On Saturday, Villanova came up short in a back-and-forth affair in Omaha, falling 89-83 in overtime.

After a blistering first five minutes, it appeared we were in store for a shootout. But both teams eventually cooled a bit and the pace calmed as the game evolved into a classic Big East heavyweight bout.

After a scorching start in which the teams traded bucket after bucket, it became a game of runs as the teams took turns going on eight and nine-point runs.

With four and a half minutes left in the game, ‘Nova was feeling good holding an eight-point lead. But Creighton responded with a 9-0 spurt over the next three-plus minutes to take a one-point lead of its own with 1:19 remaining.

A hectic final minute saw Donte DiVincenzo go 1-2 from the line to tie the game before Mikal Bridges preserved the tie with a block of Marcus Foster’s potential game-winning layup.

The teams traded baskets to open the overtime period, but Villanova then went scoreless for nearly two and a half minutes, and that dry spell proved to be too much to overcome.

Looking at the numbers, Villanova did enough to win the game. The ‘Cats struggled a bit from three, hitting 31%, but knocked down 12 shots from deep, tying Creighton’s output. ‘Nova won the turnover battle 12-10 and outrebounded Creighton 40-38. But ultimately Villanova didn’t make enough plays down the stretch and Creighton did.

‘Nova was far from spectacular offensively, shooting just 41% from the floor, but the offense did enough.

The ‘Cats were ultimately done in on the defensive end. Creighton shot 49% from the field and 41% from three and were much more efficient than the ‘Cats. ‘Nova did a poor job containing Marcus Foster and Khyri Thomas, who combined for 52 points. They also had no answer for freshman Jacob Epperson, particularly on the pick and roll. Epperson had a coming out party against the ‘Cats, going for 11 points, five rebounds and two blocks. There were far too many defensive lapses, and the communication on that end of the floor was disturbingly poor.

It was a rare occasion where the ‘Cats weren’t able to close out an opponent down the stretch.

I try my best to not bring the officials into the equation, but it has to be noted that this crew was poor down the stretch and in overtime. There are several instances that particularly stick out. Perhaps the most glaring was where the crew failed to initiate a reset of the shot clock on an offensive rebound, forcing Collin Gillespie to take a desperation shot when the ‘Cats should have been working with a fresh clock. There was also a play late in regulation where Brunson encountered contact at the basket which looked like a pretty clear foul that wasn’t called. And finally, there was the soft intentional foul call on Phil Booth that gave Creighton two shots and the ball as ‘Nova was trying to make a final push. To be fair, Creighton was on the business end of a couple rough calls as well, but none were as egregious or devastatingly timed as the ones mentioned above. The officials didn’t have their best performance down the stretch, and that’s frustrating.

Regardless, you can’t pin this one on the refs. ‘Nova had an eight-point lead with under five minutes to go, and the ‘Cats are good enough to be able to protect such a lead. Even once the lead has disappeared, DiVincenzo had an opportunity to put the ‘Cats ahead with under 10 seconds left in regulation but could only convert 1-2 from the foul line. Villanova simply didn’t make enough plays down the stretch and left far too many plays on the court. In a hostile environment against a desperate team you can’t afford to do that, and it cost Villanova on Saturday.

It’s a frustrating and disappointing loss in a game that it feels like Villanova should have won. ‘Nova will now need a loss from Xavier in one of its final two games if the ‘Cats are to continue their run of regular season Big East championships. The focus now shifts to getting things right in the final two regular season games (Wednesday at Seton Hall, Saturday against Georgetown) and building rhythm and momentum into the postseason.

Step one is Seton Hall on Wednesday night at 8:30.