NEW YORK — It wasn’t his night, until Collin Gillespie decided it was.
It was no classic, any part of this 2020 Big East final inside Madison Square Garden, with all the shooters, tired or not, both Big East finalists, shooting exactly like it was their third game in three days.
All night, even late, Gilllespie seemed to fall in line with that, missing off the rim on a 3-point try with just over 3 minutes left, the kind he usually makes late. But that isn’t the shot anyone will remember. The next two times Villanova found itself with the basketball, Gillespie tore the heart right away from Creighton, helping the Wildcats to a 54-48 victory and Big East championship.
First there was a pass, a return pass to Gillespie, swish, only his second 3-point swish of the night. Next possession, Gillespie up top again, off the dribble ... swish. Villanova, down a point, suddenly up five, 2 minutes left. Gillespie, Gillespie. A 17-point night didn’t tell the story. Eight points in the last three minutes kind of did.
The last act of Gillespie’s Big East career was taking the basketball and throwing it practically as high as the Garden scoreboard before he was mobbed by teammates.
Before that, another pivotal play: After Gillespie, driving into the lane, his team down a basket, finding Caleb Daniels in front of Villanova’s bench, just over 4 minutes left. Daniels drained a 3-pointer to take the lead back.
Creighton took the lead right back on a tip-in at the other end. All it did was set Gillespie up for his heroics.
Villanova won its sixth Big East title of the Jay Wright era, was in its sixth Big East title game since 2014 — sixth in seven tournaments since there was no 2020 Big East tournament — while Creighton was trying to break through after reaching the finals in 2014, ‘17 and 2021. The Bluejays had put the worst loss in tournament history on a No. 1 seed when it beat Providence by 27 points in the semifinals.
Over? Not over?
A 36-29 Villanova lead after a Samuels three-point play with 10:02 remaining evaporated in less than two minutes as Creighton’s Arthur Kaluma scored twice inside and Trey Alexander buried a 3-pointer to tie it. Didn’t matter that it was only Creighton’s second successful 3 of the night. It was game on.
An 11-2 run by Villanova pushed the lead out to 33-25 with 12:10 left, punctuated by a Justin Moore 3-pointer, caused by a Brandon Slater slap. That slap came when Slater guarded an inbounds pass along the Creighton baseline. He leaped and got to the ball, deadening the pass. Moore picked it up, the ball rotated around, got back to Moore, and he buried the 3, his third of the night.
It was especially important because at that point, Moore’s teammates were a combined 1 for 16, pretty much matching Creighton’s 1 for 19 from the same range.
The second half started different than the first …
Jermaine Samuels, who sat all but 5 minutes of the first half with foul trouble, took a charge on Creighton’s first possession. Gillespie, scoreless in the first half, scored on a pull-up to open the half.
In the house …
Creighton and Sixers 3-point shooter extraordinaire Kyle Korver, watching all the misses.
How did it get to 19-18 at halftime?
Creighton got to the 18 by missing all 13 3-pointers the Bluejays tried. Villanova did it by making just 2 of 13 shots, with Samuels getting in quick foul trouble. The star of Friday’s semifinal picked up two fouls in just over 5 minutes, went to the bench until halftime. Gillespie didn’t have it going, missing all four first-half shots he tried.
Creighton played the first half from behind
The Bluejays had nothing to show for getting four 3-pointers on their first possessions, then took an extra pivot step for traveling violations on their next two possessions, as Villanova got out to a 7-0 lead in the first three minutes, as Moore had a little early spree, hitting a 3 and driving for a score.
Villanova didn’t get going either
A dozen minutes into the game, while Creighton was 0 for 9 on 3-pointers, Villanova was 1 for 9, that Moore trey followed by the nine misses, before Slater hit from the left wing with 7:47 left, making it 15-11 for Villanova. The Hall of Fame wasn’t calling for the tape of that first half, title on the line or not.
Inside, Creighton’s 7-foot-1 Ryan Kalkbrenner redirected a couple of first-half drives by Villanova guards. The most effective way of going at Kalbrenner was spotted on two straight ‘Nova possessions. His pivot moves inside found angles against the center who has five inches on Dixon. Villanova’s lead at that point was 19-12, 4:45 left in the half. The Wildcats failed to score on their last six possessions of the half.
