Daniels a sixth man playing like a starter
You can say Caleb Daniels is Villanova’s sixth man because he’s usually the first player off the bench. Coach Jay Wright doesn’t think of the 6-4 senior guard that way.
“Caleb’s a starter for us,” Wright said. “We know that. He plays as many minutes as any of the starters, and we’ve got great confidence in him. He’s a really confident offensive player and a really underrated defensive player.”
Daniels came through like a starter Tuesday night to help the 11th-ranked Wildcats hold on for a 7674 victory over No. 9 Providence, clinching the No. 2 seed in next week’s Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden.
Daniels saved 14 of his game-high 20 points for the second half and came up big on the defensive end after Jermaine Samuels fouled out with 1:55 to play and the Wildcats (227, 15-4 Big East) clinging to a 68-63 lead.
“He was guarding forwards and battling,” Wright said. “He was only credited with two defensive rebounds he got credited for, but he was keeping them off the glass.”
Daniels’ offensive contributions in the second half were huge. He came up big in several stretches to keep the league-leading Friars (24-4, 14-3) from completely erasing a 4026 halftime deficit.
Daniels scored all eight points in an 8-2 burst that gave the Wildcats a 5953 advantage. He then hit four straight free throws in the final 10 seconds as the Wildcats were 9-for12 from the stripe to beat Providence for the second time this season.
“That’s just being confident and stepping up for my teammates,” Daniels said. “Guys have been making plays the whole game and those are the moments where I just have to step up and make those plays, whether it’s making a free throw, making a shot, getting a rebound, getting a stop. I just have to step up for my brothers.”
••• Wood graduate Collin Gillespie turned in quite the effort in the final home game of his storied career. He scored 14 points, handed out five assists, grabbed four rebounds and had no turnovers in 37 minutes against a Friars team which gave ‘Nova everything it could handle.
“That’s what the Big East is about,” Gillespie said. “Every game is always a battle, it’s always intense.”
Gillespie achieved a personal milestone. It was the 147th game of his career, moving him into second place in career games played. He will tie former teammate Phil Booth for first place in the first round of the Big East tournament. Booth played in 148 games in his career.
A day earlier, Gillespie was announced as one of the five finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, given annually to the nation’s top point guard.
Kentucky’s Sahvir Wheeler, Baylor’s James Akinjo, Gonzaga’s Andrew Nembhard and UCLA’s Tyger Campbell are the other finalists.
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NOTES » The Wildcats’ 6-8, 260-pound sophomore forward Eric Dixon collected 15 points, four rebounds, three steals and one blocked shot. It was his fifth double-digit outing in the last seven games. He was 4-for-4 at the free throw line. As a team, the Wildcats shot 21-for-25, 13for-16 in the second half. … Villanova closes out the regular season on the road when it takes on Butler Saturday. Tip-off is at noon. … ‘Nova earned a bye in the first round of the Big East tournament and will play the winner of the game between the No 7 seed and the No. 10 seed on Thursday night, March 10. Tipoff is 7 p.m.