Villanova Basketball manages to make Sweet 16 without Collin Gillespie

To end another day of unpredictable outcomes, Villanova Basketball is predictably going back to the Sweet Sixteen. For the North Texas Mean Green, this was a case of another game, another upset opportunity in the same fashion they defeated Purdue 78-69 in overtime on Friday.

Playing, yet again, without their senior starting point guard Collin Gillespie the Wildcats trailed the Mean Green 21-13 under the twelve-minute mark. The Wildcats would not fold as they would take a 23-21 lead less than four minutes later when Chris Arcidiacono made a three-pointer. The Wildcats would end the half with a 47-27 lead.

The second half was one of maintaining the lead for the Wildcats and they would do so with fifteen made three-pointers in the game. The closest North Texas was able to come was when they reduced the lead to fifteen points to make it 55-40 off a Javion Hamlet layup with 14 minutes remaining.

A Cole Swider three-pointer with twenty-six seconds remaining would cap the scoring and give Villanova an 84-61 victory as they await a Sweet Sixteen matchup versus the No.1 seed Baylor Bears on Saturday.