NEW YORK (AP) — Collin Gillespie buried 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 came right back and did it again over Kalkbrenner, the Big East defenseive player of the year, for a 50-45 lead, sending the Wildcats to yet another championship under coach Jay Wright.
Villanova won Big East Tournament titles under Wright in 2015 and from 2017-2019. The school also won 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 Wildcats with 17 points and Moore had 16 in a night when points were tough to come by until the furious final minutes.
Kalkbrenner scored 19 but the Bluejays again left MSG empty-handed. Creighton has now lost four Big East championship games, in 2014, 2017, and last season to Georgetown.
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