Villanova ready to take on Providence without Collin Gillespie in regular-season finale

Villanova begins life without Collin Gillespie on Saturday when it takes on Providence at Alumni Hall on the Friars’ campus, so some of its fans are wondering how the Wildcats will respond without their floor general and spiritual leader.

But Jermaine Samuels, Gillespie’s close friend and fellow captain, doesn’t think it’s an issue.

“I think we’re going to respond great,” Samuels, a senior forward, said Friday after practice, which Gillespie watched from the sideline. “Everybody’s accepting their role, accepting on their responsibility that their role has increased, and that we have to continue to make plays for each other.

“Nothing changes. We still have to go out there and play Villanova basketball together. So that’s the only thing that matters at the end of the day.”

Playing without Gillespie for the final 26 minutes, 38 seconds Wednesday night after he tore the medial collateral ligament in his left knee, the Cats (16-4, 11-3) defeated Creighton, 72-60, to win their seventh Big East regular-season championship in the eight-year history of the reorganized conference.

Sophomore Justin Moore will take over the primary duties at point guard. But with what he hopes will be a long postseason ahead, head coach Jay Wright plans to mix or match others at that spot against the Friars (12-12, 8-10) to see how they handle the competition.

“There will be a lot of experimentation,” he said. “We did have a good practice (Friday), got to work on it. We watched film [Thursday] and met as a team 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. We’re going to try a lot of point guard by committee.”

Wright said he was excited for Moore.

“He plays off the ball a lot out of respect for Collin,” he said, “and now he’s going to be on the ball and I think he enjoys that. Other guys are going to have to step up around him the same way he has around Collin.”

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Villanova’s other guards are redshirt junior Caleb Daniels, a starter; sophomore Bryan Antoine, who has spent the last five games in the rotation after returning from a shoulder injury, and sophomore Chris Arcidiacono, who has played only 17 minutes in eight contests.

On Wednesday, the Cats used 6-foot-9 forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl as a point forward for the final 6:38 of the first half after Gillespie left the game and Moore sat in foul trouble.

The Friars, currently in eighth place in the conference, lost to Villanova, 71-56, on Jan. 23 at Finneran Pavilion. In their most recent game, Feb. 24 at Alumni Hall, they knocked off Xavier, 83-68, shooting 53.7% and getting 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists from guard David Duke.

Providence has been helped by the return of guard Jared Bynum, who has played well off the bench since missing time with a groin strain. In his last two games, the transfer from St. Joseph’s is averaging 11.5 points and 3.0 assists and shooting 50% from the field.

“Getting Bynum back has helped them a lot,” Wright said. “They’re playing good basketball so we’re always ready for a battle when we play Providence, home or away. We’re expecting a very difficult game.”