LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – A sturdy defensive effort and clutch scoring down the stretch helped Villanova (5-2) defeat No. 14/13 Florida State (5-1) Sunday 66-60 to claim the AdvoCare Invitational at the HP Field House. It was the Wildcats sixth consecutive November tournament title, a span that covers 2013-18 and includes 17 straight wins.
 
Sophomore guard Collin Gillespie led all scorers with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Senior Eric Paschall added 15 points while classmate Phil Booth chipped in with 12 points and four boards. Sophomore Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree was named tournament Most Outstanding Player, finishing this one with 11 points, eight rebounds, two blocked shots and a pair of steals.
 
"We have so much respect for Florida State," stated VU head coach Jay Wright. "(FSU coach) Leonard (Hamilton) is one of my favorite guys in the business because of how tough his teams play, no matter where he is. They are so physical, so well-schooled defensively and so disciplined on the boards.
 
"For us, as a young team to battle like that was big. It takes a few experienced guys who have done it before to do it. It's a great victory for us."
 
The Wildcats limited Florida State to 22-of-51 shooting on the afternoon (.431) and 3-of-12 (.250) from beyond the 3-point arc.
 
"I'm really proud of our team," Wright stated. "We've grown so much. We've said that about our team from the beginning. This whole season we need to have a growth mindset. We've just got to keep getting better.
 
"We missed some free throws down the stretch. We could have lost that game. Even if we had lost, you had to appreciate the effort defensively and on the boards."
 
Villanova scored 10 of the game's first 12 points, with five of those coming from Gillespie. The sophomore from Warminster, Pa., dropped in his first two shots of the afternoon, a short jumper and a 3-pointer from left wing as the 'Cats capitalized on a series of early defensive stops.
 
"He's just a killer – an assassin," stated Wright of Gillespie. "He loves the competition. I'm just glad he's on our side."
 
Florida State – which advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight in 2018 – displayed its vaunted defensive chops to chip away at the early advantage over the next few minutes. A 10-2 burst shaved the VU advantage capped by a David Nichols' short jumper tied the contest at an even dozen after 8:54 of game action.
 
The game settled into a pattern dominated by rugged, gritty defense. A Gillespie basket pulled the Wildcats back to level at 16 after Florida State had re-taken the lead at 16-14.
 
The rest of the half offered more of the same. The Seminoles did most of their damage on the offensive glass, grabbing eight of those caroms in the first 20 minutes. But Gillespie (nine first half points), Booth (seven points) and Paschall (six points) gave the Wildcats just enough production to take a 26-25 lead over Florida State at halftime.
 
Villanova limited Florida State to 11-of-28 shooting from the field (.397) but the Seminoles got 10 more field goal attempts than the Wildcats (9-of-18, .500) thanks to the second chance points. But VU did prevent the Seminoles from sinking a first half 3-pointer.
 
A flurry of points came in the first five minutes of the second half. The return of Cosby-Roundtree to the floor – he went to the bench midway through the first half after picking up his second foul – helped give Villanova a lift. Three rebounds, three points and a steal by the Philadelphia native helped offset the first two 3-pointers of the day by FSU. The game was tied at 35.
 
The Wildcats grabbed the lead at 39-37 but the Seminoles reeled off the next five straight points, the last a 3-pointer by Anthony Polite. That made it 42-39 but a Saddiq Bey triple promptly tied the game again, this time at 42 with under nine minutes left in regulation.
 
With Villanova leading 48-46, the Seminoles' Terrance Mann was whistled for a flagrant foul while driving to the basket. Paschall sank both free throws and Villlanova's margin was 50-46. Another Paschall basket, this one off a feed from Gillespie gave VU a 52-46 edge with less than six minutes on the clock.
 
But the Seminoles came right back, scoring the next five points with Gillespie also picking up his fourth foul along the way to narrow the gap to 52-51. A drive and deuce from Booth was followed by a defensive stop. At the 3:41 mark, VU led FSU 54-51. A traditional 3-point play by Christ Kabengele pulled the Seminoles even at 54 as the clock headed below the three minute mark to play in regulation.
 
Booth sank 1-of-2 free throws and Villanova got a defensive stop on the next FSU possession. Cosby-Roundtree put back a Gillespie miss to make it 57-54. One more defensive stop gave the Wildcats another possession and this time it was Bey to the rescue. The freshman banked home a short jumper to push the lead to 59-54. Bey then dropped in two free throws to extend the lead to 61-54 at the 42 second mark.
 
Florida State got an old school 3-pointer on its next possession to shave the gap to 61-57 with 36.6 seconds left. Cosby-Roundtree fouled out on the play. Yet the Wildcats got some big makes at the free throw line by Bey and Paschall to secure the victory.
 
The Wildcats thus added this to list of the previous five in-season tournament crowns: Battle 4 Atlantis (2013 and 2017); Legends Classic (2014); NIT Season Tipoff (2015) and Gildan Charleston Classic (2016).
 
"We just wanted to show each other that we were committed to defending and rebounding," Cosby-Roundtree noted. "Our mindset was to focus in on defending and rebounding and doing what we do."