Villanova did not get the bounce back performance it was hoping for Friday night, falling to Creighton 79-59 and suffering consecutive double-figure defeats.

The Wildcats fell behind 4-0 to open the game but responded with an 8-0 run to flip the four-point deficit into a four-point lead. The Bluejays answered with a 4-0 push to tie the game. From there the teams played within three points of each other for about 10 minutes before Creighton used a 10-2 run to open a nine-point lead. The Wildcats were able to quell the run, but the Bluejays still carried a nine-point lead into the break. Villanova made just one of its final seven shots to close the half while Creighton ended the period hitting 7-9.

It was a pretty discouraging first-half performance. The offensive struggles continued, with the Wildcats managing just 37% shooting overall and 27.3% from 3. Meanwhile, the strong defense the team has shown over the past few weeks was nowhere to be found, as Creighton shot 56.7% overall and 45.5% from 3 despite hitting just 30.3% of its 3s on the season.

Creighton pushed the lead to 10 early in the second half, but Villanova kept fighting. A 10-3 run from the ‘Cats cut the lead to two with 8:38 to play. But Villanova just couldn’t get over the hump and saw the Bluejays respond immediately with a 10-1 push to get the lead back to 11. The ‘Cats would never threaten again, as that 10-1 run ultimately became a 23-5 push to end the game as ‘Nova was sent packing with a 20-point defeat.

The problems that plagued the Wildcats in the first half continued in the second. ‘Nova shot 30.6% overall and a dismal 1-12 (8.3%) from 3. Creighton cooled a bit from 3, hitting 33.3%, but still managed 51.7% overall for the half. For the game, Villanova shot 33.3% overall and 17.4% from 3 while Creighton hit 54.4% overall and 39.1% from 3.

“We’re just, I think, trying to do it on our own,” Jay Wright said of the offensive struggles. “Not selfishly, I think every guy individually is trying to get us going and we’re kind of losing our rhythm offensively. We’re gonna have to learn from this and then we have to get our offensive rhythm back.”

Villanova lost the battle on the boards 41-29 and was crushed in points in the paint 42-24. Creighton also had a 10-4 advantage in second-chance points and an 8-2 edge in fast break points. Villanova managed just four assists, a concerning number and one that is indicative of not playing Villanova basketball.

“We did a pretty good job taking care of the ball, we didn’t do a good job getting each other shots, we only had four assists,” Wright said. “It was a lot of contested shots, which you gotta give them credit for. Six turnovers is a positive but I thought the lack of assists is what hurt us.”

There really isn’t anything positive to take away from the performance, but there are three things worthy of note. One, Eric Dixon played pretty well, posting a career-high 15 points along with nine rebounds. Two, Villanova took care of the ball, committing only six turnovers. And finally, Bryan Antoine made his season debut. He played only seven minutes and didn’t record a stat, but it was great to see him back out there and hopefully he can start ramping up and finally get a chance to show what he can do.

Villanova is suddenly reeling, and things won’t get any easier as the Wildcats host No. 22 Xavier on Tuesday.