Villanova guard Justin Moore remains out for Big East opener at Creighton

Moore injured his right knee in Villanova's loss at Kansas State on Dec. 5.

Villanova's Justin Moore (right knee) is out for the Big East opener at Creighton Wednesday night.Read moreCharles Fox / Staff Photographer

Published Dec. 20, 2023, 2:44 p.m. ET

Villanova guard Justin Moore will not play in the Wildcats’ Big East opener Wednesday night at No. 12 Creighton, the team announced.

Moore is recovering from a sprained right knee suffered in the first half of Villanova’s 72-71 loss at Kansas State on Dec. 5. He was sidelined for Villanova’s Dec. 9 win over UCLA.

Villanova (7-4) has two road conference games this week — Wednesday at Creighton and Saturday at DePaul — before breaking for the holiday. It’s unlikely Moore returns for Saturday’s game in Chicago. It’s possible Moore makes his return for the Wildcats’ conference home opener, Jan. 3 vs. Xavier.

Moore, second on the Wildcats in points per game (13.3), missed the first 20 games of last season while recovering from an Achilles tendon injury suffered in Villanova’s 2022 Elite Eight win over Houston. The graduate student, like some of his teammates, is having a rough start to the 2023-24 season when it comes to shooting. Moore is making just 30% of his shots from three, the lowest percentage of his five-season college career.

Creighton (9-2) lost a head-scratcher last week to UNLV, but the Bluejays remain one of the best teams in the Big East and in Division I. They are powered by Baylor Scheierman (18.5 points, 7.2 rebounds), a sharpshooting 6-foot-7 guard, big man Ryan Kalkbrenner (16.1 points, 6.8 rebounds), and do-it-all guard Trey Alexander (15.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists).

“One thing you know about the Big East is it doesn’t matter who you’re playing, it’s always going to be a competitive game,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said. “They’re very well-coached, extremely disciplined, and have a unique style of play. ... I think our guys understand the task at hand, and hopefully we can go out there and execute.”

Villanova and Creighton split their 2022-23 matchups, with each team winning at home.

The Wildcats have had an inconsistent start to this season. They arrived at 7-4 with wins over the likes of North Carolina, Memphis, Texas Tech, and UCLA, but also have losses to Penn and Drexel.

With 10 days between games, Neptune called the time a “mental refresh.”

“We had a good amount of games in a short amount of time,” Neptune said. “I think it was good to kind of go within. We weren’t really off. We got to be together for a good amount of time, and hopefully we’ve gotten better.”