Villanova forward Matt Hodge suffers season-ending knee injury
The redshirt freshman forward tore his right ACL in a loss to St. John's on Saturday and will undergo surgery.
Villanova forward Matt Hodge suffered a torn right ACL in the Wildcats’ loss to St. John’s Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, the school announced on Monday afternoon.
He will undergo surgery and miss the rest of the season.
The injury occurred in the second half when Hodge made a move in the post and fell to the ground. He was down on the floor in pain for a few moments before being helped to his feet. He struggled to put weight on his right leg and was helped into the locker room.
The injury is a big blow to Villanova, which has two regular season games remaining before beginning postseason play. Hodge, a 6-foot-8 redshirt freshman, has started all 29 games this season and is Villanova’s sixth-leading scorer at 9.2 points per game while shooting 36.8% from three-point range.
He also plays about 28 minutes per game, and his absence will test Villanova’s depth. The Wildcats do not have much in their frontcourt, and playing without Hodge could force coach Kevin Willard to go a bit unconventional with the power forward spot.
Willard has a few options. He could go for small-ball lineup and insert sixth man Devin Askew, a 6-5 guard, into the starting five and use Tyler Perkins, a physical 6-4 guard and Villanova’s leading scorer, in a forward role. Or he could replace Hodge with the 6-6 sophomore Malachi Palmer. The decisions could be matchup dependent.
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Temple transfer Zion Stanford, a 6-6 wing, could move back into the back end of the rotation. The West Catholic graduate has played in just 10 games (5.1 minutes per) and has rarely seen the court in conference play. Hodge’s injury also highlights the loss of Tafara Gapare, a 6-9 athletic forward who left the team around the holidays.
Villanova’s two centers, starter Duke Brennan and reserve Braden Pierce, have not shared the floor together, but Villanova’s lack of size could potentially lead to the big men sharing some minutes depending on opponent and game flow.
Hodge, who was forced to redshirt as a freshman last season at Villanova due to an NCAA ruling regarding his academic eligibility after moving to the U.S. from Belgium, scored six points in 14 minutes before suffering his injury Saturday night.
The Wildcats (22-7, 13-5) finish their regular season this week with a road game at DePaul Wednesday and a home game Saturday vs. Xavier at Finneran Pavilion. They will be the No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament.