Collin Gillespie and Justin Moore are ‘game-time’ decisions for Villanova

Villanova will face St. John’s Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden with both starting guards officially listed as game-time decisions to play in the game.

It seems like the surprise would be if both are playing.

Jay Wright said that while Collin Gillespie did not fracture his ankle Saturday against Connecticut, the injury was a “severe sprain.” Justin Moore missed that game after injuring his ankle last week against Marquette. Wright said neither one practiced on Monday for the 15th-ranked Wildcats.

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“It’s literally just going to be how they feel tomorrow,” Wright said early Monday evening. “They’ll go through all their treatment tonight and tomorrow, everything they can do. Even if they play, I don’t expect either one of them to be 100 percent … We practiced today like we weren’t going to have either one of them.”

Wright, whose team beat St. John’s, 73-62 on Jan. 29, said that “because Justin’s been out longer,” maybe there is a better chance that Moore could go. As it happens, Villanova isn’t the only one who might be missing a guard, since St. John’s star Posh Alexander also is nursing an ankle injury.

“[Alexander] went back in the game and looked pretty good – we’re kind of expecting he will play,” Wright said. “If we hear anything, we’ll adjust. We prepared today like he’s going to play.”

If Alexander couldn’t go, “he is a big part of their pressure,” Wright said. “He is a press in himself. But, those other guys are really good, too.”

If Moore and Gillespie can’t go, look for Caleb Daniels and Chris Arcidiacono to start, with Jordan Longino and Bryan Antoine obviously in the mix on the wings.

“Those guys are such an integral part of everything we do,” Wright said of Moore and Gillespie. “The beauty of those two, they make everybody better.”

When they were out together last season, after Gillespie got hurt and Moore played just 12 minutes at Providence, you saw Jeremiah Robinson-Earl bringing the ball up at times, in addition to Arcidiacono taking over point guard responsibilities. Fans might look for some ballhandling by committee, perhaps?

“Definitely,” Wright said. “We don’t want to put that in one guy’s responsibility. Even if we did, Archie can’t play 40 minutes so we’re going to have to spread it out.”

“Obviously, those are two of our great players on our team,” said Villanova forward Jermaine Samuels. “But we’ve been in this situation before … A lot of guys have been working hard, ready to step up.”