In a game that wasn’t filled with shining moments, there was certainly one at the end for Justin Moore.
With Villanova’s season in jeopardy down by two points against a three-win, bottom-seeded DePaul team, Moore gave the Wildcats one more day and the Big East Tournament opening-round 58-57 victory on Wednesday night.
“This is March,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said. “Proud of our guys. We’re a resilient crew. Thank God for Justin Moore. ... We drew up the play. We knew who we were going to and what we wanted to do.”
Moore, who had been battling and recovering through various injuries over recent years, hit a clutch go-ahead three-pointer with less than nine seconds on the clock. DePaul raced right down the court after the play and ended up turning it over, as the ‘Cats hung on for the win.
A loss would’ve drawn closer to the potential end of his collegiate career, but in that moment, Moore wasn’t thinking about that or the past hardships he endured.
“Just proud of our guys, like our coach said, we were resilient,” Moore said. “That was a tough game, never gave in. Proud of all them.
“In the moment, I just wanted to win. Big-time players make big-time plays.”
The shot saved the ‘Cats from a devastating loss to DePaul. The Blue Demons finished winless throughout the regular season against Big East competition and lost those games by an average margin of 23.9 points.
“We understand the sports game,” Neptune said, when asked about critics and people who question his leadership. “Fans are great because they draw interest and make this game popular. That’s why I have a job and we’re here at Madison Square Garden, but we’ve got to focus on us and the next game. We’re happy to have another game to go to, play in this environment and for the people in our locker room.”
Unlike Villanova’s previous wins over DePaul, this game was close from start to finish. The Wildcats even fell behind by as much as eight during the low-scoring duel, after a pull-up trey by DePaul’s Jalen Terry made it 40-32 with 12:57 left in the game.
The Wildcats responded with a 13-2 run to briefly snatch the lead and it was a back-and-forth battle all-throughout.
Da’Sean Nelson hit a crucial and-1 for DePaul, to temporarily give the Blue Demons a 55-52 lead and get the Garden crowd buzzing, as it turned to support the underdog Blue Demons. Eric Dixon silenced the noise with a pull-up three in response to tie things up at 55 apiece with 1:36 remaining.
DePaul dashed ahead, thanks to a Jalen Terry jumper, to take a 57-55 lead with 1:13 left. After a series of empty-handed possessions, Villanvoa got the desperate answer it needed when Moore hit his game-winning shot.
“Nothing changes,” said Neptune, regarding adjustments or approach for tomorrow. “Another game, another opportunity to play for the people in our locker room. It’s now towards the end of the season, I feel like we have a lot of basketball left. I feel like we can get a lot better from this game.
“Who else can go miss the shots we did and still get stops, and still hold a team to 57 points and find a way to win? That’s how we’re going to look at it.”
Dixon paced the ‘Cats with 21 points, nine rebounds, three assists and a block. Mark Armstrong had 11 points, four assists, four turnovers, one block and a steal. Moore chipped in 10 points, six boards and four assists. Jordan Longino had nine points off the bench on 3-of-5 shooting from the three-point line, before exiting the game with an apparent knee injury.
Villanova shot 22-of-52 overall (42.3%) and 11-of-35 (31.4%) from the three-point line.
For DePaul, Terry had an impressive 18-point, 15-rebound double-double, with five assists and a steal. Jeremiah Oden added eight points off the bench.
The Blue Demons shot 22-of-60 (36.7%) and 9-of-28 (32.1%) from long range.
“We knew it was going to be a grind,” Neptune said. “It’s towards the end of the season. Everyone’s fighting for their lives. We knew they were going to come out with a great game plan, play hard and we wanted to give a full 40 minutes, and we did that defensively. Thank God we did.”
DePaul ends its season at 3-28, finishing the season on a 20-game losing streak. The Blue Demons went winless in Big East play, but also after New Year’s.
Villanova improves to 18-14 overall, and it will face third-seeded Marquette on Thursday night in the quarterfinal nightcap. Tip-off is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET.
Marquette standout, 2023 Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek is unlikely to play in Thursday’s game. He missed the final three games of the regular season with an oblique injury. The news was first reported by Stadium’s Jeff Goodman and later elaborated on by coach Shaka Smart in the hours leading into the Big East Tournament.
“He’s still day-to-day and not planning on playing tomorrow, but he’s close. The plan is absolutely for him to play next week and he’s really made good progress.”
Regardless of his potential absence, the Golden Eagles still have plenty of weapons.