The standout guard has been out since suffering a knee injury midway through the first half of the Kansas State game on Dec. 5.
Villanova has always kept its cards close to its chest regarding injuries, but head coach Kyle Neptune offered an update to Justin Moore’s status after Wednesday night’s 66-65 win over Xavier.
“Day-to-day. Just continuing to evaluate,” Neptune said. “Whenever our doctors clear him, he’ll be back.”
Although day-to-day has been stated before, it seems telling that Moore is still waiting for clearance regarding his right knee sprain.
In the days after the Kansas State game, Moore offered his own explanation for what happened when the injury occurred.
“It was early first half on a fast break, my knee kind of gave out when I was going to try and block a shot,” Moore said back on Dec. 8, according to VU Hoops’ Tommy Godin. “Initially, it felt like your knee giving out, but I tried to run and it kept buckling, so I couldn’t really put pressure on it.”
Fortunately for Villanova, it has had plenty of breaks for the holidays or final exams to help take the pressure off of Moore’s recovery time. Before Wednesday night’s Xavier game, the ‘Cats had only played four games in a 32-day stretch.
Moore has missed close to a month of game action, last playing in the opening half of the Kansas State game on Dec. 5. However, as January is underway, the schedule and conference play is starting to pick back up.
Villanova has won four straight games since that Kansas State loss, but there were stretches late-game against Xavier where it looked like the ‘Cats could use a playmaker. Mark Armstrong is healthy and available, but for chunks throughout the second half, Villanova deployed lineups that didn’t have any point guards or true playmakers, and the Musketeers’ pressure gave them fits.
Through 10 games this season, Moore is averaging 13.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. He’s shooting 39.6% overall and 30.0% from deep. Moore is nearly automatic from the free-throw line, converting on 96.4% foul shots.
The Wildcats’ next game is Saturday, at 1 p.m. ET against St. John’s. Will Moore be making his return then, or does the wait continue?