NEW YORK, N.Y. – A gritty defensive effort and timely scoring from its trio of captains – Eric Paschall, Collin Gillespie, and Phil Booth – helped lift Villanova to a 73-62 victory over No. 8 seed Providence Thursday afternoon in a BIG EAST Tournament presented by Jeep quarterfinal.
 
Paschall posted his third double-double of the season, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Gilllespie delivered 19 points and six assists while Booth added 13 points. Sophomore forward Jermaine Samuels made some huge defensive plays in the final minutes, ending the day with eight points, seven rebounds, four steals and a +23 rating for the day.
 
Villanova is 23-9 overall while Providence falls to 18-14.
 
"I think we beat a good team," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "They've played well over the last 5-6 games. It wasn't pretty but I'm proud of our guys."
 
The Wildcats were just 22-of-60 from the field (.367) but forced 19 Friars turnovers and sank 19-of-25 free throws. After Providence pulled even at 44 with 9:18 to play, the Wildcats clamped down defensively. From that point forward, VU outscored Providence 29-18.
 
A Booth dunk off of a steal gave the Wildcats the first points of the day but Providence scored the next nine points to take an early 9-2 lead. VU was just 1-of-7 from the field (.143) through the game's first 4:46.
 
Some sharp passing from Paschall – two assists – and Villanova's 3-pointer of the afternoon keyed a 13-0 run by the 'Cats. A pair of 3-point plays – one of the traditional kind by Paschall and another from distance – pushed the Wildcats in front 15-9 after 9:03.
 
"Eric did a great job of finding Dhamir in the zone," noted Wright. "Dhamir was fouled on a few of those so Eric only was credited with two assists but I thought his passing really helped get us some better looks."
 
Another spurt by the Friars brought them within one point (25-24) before a 6-0 run by the Wildcats at the half allowed Villanova to claim a 31-24 lead at intermission. Gillespie paced VU with nine points.
 
Providence hit on 5-of-9 field goal attempts in the first eight minutes of the second half to shave its deficit to 40-36. At the same time, the Wildcats were just 2-of-10 from the floor. When Isaiah Jackson sank a 3-pointer from above the top of the key and followed with a layup, the Friars were back to within to 42-41 at the midpoint of the second half. A short while later, the contest was tied at 44 with 9:18 to go.
 
But a Gillespie triple and another from Paschall made it 52-46 and the Wildcats would keep the Friars at bay the rest of the way.
 
Freshman Cole Swider (Portsmouth, R.I.) played a key role off the bench for VU, scoring five points in 14:36.
 
"Cole missed six weeks and he really hasn't played much in a game since he got hurt," stated Wright. "I thought he did a great job for not having played in a game in seven or eight weeks."
 
Notes: Villanova improves to 10-1 vs. Providence in the BIG EAST Tournament … The Wildcats are 12-2 in the BIG EAST Tournament since the 2013-14 realignment and have won a quarterfinal game in each of the past five seasons … The 20 points scored by Paschall and the 19 points from Gillespie both represented career highs for each player in this event.