Villanova went to Creighton and got a huge Big East win on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Bluejays 90-78. The win moves the ‘Cats to 4-0 in the conference, a game clear of Marquette and at least a game and a half ahead of the rest of the conference.
Consecutive 3’s from Eric Paschall and Saddiq Bey helped the ‘Cats to a 6-2 lead early, but Creighton responded and led by Ty-Shon Alexander built an eight-point lead midway through the half. ‘Nova was able to cut the deficit to four at the break.
A 5-0 run from Creighton to start the second half pushed the lead back to nine before the ‘Cats ripped off a 13-0 run of their own to take a four-point lead. Six-straight from Creighton put the Bluejays back in front with 13:27 left, but Villanova responded with yet another 13-0 spurt to go up 11 at the 9:36 mark. Creighton would get no closer than seven the rest of the way, and the Wildcats walked away with a 12-point win.
Phil Booth (28 points, seven assists, four rebounds) and Eric Paschall (21 points, seven rebounds, three assists) were fantastic again, combining to shoot 17-26 from the floor and 6-12 from 3.
Jermaine Samuels got the start and responded nicely, contributing 13 points on 4-7 shooting, six rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal. He had a couple of standout plays, including this one.
Collin Gillespie found his shooting stroke, knocking down 4-7 from 3 for 14 points. He added five assists, three rebounds, and three steals.
Saddiq Bey made some timely plays for the ‘Cats, chipping in seven points and six rebounds.
Jahvon Quinerly got 17 minutes and had his most efficient offensive game, scoring seven points on 3-5 from the field. He added three rebounds and an assist and continued to demonstrate improved decision making. It’s clear he should be a mainstay in the rotation moving forward.
‘Nova cranked up the defense in the second half, helping them to the win. After scoring 17 points in the first half, Ty-Shon Alexander had just five in the second half. The ‘Cats did a nice job challenging shots in the second half, and holding Creighton to 78 points on 45.2 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3 is no small feat.
The offense was good for much of the afternoon, finishing the game at 53.4 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from 3.
The ‘Cats have now won five in a row and have started to establish a cushion in the conference standings. They will look to keep things going when they host Xavier on Friday at the Wells Fargo Center.
