Villanova will play the rest of the season without his star guard. The school announced on Thursday that veteran Collin Gillespie injured MCL in his left knee during the 72-60 victory over Creighton on Thursday night.
“We are all devastated by Collin,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said in a statement. “He is the heart and soul of our program. We know that we cannot replace him. We all just want to introduce ourselves and play so that we can honor him. Collin is as mentally strong and resilient as any other player we have had here. I know he will get over it and make it positive for his career. “
Gillespie tangled his legs with Creighton’s Damien Jefferson in the first half of the No. 10 Villanova home win over 14th place Bluejays on Senior Night. He had to be helped to get up off the floor and then returned to the sideline with his left knee bandaged.
Villanova stiffened offensively without Gillespie, going through an eight-minute drought in the second half before finally straightening the ship and stepping away to win the Big East regular season title for the seventh time in eight years. Villanova now has the most regular season championships in the history of the conference, with 11.
Gillespie averaged 14.0 points, 4.6 assists and 3.3 rebounds. He is the main option of the team as a point guard, someone with 87 starts in his name. His assist rate is 25.7%, by far the highest in the team. There is no clear and proven backup to run the point to VU.
Wright said on Wednesday night that his team was “devastated at first” with Gillespie’s injury, but his ability to pull himself together was a sign of how well they face a challenge.
“There was probably not a player who had as much impact on a team in a year as Collin does here,” said Wright on Wednesday night. “He is difficult to replace. We are going to have to grow very fast.”
Villanova, projected as the number 3 seed in Jerry Palm’s latest Bracketology, lost his last three road games. The end of the regular season is Saturday in Providence. Villanova will be the number one seed in next week’s Big East Tournament, with his quarterfinal game scheduled for Thursday.