WATCH: Villanova players console Justin Moore after Elite Eight injury
After Villanova guard Justin Moore suffered an apparent Achilles injury late in the second half of a 50-44 victory against Houston in the Elite Eight, his teammates made sure he wasn’t left out of the celebration. A recent tweet showed several Wildcats players surrounding a crying Moore in the moments following the win, patting him on the shoulder and offering words of encouragement.
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.
Moore played 37 minutes, the most of any Wildcats player, and finished with eight points in an otherwise low-scoring game. Villanova shot a less-than-ideal 28.8% from the floor, but did manage to go a perfect 15-for-15 from the free throw line in the win.
With the win, Villanova has won the South Region and will head to New Orleans for the Final Four. There they will face the winner between Kansas and Miami, who are set to tip off at 2:20 p.m. ET Sunday. Although there has been no official word on Justin Moore’s status for that game, it seems unlikely that he will be in a position to play based on how severe the injury looked.
Under Jay Wright, Villanova has punched three Final Four tickets in the last six NCAA Tournament appearances.
“They’re calm,” Wright said of his players after an incredibly close game. “They are, but I’m not. That’s the beauty of it. They played tough. We want to give Houston a lot of credit. An unbelievable defensive team. It was hard to score for both teams. That’s what good defense is all about. They were good, but we were good defensively.”
As for what makes Villanova’s latest trip to the Final Four so special?
“These guys, coming back — I get emotional when I talk about these guys,” Wright said, fighting back tears when talking about Villanova’s upperclassmen.”
On3’s Simon Gibbs contributed to this report.