Box Score | VU Quotes | CU Quotes | All-Tournament Team
Joyous Villanova players danced near midcourt, decked out in their championship hats and tee shirts. They posed for countless photos, there was a march of Wildcats’ players carrying a giant cardboard sign around the court that read “2022 BIG EAST Tournament Champions.’ Nova players hugged as “I Feel Good” blared over the Madison Square Garden speakers. They danced some more, this time under a blizzard of confetti, they waited for the ladders to come out so they could get on with the ceremonial cutting down of the championship nets and they hoisted the 2022 championship trophy after it was presented to them by BIG EAST commissioner Val Ackerman.
And none of it would have been possible without Collin Gillespie.
The Villanova wunderkind guard, who has a knack for stepping up at just the right time, every time, worked his magic again last night as the BIG EAST title game hung in the balance.
Villanova was down one as the game clocked dipped under the 3:00 mark when Gillespie saw his time had arrived. He proceeded to drill a three-pointer with 2:44 to play to give second-seeded Nova a two-point lead. Forty seconds later, following a missed jumper by Creighton’s Arthur Kaluma on the other end, he was at it again, drilling another huge three-ball to give the Wildcats a five-point advantage that all but locked up the win for the Wildcats as they pulled off a hard-fought 54-48 victory to claim the BIG EAST Tournament championship in front of a sold out Garden crowd.
It certainly wasn’t the prettiest of performances by either team. But Nova will surely take it. There’s no such thing as an ugly championship.
“It was ugly,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “But we’re not giving it back.”
It was the sixth BIG EAST tournament title overall for the Wildcats and fifth since the conference realigned in 2013. They also brought home the championship hardware in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019. They won their other title in 1992.
“I want to say how blessed we all think we are to play here, be part of the BIG EAST in Madison Square Garden,” Wright said. “There’s nothing like this. Playing the game is awesome, but doing it in here with these fans at this storied arena, it’s just off the charts.
For Gillespie this was a night a long time coming. Last year at this time he was recovering from surgery for a knee injury that ended his season just before the start of the conference tournament. It was not a happy time in Gillespie’s life.
“I watched (the tournament). I think it was the day after my surgery,” Gillespie said. “I watched Georgetown win. Obviously it hurt a lot not to be out there with those guys in the BIG EAST Tournament, the NCAA Tournament and to have to watch it on TV and then go sit in the stands and watch was definitely difficult and different for me.”
But last Saturday night at the Garden was not difficult at all and the results were all too familiar for Gillespie and Nova.
The fact that Creighton was still in the game at the end - even ahead as late as the 3:48 mark of the second half after a tip in by Ryan Kalkbrenner gave the Bluejays their final lead at 45-44 - was something of a testament to Creighton’s top-ranked defense. It was a night where there seemed to be a lid on the basket for Bluejays shooters as they went an abysmal 3-of-29 from three-point range (that’s a paltry 10.3%) and shot just 19-of-58 overall on the night.
“I thought we had some pretty good looks at the basket and we didn’t make them,” Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said. “Obviously Villanova’s defense needs to be credited. And then at the end we got Gillespied.”
Getting Gillespied. You know you’re great when opposing coaches have turned your name into a verb. Many teams, both in and out of the BIG EAST, have been “Gillespied” over the last several seasons. Creighton was just the latest victim.
That 50-45 lead Gillespie gave Villanova after his second three-ball was whittled down to two at 50-48 after a pair of free throws by Creighton’s Trey Alexander with 37.9 seconds left. But Justin Moore, who finished with 16 points for Nova, converted a layup for a little breathing room. And when Creighton’s last gasp shot - a three-point attempt by Alexander - missed its mark - it was Gillespie, of course, who grabbed the rebound, sank one last free throw and jump started the Wildcats’ celebration.
Gillespie finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. He thus became the first player in BIG EAST men’s basketball history to earn Player of the Year, Scholar Athlete of the Year and receive the Dave Gavitt Trophy as Most Outstanding Player.
Sort of a Triple Crown of basketball greatness.
Gillespie said earlier this season that one of the main reasons he decided to return to Villanova for a fifth season had a lot to do with getting another shot at a BIG EAST Tournament title, After being robbed of the 2020 tournament due to Covid before missing last year’s with his knee injury, there was a feeling of unfinished business for Gillespie. Last year was not the way he wanted to go out. Turns out he made the right decision.
“I’m grateful to be back on the floor with my teammates and coaches,” said Gillespie, ever the team player. That’s really all I can think about, just how grateful I am to be with these guys.”