Villanova outlasts DePaul 79-75 in overtime thriller

The Villanova Wildcats fought their own offensive slump and an overtime to defeat the DePaul Blue Demons 79-75 in the Finneran Pavilion tonight.

Widening their win-streak against DePaul to 19 games, the Wildcats came alarmingly close to seeing that dominance dissolve. With under three minutes left on the clock in the second half, Nova held a seemingly comfortable double-digit lead. However, DePaul then swiftly proceeded to blast through the deficit in a 12-1 run, aided in large part by the cool-under-pressure Charlie Moore.

Fortunately for the Wildcats, Collin Gillespie’s free-throw shooting in overtime was sterling, and secured six vital points as lifelines for Nova. Gillespie also put up a team-high 21 points, followed by Saddiq Bey’s 18 points. Interestingly, both Gillespie and Bey shot 50% from three tonight.

Villanova’s three-point shooting was their only marginal edge over DePaul, as the Wildcats shot 39.3% of 3FGs compared to the Blue Demons’ 38.9%. DePaul outshot Villanova for overall field goals, making 47.7% versus Nova’s 43.1%.

DePaul remains winless in conference play, but moves on for another W chance against Butler on Saturday in Chicago. Villanova also marches forward on Saturday, meeting UConn in Philadelphia.