City of Basketball Love

Matthew Ryan (@matthewmryan02)
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PITTSBURGH — Up just five after leading by as many as 15 against No. 7 seed Ohio State in the Round of 32, No. 2 seed Villanova needed to make a play. As Jay Wright has done time and time again, he put the ball in Collin Gillespie's hands. As Gillespie's done time and time again, he made the right play.

For someone with the status of Gillespie — a four year starter and two-time Big East Player of the Year — they might immediately go into take-over mode. Season on the line, they're taking the big shot. After all, they've earned it.

But that's not what Gillespie is about. He'd rather make the big play than take the big shot. And, when the lights were at their brightest, 18,506 people anxiously looking on at PPG Paints Arena, he didn't force it. Instead, he made the right play.

With under two minutes left, Gillespie drew the defense in and saw a wide open Eric Dixon on the wing. He kicked the pass out and the Abington grad buried the triple, his second of the day, to give the 'Cats an eight-point lead with 1:38 left, propelling Villanova to a 71-61 over the Buckeyes.

"That's something we work on all the time," Gillespie said about the play that led to Dixon's 3. "They were playing Justin (Moore) pretty tight on that side and their big was in the lane and Eric was wide open and I have tons of confidence in him to step in and knock any shot down that he's going to take."

"He's the decision-maker out there," Wright said of Gillespie. "We will call the play for him to be the decision-maker and he will determine who gets the shot. Kind of like a quarterback running a two-minute drill, they're going to pick who is open. That's what he does a great job of."

Dixon finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, knocking down both of his 3-pointers. Gillespie finished with 20 points, four assists and one turnover in 38 minutes; Jermaine Samuels (17 points) and Caleb Daniels (11 points) also finished in double figures for Villanova, which improved to 28-7 on the season.

The assist from Gillespie was just one of the many winning plays the fifth-year senior made en route to sending his team to the Sweet 16 for the third time in four tournaments.

When Villanova went to the first media timeout, Gillespie hadn't taken a shot yet. In fact, it took him over five minutes to get his first look. But when he finally did, there was no stopping him.

After Gillespie backed his defender down to the basket — as a quintessential Villanova guard does — he pump-faked, got his defender to jump, and was fouled. He went to the free-throw line where he made both, and then on Villanova's next trip nailed a 3-pointer.

Following his first miss of the day, Gillespie perfectly anticipated a pass, picking it off and taking it all the way in for a layup. After a stop on defense, he came off a screen and drilled a 3, forcing Ohio State to call a timeout. It was a personal 10-2 run that gave the Wildcats a 17-7 lead with 12:24 to go in the first half, on their way to entering the break with an 11-point advantage.

"It's great if he's in the mood, everybody is in the same type of groove, we're ready to make plays for him and he's ready to make plays for us," Samuels said of Gillespie taking over early. "We have the ultimate faith and trust in him. We see him work every single day and anything he does we follow."

For the first eight minutes of the second frame, the Wildcats were sitting comfortably. Their lead ranged between nine and 15 throughout, and they were getting strong play in both the front and back courts. But then, with just over 11 minutes to go and Ohio State's deficit at 12, the Buckeyes began to make a run. After all, they were fighting for their season.

A 10-2 run led by freshman Malaki Branham, who had seven in that stretch, put Ohio State (20-12) down just four. Moore's 3 pointer stopped the bleeding briefly, but the Buckeyes clapped right back, scoring five straight to put Villanova's lead at just two with under six minutes left.

Minutes later and Villanova's lead now just four, the 'Cats turned to Gillespie. As calm as ever, the Archbishop Wood graduate got to his spot near the free throw line and drilled a mid-range jumper to put Villanova ahead by five.

After that, Ohio State couldn't buy a bucket. The Buckeyes scored just two points after Gillespie's jumper, sending Villanova back to the Main Line with a 10-point win, though it was closer than the final score indicates.

"They had a stretch where they were hitting shot after shot, and we just said 'attitude,'" Gillespie said, "[we] stuck together and came together on the defensive end and told each other, let's get this next stop, let's get this next stop and tried to make the next play."

The win sets up the 2018 national championship game rematch between Villanova and No. 11 seed Michigan, a rematch between Wright and former St. Joe’s head coach Phil Martelli, now an assistant with the Wolverines. The game will take place in San Antonio, Texas, the same city where the Wildcats topped Michigan nearly a half-decade ago.

And when those two teams take the floor on Thursday, only one rotational piece from Villanova's 2018 team remains. The man who, no matter what, makes the correct play… the right play.

Collin Gillespie.