Villanova headed to the hostile confines of The Dunk to take on a desperate Providence team and emerged with a key 64-60 victory. It wasn’t easy, it wasn’t pretty, but it was an important road win in which Villanova once again displayed impressive toughness and poise.
The ‘Cats jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but Providence responded and took a 12-11 lead at the 12:38 mark. From there, Villanova went to work, slowly building a lead that would get as large as 10 before taking a seven-point advantage into the break.
There was a lot to like about the first-half performance, as ‘Nova shot 9-of-13 from two-point range and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line while holding Providence to 39.4 shooting overall and 3-of-13 from three. The ‘Cats had an advantage in the turnover battle, and the only thing keeping Providence in the game was the offensive glass and resulting second-chance points. The Friars pulled down nine offensive rebounds, converting them into 11 second-chance points.
Villanova controlled the early part of the second half, extending the lead to 10 with 12:35 to go. But we know better than to expect an easy one at The Dunk, and sure enough, Providence made a run and made it interesting.
An 11-0 spurt over the next three and a half minutes gave Providence their first lead since 12-11 and had The Dunk rocking. Some missed shots from ‘Nova combined with continued dominance from Providence on the glass spurred the run. A Collin Gillespie three finally stopped the bleeding and put the ‘Cats back in front by two, setting the stage for an intense final eight minutes.
As we seem to say almost every game, Villanova responded nicely and was able to re-establish a five-point advantage with 6:45 to go and although some interesting officiating decisions and some missed free throws by the Wildcats kept the game close, ‘Nova wouldn’t relinquish the lead again, escaping with a 64-60 win.
Gillespie led the way with 18 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl added 17 points, three rebounds, and three steals and Saddiq Bey chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds. Justin Moore rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10.
Jermaine Samuels had four points after appearing to be limited by injury. He limped off the court, briefly returned to the game, and then sat for the remainder. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious for Samuels.
Cole Swider added two points and five rebounds and Brandon Slater had two assists, a rebound, and a steal while providing a nice defensive boost for the ‘Cats.
The ‘Cats held Providence to just 31.7 percent from the floor and 13 percent from three. They also held Friars’ leading scorer Alpha Diallo scoreless. The one area that kept the game close was rebounding, as the ‘Cats were pounded on the glass 45-33 and gave up 16 offensive rebounds. We knew extra opportunities would be the one thing that could keep Providence in the game, and the Friars ended up taking 15 more shots than Villanova.
The switch from a game that the Wildcats had under control to a frenetic, grind-it-out finish was a bit frustrating, but the ‘Cats once again showed their toughness and poise. We’ve been saying all month that any road wins in the Big East will be important and at the end of the day Villanova earned one Saturday and we aren’t going to nitpick it.
The win moved ‘Nova to 16-3 overall and 6-1 in the Big East. They remain just a single game back of Seton Hall at the top of the conference standings and have opened up a two-game cushion over the rest of the conference. The victory also marked the sixth win in a row and the 12th out of the last 13.
The ‘Cats will look to keep things rolling on Tuesday when they head to New York to take on St. John’s.
