Villanova took care of business in its opening game of the Big East tournament, beating Providence 73-62 on Thursday afternoon.
It was a rough start for the ‘Cats, who opened the game 1-7 from the field and 0-3 from 3. They scored just two points over the first five minutes and promptly fell behind 9-2. Fortunately, they woke up quickly and a 13-0 run put them up 15-9 four minutes later. Providence responded and tied the game, but ‘Nova finished the half on a 6-0 spurt to carry a seven-point lead into the break.
Defense and rebounding carried the ‘Cats through the half. After giving up 33 offensive rebounds in the two regular-season meetings with Providence, ‘Nova didn’t give up a single offensive rebound in the first half.
The offensive struggles resurfaced at the start of the second half, with the ‘Cats hitting just two of their first 10 attempts. Fortunately, the defensive effort remained strong and Providence was only able to cut the lead to two before the Villanova offense got going again. The lead meandered between four and eight points before an Alpha Diallo three-point play tied the game with 9:18 to go.
Collin Gillespie answered immediately with a 3, and two free throws from Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree pushed the lead back to five. After a Diallo layup got Providence back within three, Eric Paschall scored five-straight points to put ‘Nova up eight, and the Friars would never truly threaten again as the ‘Cats earned the 11-point victory.
Villanova was much better on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 38-33. The Wildcats gave up just seven offensive rebounds while grabbing 13 of their own. Villanova forced 19 Providence turnovers while committing 13, and did an excellent job converting Providence miscues into points.
The shooting wasn’t great as the ‘Cats shot just 36.7 percent from the floor and 32.3 percent from 3, but they held Providence to 25 percent shooting from 3 and built a 15-point advantage from beyond the arc. Winning the turnover and rebounding battles helped ‘Nova to 11 more field goal attempts than Providence, which in turn helped to offset the shooting struggles.
Eric Paschall was great for the ‘Cats, producing a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. He added a pair of nice assists.
Collin Gillespie added 19 points, six assists, and two steals, and was the lone Wildcat to really have it going from deep, where he shot 5-10.
Phil Booth chipped in 13, while Jermaine Samuels had eight. Saddiq Bey was limited by foul trouble, going scoreless with two rebounds and an assist.
Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree had eight points off the bench to go with 10 rebounds and three steals. His missed dunks will garner a lot of attention and were a source of frustration, but he was a positive factor despite the missed bunnies. Obviously, Villanova would love for him to clean that up and finish those opportunities, but the ‘Cats will take the kind of effort he gave on Thursday.
Cole Swider added five points in some extended minutes.
It wasn’t the prettiest performance, but the defensive showing and the improvement on the glass were encouraging. Plus, it’s March, and it’s not a beauty pageant. All that matters is the W, and Villanova got one on Thursday.
With the win, the Wildcats advance to the Big East semifinals, where they will get the winner of the Xavier-Creighton game (22-13 Creighton at the time of this writing). That game will tip off at 6:30 Friday night.
