Villanova vs. Creighton Recap

Villanova easily defeats #19 Creighton, 79-67, after a hot first half in South Philly.

Game Recap

First Half

For the first five minutes of the game, Villanova and Creighton exchanged baskets. Baylor Scheierman made a jumper to tie the game at 12 for the Bluejays with 14:31 left in the first half. Since that basket, Villanova went on a 26-12 run to end the first half. The Wildcats’ leading scorer at halftime was Eric Dixon, who scored 18 points while shooting 7-9 from the field and 4-5 from behind the arc. Cam Whitmore had seven points while shooting a perfect 4-4 in free throws, and Mark Armstrong accumulated 5 points and three rebounds in the first half. Villanova shot 46% from the field as a team in the first half and 54% from three. Creighton shot 39% from the field and struggled from behind the arc after only making two three-pointers in their 13 attempts throughout the first twenty minutes of play.

Second Half

Throughout the second half, the Eric Dixon show continued for Villanova. Dixon would go on to score a career-high of 31 points after recording 13 more points in the second half against Creighton. Arthur Kaluma and Ryan Kalkbrenner both had a really solid second half for Creighton, but Villanova’s offense led by Eric Dixon and Cam Whitmore continued to score. Whitmore ended the game with 17 points while shooting 5-8 from the field. After scoring five points in the first half, Mark Armstrong added six more points in the second for a total of 11 points on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats were outscored by the Bluejays, 43-41, in the second half.

Overall, the Wildcats shot an excellent 50% from the field and 40.9% (9-22) from three in the game. Eric Dixon was phenomenal for Nova all afternoon. Villanova took care of business against #19 Creighton in front of 17,114 people to secure their second straight victory against a ranked Big East opponent.

The Road Ahead for Villanova

The Wildcats will travel to Newark, NJ tomorrow to take on Seton Hall at the Prudential Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30pm on Tuesday. Nova is currently tied for the sixth seed in the Big East with Seton Hall as both teams sit 9-9 in Big East play. The Wildcats defeated the Pirates, 58-54, at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday, February 11^th  in their first matchup. After Tuesday, Villanova will play their final regular season game on March 4^th against #18 UConn at the Wells Fargo Center. WXVU will have coverage of Villanova’s battle against UConn on March 4^th.