Big East Basketball: UConn, Seton Hall remains in hunt of latest power rankings

1. Villanova Wildcats (8-1, 3-0 Big East)

Villanova fans are still waiting for their team to return to action.

After returning to practice back on January 3rd, the Wildcats were hit with a second pause that forced Villanova to pause all team activities on January 4th. As a result, Villanova has been on pause for over half a month and six of their games have been postponed.

Before the pause, the Wildcats were rolling outscoring their Big East opponents 246-197 through three conference games.

Four of Villanova’s starters, with sophomore forward, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (16.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg), senior point guard, Collin Gillespie (15.3 ppg, 4.2 apg), sophomore guard, Justin Moore (13.4 ppg, 5 rpg), and junior guard, Caleb Daniels (12.6 ppg), were all averaging over 12 points per game before their pause.

Robinson-Earl has been the most impactful player for Villanova inside, scoring 19 points and shooting 9-for-14 from the floor (64.3 percent) during the Wildcats’ most impressive victory of the season, winning 68-64 on the road at Texas.

In the backcourt, Gillespie and Daniels have both made more than 43 percent of their three-point shots this season. Gillespie also leads Villanova with 38 assists to just eight total turnovers. The Wildcats are currently first nationally committing only 7.9 turnovers per game.

After a lengthy pause, Villanova was finally able to return to practice on Thursday and is waiting to get their next game in. Their next scheduled game is set for Tuesday at home against Seton Hall. The Wildcats will then host Providence on Saturday, January 23rd.