monday night: