NEW YORK — Collin Gillespie nailed consecutive 3-pointers late in the game that put No. 8 Villanova ahead for good, and the Wildcats beat Creighton 54-48 to win the Big East Tournament championship Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Gillespie missed this tournament and the NCAAs last season with a torn ligament in his left knee. But a year later he made the clutch shots in the waning minutes, hitting the go-ahead 3 over the outstretched arm of 7-foot-1 center Ryan Kalkbrenner with 2:44 left.
The 6-foot-3 senior then grabbed a rebound at the other end and came right back and drained another jumper over Kalkbrenner, the Big East defensive player of the year, for a 50-45 lead - sending the Wildcats on their way to yet another championship under coach Jay Wright.
Villanova won the Big East Tournament under Wright in 2015, and then three straight from 2017-19. The school also took home national championships in 2016 and 2018 under Wright.
Justin Moore and the rest of Villanova’s starters circled Gillespie and fired him up before he went to the free-throw line in the final seconds. The two-time conference player of the year hit both and was soon mobbed by teammates at midcourt to kick off the championship party.
Gillespie led the second-seeded Wildcats (26-7) with 17 points and Moore had 16 on a night when points were tough to come by until the furious final minutes.
Kalkbrenner scored 19 but the fourth-seeded Bluejays (22-11) again left MSG empty-handed. Creighton has lost in all four trips to the Big East championship game, including 2014, 2017, and last season to Georgetown.
The winner was going to come down to whichever team could make a few shots in succession after a dreary start to the game. The Bluejays got going first when Alex O’Connell hit a 3 for a 41-39 lead and waved his arms to cheering fans down the court. Kalkbrenner dunked and unleashed a guttural yell as he ran to midcourt and was mobbed by teammates.
The Wildcats weren’t done yet. Caleb Daniels fell into Villanova’s bench as he got fouled on a go-ahead 3-pointer with 4:08 remaining. He missed the free throw, leaving Villanova ahead by one.
Creighton went back in front before Gillespie, a fifth-year senior, bailed out the Wildcats.
“This is why I came back,” he said as he held his tournament MVP trophy.
It started to become clear with each clang why Creighton can’t win the big one in New York. The Bluejays missed all 13 3-point attempts in the first half. O’Connell was the worst offender; he went 0 for 5. And the 3 was in Trey Alexander’s name only - he missed three. Creighton even missed two of its four free-throw attempts.
These were not the same Bluejays who outscored top-seeded Providence 31-2 in about 10 1/2 minutes during a 27-point rout a night earlier in the semifinals. Creighton shot 32% on 3s this season. That percentage, any percentage above 0, would have put the Bluejays into the lead at halftime.
Villanova missed 11 of 13 3-pointers and only led 19-18 - not a misprint - at halftime. The Villanova fans that helped pack the Garden and roared with every decisive run were largely subdued as brick after brick was shot.
At last! Creighton connected from beyond the arc in the second half. O’Connell tied it 21-all with a 3 after the team’s 13 straight misses. He missed an attempt the next time down the floor.
The Bluejays, picked eighth in the Big East preseason poll with no starters back from last year’s Sweet 16 squad, missed 26 of 29 3-pointers. The Wildcats went only 8 of 32.
Gillespie hit the only two anyone will remember.
BIG PICTURE
Creighton: The Bluejays became the first team to lose four straight Big East championship games.
Villanova: The Wildcats are tournament-tough and played in their 11th Big East final. They’ve won six, which trails only Georgetown (8) and UConn (7).
LOOK WHO’S BACK
The tournament was played to packed houses of energetic fans - who spilled late night into the neighboring bars - two years after the pandemic put the sport on pause. March 12 marked two years to the day since the Big East allowed St. John’s and Creighton to play the first half of a quarterfinal before it called off the rest of its games. A few hours later the NCAA Tournament was canceled, effectively ending the college basketball season.
Georgetown won the tournament last season in front of mostly friends and family, and no tickets were available to the general public.
UKRAINE HONORED
Creighton’s Rati Andronikashvili, a native of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, draped a Ukrainian flag over his back during the national anthem.
UP NEXT
Selection Sunday. The Wildcats hope they don’t have to leave the state, with potential first- and second-round games in Pittsburgh and then the East Regional in Philadelphia. Creighton could be a No. 8 or No. 9 seed.
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