Fast Start, Clutch Finish Leads Creighton Past Nova
Photo Credit: Creighton Athletics
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- An early barrage from three-point land helped No. 10 Creighton earn the No. 2 seed in next week's BIG EAST Tournament with a 69-67 victory over Villanova inside Wells Fargo Center. After CU squandered a 24-point lead, Trey Alexander delivered the dagger on a basket with 0.2 left.
CU never trailed in the contest while securing a win over every BIG EAST opponent this season.
In a start reminiscent of Creighton's 96-68 win over then-No. 4 win over Villanova at Wells Fargo Center in 2014 where the Jays made nine three-pointers on its first nine possessions, the Bluejays made eight three-pointers in the first eight minutes on Saturday afternoon.
Creighton (23-8, 14-6 BIG EAST) started the game on fire, making its first four shots to take a 10-0 lead out of the gate. Alexander's pull-up jumper on the opening trip rolled in before the junior buried a three-pointer. After a driving lay-up by Steven Ashworth, Trey Alexander buried another triple from the right wing to make it 10-0. After a Nova timeout and brief delay to fix a shot clock that wasn't working, Baylor Scheierman hit a turn-around jumper to make it 12-0.
Jordan Longino ended the Wildcat drought with a three-pointer at the 16:10 mark before CU countered with the next 12 points, including two three-pointers each by Scheierman and Mason Miller. Thanks to eight three-pointers in the first eight minutes, Creighton led 30-8 by the second media timeout and were up 32-8 when Scheierman picked up his second foul. The Wildcats took advantage, responding with a 12-2 run to claw within 34-20 and force a Bluejay timeout at the 4:00 mark as Scheierman checked back in.. Back-to-back Wildcat scores out of the break trimmed CU's lead to 10 (34-24). Creighton took a 40-29 lead into the half.
Scheierman led CU with 11 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals in the first half while Alexander had 10. Eric Dixon led all players with 12 points in the first half for the Wildcats.
Villanova scored seven of the first 10 points after the break to get within seven but three-pointers by Miller, Francisco Farabello and Scheierman gave CU a 56-45 lead at the midway point of the second half. After CU pushed the lead back to 14, Villanova countered with a 10-0 run that featured five points each by Dixon and Armstrong and drop the Bluejay margin to 63-59 with 3:24 left. After a CU miss, Justin Moore drove the lane to drop the Jays lead to two before a Kalkbrenner basket with 2:05 left ended the 12-0 Wildcat flurry. But a pull-up three-pointer by Moore made it a one-point game with 1:33 left. Alexander drove the lane and missed but Kalkbrenner was there for the tip-slam with 1:06 left.
The Jays got a stop after Moore missed and Scheierman snared the rebound, only to turn it over with 34.4 on a held ball. Dixon would be fouled while hoisting a potential game-tying three-pointer with 23.6 to go and made all three to tie it. The Bluejays went without a timeout and Steven Ashworth found Alexander on the left wing. The junior guard took four dribbles, crossed through the lane, and drained a fadeaway jumper with just 0.2 seconds left. Nova would throw a full-court inbounds pass to Dixon, but his redirection hit the side of the backboard as Creighton escaped with its third win in five tries against the Wildcats inside Wells Fargo Center.
Scheierman led CU with 18 points and was joined in double-figures by Alexander (17) and Kalkbrenner (14). Creighton finished the game making 13-of-37 from three-point range, tying the BIG EAST record for three-pointers in a season of 206 held by the 2017-18 Villanova team that went on to win the national title.
Villanova was led by Dixon, who finished with 25 points, while Moore contributed 17.
Creighton begins the postseason on Thursday night at the BIG EAST Tournament presented by Jeep, where it will be the No. 2 seed and play at 6 p.m. Central at Madison Square Garden in New York City against the winner of Wednesday's Georgetown/Providence game.
