Losing your senior point guard three days into March is about the worst-case scenario for any college basketball team, especially one with legitimate hopes of a conference tournament championship and a deep NCAA tournament run. And that's where Villanova finds itself with one game to go in the regular season after losing Collin Gillespie to a torn MCL.

The path ahead is daunting, but the Wildcats are confident they will be able to navigate it.

“I think we’re gonna respond great," Jermaine Samuels said. "Everybody has accepted the responsibility that their role has increased and that we have to continue to make plays for each other. Nothing changes, we still have to go out there and play Villanova basketball together and hard, so that’s the only thing that matters at the end of the day.”

The most glaring change will be the handling of the point guard duties, a role that will largely fall on the shoulders of Justin Moore.

“I’m excited for him," Jay Wright said of Moore's opportunity. "We always feel like our guys have the ability to step up, they just are respectful of their roles. So when an opportunity like this comes up they’re ready for it and I think Justin’s that kind of guy. He plays off the ball a lot out of respect for Collin, and now he’s gonna be on the ball and I think he enjoys that and other guys are gonna have to step up around him now like he has around Collin.”

There are plenty of reasons to be confident in Moore's ability to rise to the challenge. One is that Moore is anomalously experienced for a Villanova sophomore. He played 31 games as a freshman, starting 17 of them, and averaged just under 30 minutes per game. This season, he's started all 20 games and played 33.7 minutes per game. He's averaged 13.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.1 assists. While that assists number might not jump out at you, that is due in large part to the fact the Gillespie has been the primary ballhandler. Moore has increased his assist percentage from 12.4% as a freshman to 17.2% this season while reducing his turnover percentage from 14.5% to 11.1%. While the traditional statistics might not show it, he's been a better distributor in his sophomore season.

Another player who will be leaned upon more heavily will be Brandon Slater, who has already seen his minutes and impact start to increase as the season has gone on.

“He’s another one, he’s capable of a lot more offensively but he’s on the floor with Collin, Justin, Jeremiah so he knows his role," Wright said. "Now it changes, he’s gotta become a lot more aggressive. He’s been ready for that. We’ll start either him or Cole (Swider), it doesn’t matter, they’ll both play starter minutes. They’re really starting to understand what the program’s about and I think they’re ready for this.”

After seeing his minutes fluctuate wildly through early February, Slater has played 12+ minutes in each of the last six games, getting more than 20 minutes in four of those six. He's responded by averaging 6.8 points, three rebounds, one assist, and 1.3 steals over that span while still deferring to his teammates. He's hit 60% of his shots and 37.5% of his 3s over that stretch while providing great energy and strong defensive play.

Other players will have to step up as well, such as Samuels, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Cole Swider, and Bryan Antoine. But it's Moore and Slater who immediately stand out, Moore because of his position and Slater because he's been slowly carving out more of a role for himself throughout the season and now a door has suddenly been opened for him.

Ultimately, how Villanova fares the rest of the season will depend on the players stepping up and remaining committed to what got them to where they are.

“I think everyone has to step up," Swider said. "I don’t think what we do changes. I think we just gotta get better at what we do. Justin is gonna be the main ballhandler now and we gotta all help him out bringing the ball up, dribbling the ball, and then just playing our roles and continuing to defend and rebound. As long as we do that I think we’ll be in a pretty good spot but we’re gonna miss Collin tremendously. All we can do is try to play our best and play Villanova basketball for 40 minutes and we’ll accept the outcome.”

This certainly isn't how Villanova envisioned ending the season and kicking off postseason play, but it's the hand it was dealt. The Wildcats remain confident that they can navigate the path in front of them.