Gillespie, Moore lead No. 6 Villanova past Saint Joe’s

VILLANOVA, PA. » Archbishiop Wood graduate Collin Gillespie scored 23 points to lead No. 6 Villanova to an 8152 victory over Saint Joseph’s on Saturday.

Justin Moore added 16 points and Abington grad Eric Dixon had 12 for the shorthanded Wildcats (6-2), who won their 10th straight in a series dating to 1921 between the Big Five rivals that are separated by just seven miles.

Jordan Hall scored 22 points for Saint Joe’s (4-4).

The Wildcats have been dealing with a non-COVID virus for more than a week. It forced several players to quarantine away from the team this week, and coach

Jay Wright said Friday that three players were questionable for Saturday’s game. But only Caleb Daniels was unable to play. A second-year transfer from Tulane, Daniels came off the bench in the previous seven games this season and averaged 9.4 points.

Wright said the Wildcats have used health and safety protocols to prevent other players from getting sick.

“It’s unbelievable how we went right back into COVID mode,” Wright said Friday.

The Wildcats still had plenty to easily beat Saint Joe’s.

After going scoreless in the first half, Moore scored Villanova’s first seven points of the second half, on a pair of 3-pointers and a free throw, to push the Wildcats’ lead to 41-22 3 ½ minutes into the second half. And Villanova’s lead continued to grow as the Hawks couldn’t find enough offensive game to even threaten an upset.

Villanova held Saint Joe’s to 21 of 58 shooting (36.2%) from the field, including 7 for 31 (22.6%) from long range. The Hawks also committed 15 turnovers.

Taylor Funk, who entered leading Saint Joe’s at 17.4 points per game, went scoreless, missing all six of his tries, including five from 3-point range.

Gillespie, coming off a 26-point game in Wednesday’s 71-56 win over Penn, was 7 of 12 from the field and 5 of 7 from long range.

Villanova led by as many as 15 points in the first half before settling for a 34-22 halftime lead. Gillespie had 15 points before the break, including a pair of late 3-pointers that pushed the advantage to 12. Funk missed all four of his field-goal attempts in the first half.

The Wildcats continued their domination of a rivalry between Catholic schools known as the Holy War. Saint Joe’s last win came on Dec. 17, 2011, when Langston Galloway scored 20 points to lead the Hawks to a 74-58 victory. And the Wildcats haven’t just won of late, they’ve won big. Villanova entered having defeated the Hawks by a combined 192 points, or 21.3 points per game, in their previous nine wins. That includes victories by 41 points, 31, 30, 28 and 20.