Villanova’s Gillespie Leads Wildcats Past Georgetown Hoyas

PHILADELPHIA – Perhaps it is only fitting that Jalen Brunson was in the house yesterday to watch Villanova outlast Georgetown, 77-65, before a Super Bowl day crowd of 14,506 at the Wells Fargo Center.

Brunson, the 2018 National Player of the Year and a member of two Villanova NCAA championship teams who went on to selected as a first round pick by the NBA Dallas Mavericks in last June’s draft. He is considered the gold standard for high IQ point guard play in the Jay Wright era. He graduated in three years and flew in from Cleveland to be honored by the school and given a framed No. 1 in a special pre-game “Senior Day” ceremony.

Brunson’s backup last year was a young freshman, Collin Gillespie, who was a late recruit from Archbishop Wood who was discovered at midseason after a 41 point break out performance against Neumann-Goretti and Kentucky recruit Quade Green in a Philadelphia Catholic League game. Gillespie, who was being recruited by Rider, jumped at the chance to play in the BIG EAST.

Gillespie, who roomed with Brunson on the road and tried to absorb as much knowledge as possible. He noticed how much time Brunson would spend in the gym after games, working on his shooting, and the work ethic and professional attitude he brought to practices and games.

“He took everything he did seriously,’’ Gillespie said.

Gillespie had no idea how quickly his role would change since Brunson moved on.  The 6-3 sophomore has gone from being a 15 minute player to the most improved player and a starter on a relatively young, rapidly improving 14^th-ranked 18-4 Cats’ team. He went off for a career high 30 points, making six three-point goals and contributing 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 38 minutes as Villanova, which has won 10 straight games, remained undefeated in BIG EAST play with a perfect 9-0 record.

The Cats are 32-3 since 2013 in their home away from home and have beaten the Hoyas six straight times in this classic rivalry. “I want to see how far we can take this ride,’’ Wright said.

Gillespie played well enough in pre-season to beat out the more publicized freshman point guard Jahvon Quinerly, a McDonald’s All-American from Hudson Catholic in North Jersey, for this spot. His performance to date has brought out some comparisons to former Villanova star Ryan Arcidiacono, the MVP of the 2016 NCAA Final Four when Villanova won its first of two national titles in three years. “I never knew him personally, but I went high school with a few of his cousins,’’ Gillespie admitted.

Gillespie may never be a carbon copy of Ryan Arch, who recently signed a $1.3 guaranteed deal with the NBA Chicago Bulls. But Wright can see some of the same toughness and competitive spirit in his rising star, who picked up the slack for senior guard Phil Booth, the Cats’ leading scorer, who scored 14 points but missed 10 of his first 12 shots and shot just 2 for 8 from beyond the three-point arc against the Hoyas’ sticky defense.

Booth came to life when the Cats broke a 53-53 tie, making a jumper in the paint and a three to fuel a 16-2 run to put the game away, making Villanova also got 24 points and six rebounds from senior forward Eric Paschall and a career high 16 rebounds from 6-7 sophomore forward Jermaine Samuels and combined with 6-9 sophomore Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, who finished with 6 points and 7 rebounds, to hold Georgetown’s foul plagued 6-10, 255-pound center Jesse Govan, arguably the best big man in the conference, scoreless on 0- for- 9 shooting.

“I feel like our sophomores, who are young guys, are starting to step up,’’ Wright said. “We need it and that’s what a season is. By this point in the season, sophomores and freshman are different than when they started the year. I think ours are starting to get it.’’

Villanova has come a long way since the Cats lost four games in early December. They have gone from a team that dropped out of the Top 25 to one that is playing for a Top 3 seed. Georgetown fell to 14-8 and is 4-5 in the BIG EAST.

The Hoyas entered the game averaging 83.2 points on the season but scored no field goals over a six minute stretch late in the game. “We’ve made strides on the defensive end,’’ Gillespie said. “We really try to lock in. I think we’ve done a good job defending and rebounding in the last few games and we’re looking to get better.’’