Justin Moore Leads Cats Past La Salle 83-72

A game that looked like it would turn into a blowout and easy Villanova victory turned into the kind of Big 5 battle you always hear about when talking basketball in the Delaware Valley. Despite Villanova holding a 20-point lead, a sloppy second half opened the door to a rock fight and La Salle obliged, cutting that margin in half several times and making the Wildcats sweat a bit in what turned out to be an 83-72 win for the ‘Cats.

The ‘Cats got out to a somewhat sleepy start, falling behind 5-0 and trailing for the better part of the first eight minutes. La Salle deployed a full-court press right from the opening tip and sold out to prevent Collin Gillespie from initiating Villanova’s offense, going so far as doubling him on every ‘Nova inbounds play.

Villanova responded, however, and used a 24-6 run to take control of the game. The outburst was sparked by some really active Villanova hands defensively and the play of Justin Moore. The ‘Cats swiped seven first-half steals and turned them into 14 points. And with the Explorers keying on Gillespie, Moore stepped up and showed off the versatility of his game. He hit a three, hit two free throws, and got the rim with ease. He had a beautiful sequence during which he got a steal, put a beautiful move on the defender in the open court and finished at the rim. He finished the half with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting, three steals, two rebounds, and two assists.

All told, the Wildcats outscored La Salle 34-14 over the final 12 and half minutes to carry a 48-28 lead into the break.

In addition to Moore’s stellar play, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (six points, four rebounds, two blocks, a steal, and an assist) and Saddiq Bey (seven points, two rebounds, two blocks, one steal, one assist) were standouts. Cole Swider and Jermaine Samuels added five apiece, Bryan Antoine had two that came off one of the prettiest possessions you’ll ever see on a basketball court, and Gillespie had eight.

The start of the second half mimicked that of the first, but instead of the ‘Cats waking up, it started to turn into a nightmare. Villanova scored just two points over the first 8:07 of the half, committing six turnovers and going 1-of-9 from the floor. In the process, they watched their 20-point lead shrink to 10.

Fortunately, they emerged from the under-12 timeout rejuvenated, hitting five of their next six shots to run the lead back to 18. Not surprisingly, it was once again Justin Moore leading the way, who dropped in a quick five points to break the drought.

To the Explorers’ credit, they didn’t go away, even trimming the lead back to 10 with under three minutes to play. ‘Nova once again responded, but La Salle kept coming, getting within nine with six seconds left. The ‘Cats made just enough plays to keep the Explorers from truly threatening and to grind out the win.

It really was a tale of two halves. In the first, Villanova played the kind of basketball we saw from them over the first two games of the Myrtle Beach Invitational. That is, they played Villanova basketball to a T. They were cohesive, locked in, and energetic. They were flying all over the place, diving on the floor, getting after loose balls, the whole nine yards. The ball movement was impeccable, and no sequence epitomized that better than the aforementioned one that led to Antoine’s layup. On that play, we saw things start with a post touch for Robinson-Earl. He kicked the ball to the weakside corner, and the ‘Cats proceeded to swing the ball all the way around the horn on the perimeter. The ball went back into the post, when JRE found a cutting Antoine for the bucket. It was simply gorgeous basketball.

A lot of the second half issues had to do with shots not falling, but there was one other glaring issue: turnovers. ‘Nova coughed it up a ridiculous 14 times in the second half, compounding the issue of the missed shots. As a result, there was very little rhythm to the offense and La Salle took advantage.

The good news is that the ‘Cats stayed at it and were able to make enough plays to earn the victory. Although the Explorers cut the lead in half and elicited some nervous grumbles from the home crowd in the process, it never really felt like ‘Nova had lost control of the game. It would have been nice to see the first half performance get replicated, but sometimes things go awry, and you have to find ways to win playing ugly. Villanova did that in the second half.

Moore was fantastic, scoring a career-high 25 points to go with five steals, three rebounds and three assists. He shot 9-15 from the floor. With the way the Explorers were defending Gillespie, Moore’s performance is exactly what Villanova needed.

Saddiq Bey had 19 points and 10 rebounds, adding three blocks, two assists and a steal.

Gillespie had 14 points, three rebounds, and three assists. He did a good job letting the game come to him and not forcing things as La Salle put so much effort into taking him out of the game.

Robinson-Earl had eight points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, an assist, and a steal.

Jermaine Samuels had six points, five assists, four rebounds, two steals, and a block, managing to make an impact even though his shot wasn’t falling.

Cole Swider, who started in place of Moore, ran into foul trouble and was limited to just 12 minutes. He scored five points.

Antoine, Brandon Slater, and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree each had two points.

One last thing we need to mention, free throws played a huge role in this win. The ‘Cats shot 23-30 from the line, while La Salle was just 9-13. The Explorers attempted 11 more field goals than ‘Nova and hit five more three’s, so an ability to get to the line and convert was incredibly important.

While it wasn’t the prettiest effort, it was good to see the ‘Cats battle through adversity and gut out a win while pretty much maintaining control even when they were struggling. It was also nice to see the 12-minute stretch in the first half where they showed just how impressive they can look when playing at their best. Moore stepping up was a great sign, especially after a quiet game against Baylor. All-in-all, a pretty positive night for the ‘Cats.

They’ll be back in action on Wednesday when they host a tough Penn team.