Villanova got the word it was fearing on Thursday: Collin Gillespie had a torn MCL and would miss the remainder of the season. In addition to his on-court abilities, Gillepsie was also the emotional leader of this Villanova team. Now, the Wildcats will have to forge a path forward without him as they aim for a Big East tournament title and a deep run in the NCAA tournament.

“It was devastating," Cole Swider said of Gillespie's injury. "He’s the emotional leader of our team, he does so much for our team and we felt it when he wasn’t on the court."

“He’s meant everything to this program," Jermaine Samuels added. "He embodies what Villanova basketball is."

While Villanova will have to push on, the immediate priority was Gillespie. Fortunately, it sounds like he's handling things well. “I spent a lot of time with him yesterday, a lot of time with his mom and dad," Jay Wright said. "He’s an amazing kid, his spirits are incredible considering what he’s facing. He’s a really mentally tough kid. He was at practice with our guys this morning, coaching them up and he’s been great."

For Gillespie's teammates, it was great to have him at practice and contributing in any way he can. “His basketball IQ is extremely high," Swider said. "He does a great job telling guys what to do and how to do it because he’s been in the program and he’s done it for so long. It’s definitely an adjustment not having him on the court to be that leader on the court but he does a great job of carrying guys along and playing his role on the sideline as well.”

The most glaring hole left by Gillespie's absence, besides the leadership, is the primary ballhandling duties. That responsibility will fall largely on the shoulders of Justin Moore, while we'll likely see some experimentation at the point guard spot on Saturday against Providence while Moore is on the bench.

“Justin will definitely be the starting point and then there will be a lot of experimentation," Wright said. "We did have a good practice today, got to work on it. We got to meet yesterday, we watched film yesterday and discussed all the situations so a lot of other people will be playing the point besides Justin when he’s out of the game.”

While things will certainly be different, Wright hopes there isn't a huge change in how his Wildcats play. In fact, he hopes the only change is that the Wildcats display a balanced attack as other players step up.

“I hope it doesn’t change our style of play," Wright said. "Obviously, he was a big part of everything we did so probably we will play with more balance, I guess that would be the change.”