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Jay Wright reacts to loss of Justin Moore due to Achilles injury

Chandler Vesselsby:Chandler Vessels•03/27/22•

ChandlerVessels

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C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Villanova coach Jay Wright is heartbroken for Wildcats guard Justin Moore. After it was announced Sunday that Moore would miss the remainder of the NCAA Tournament after suffering a torn Achilles in Saturday’s Elite Eight victory against Houston, Wright took to Twitter to offer his thoughts.

“This is a tough blow for all of us, not just because of the great player Justin is, but because of what he means to us as teammates and coaches,” the coach said in a statement. “As one of our captains, Justin has been an integral part of our success. He helps our team in so many ways. Every game, he guards the opponent’s best scorer and is one of the toughest rebounding guards we have had in our time at Villanova.”

Moore suffered the injury as he tried to dribble towards the basket late in the second half. He collapsed to the ground in pain and turned it over after suffering an injury, and the replay shows a clear view of Moore’s right calf/Achilles appearing to pop as he plants his foot. He played 37 minutes, the most of any Wildcats player, and finished with eight points in an otherwise low-scoring game.

Moore will undergo surgery this week and is now sidelined indefinitely.

The 6-foot-4 guard has started 36 games for Villanova this season, and is second on the team in scoring with 14.8 points per game. He was named to the All-Big East team prior to helping lead the Wildcats on an NCAA Tournament run.

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Following Villanova’s win, teammates gathered around Moore on the bench and included him in the celebration despite his apparent Achilles tendon injury. Head coach Jay Wright confirmed in his press conference that doctors believed it could be bad news for Just Moore, but would only confirm that preliminary x-rays came back negative ahead of Sunday’s MRI.

The Wildcats will now head into their Final Four matchup against Kansas without one of their best players. Tip off for the game with the Jayhawks is set for 6:09 p.m. ET Saturday in New Orleans.

On3’s James Fletcher contributed to this report.