Saturday, December 31
Omaha, Neb.
12:00 PM
Creighton University
13-1, 1-1BE
70
vs
80
Villanova
14-0, 2-0BE
1
2
F
#1 Villanova
42
38
80
Creighton
41
29
70
Justin Patton
Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann
Late Finish Leads #1 Villanova Over #10 Men's Basketball
12/31/2016 3:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Defending national champions ends game on 17-7 run to win 20th straight game
OMAHA, Neb. -- Jalen Brunson scored a career-high 27 points to lead defending national champion and top-ranked Villanova over 10th-ranked Creighton, 80-70, in a battle of two of the nation's four remaining unbeaten teams on Saturday.
The showdown, hyped as one of the biggest home games in Creighton history, featured nine lead changes while living up to the massive expectations before a raucous crowd of 18,831 that ranked third-largest in program history.
Creighton (13-1, 1-1 BIG EAST) came out of the gates red-hot, making its first five shots to take a 13-5 lead. Cole Huff had five of those points, then added a four-point play a short time later as CU's lead grew to 17-9. Huff then hit a fadeaway jumper the next trip down, as the senior had 11 points while helping CU to an early 19-9 lead.
But just 31 seconds later star Creighton guard Maurice Watson Jr. was sent to the bench with his second foul and 14:00 left in the first half. Just over three minutes later starting center Justin Patton picking up his second foul. Creighton's lead, once 24-14, quickly turned into a 25-24 deficit as the Wildcats threw an 11-0 run on the board thanks to eight points from Brunson and a three-pointer by Kris Jenkins.
Watson returned the floor and helped CU retake a 39-33 lead, only to see VU produce a 9-2 run over the final 2:02 of the half. A Jenkins trey in the final seconds of the first half helped VU take a 42-41 lead at the break. Jenkins (13) and Brunson (16) combined for 29 points in the opening 20 minutes, including 7-of-12 shooting from three-point range.
Villanova (14-0, 2-0 BIG EAST) led for all but 26 seconds of the second half, but the game was not without drama.
Villanova went ahead 63-54 before consecutive alley-oops to Patton helped CU trim the deficit. Isaiah Zierden then drained a three-pointer, and Watson drained two foul shots to complete a 9-0 run to knot the score with 7:41 to go at 63-all.
A second Zierden trifecta knotted the score with 4:47 left at 66-all before Villanova pulled away. Hart bullied his way to an offensive stickback with 4:05 to go, and the Wildcats did not trail again. VU went 3-for-3 from the field and 6-for-6 at the line in the final four minutes, with Brunson (6), Hart (4) and Jenkins (2) accounting for the final 12 points in that stretch.
Creighton was led by 22 points from Marcus Foster, while Patton had 18 points and eight rebounds.
Brunson's 27 points led VU, with Jenkins scoring 21 points. National Player of the Year front-runner Hart had 18 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Creighton returns to action on January 4 with a game at St. John's that will air on FS1 at 7:45 pm Central.
NOTES: The game was the first league match-up of unbeaten BIG EAST teams since Seton Hall vs. Georgetown on January 3, 1989, and second all-time ... Villanova was the first defending national champion to play at Creighton since Oklahoma State on Feb. 8, 1947 ... Creighton fell to 0-12 all-time against top-three teams, including an 0-2 mark against No. 1 teams. Creighton lost to No. 1 DePaul on January 28, 1980 ... The Wildcats had trailed for just 53:46 all season entering the contest. Creighton led for 17:01, while Villanova led for 17:16 on the day (with 5:43 in ties) ... This is Villanova's 20th straight win dating to last year, and its first 14-0 start in program history ... Creighton's best start a season since opening 16-0 in 1942-43 came to an end ... Per CBSSports.com, Villanova's 38 wins in the 2016 calendar year are an NCAA record for one year. The stretch started on January 2 in Omaha with a win over Creighton, and ended on Dec. 31 in Omaha with a win over Creighton ... Isaiah Zierden's two three-pointers give him 147 in his career are tied with Booker Woodfox for 10th in Creighton history ... Creighton's 11-game home win streak was snapped ... Creighton's 13-game win streak was snapped. It was the program's sixth-longest in history and best stretch since compiling 14 straight victories in 1975 ... Creighton outscored Villanova 36-28 in the paint, but was outrebounded 37-22 on the afternoon.
The showdown, hyped as one of the biggest home games in Creighton history, featured nine lead changes while living up to the massive expectations before a raucous crowd of 18,831 that ranked third-largest in program history.
Creighton (13-1, 1-1 BIG EAST) came out of the gates red-hot, making its first five shots to take a 13-5 lead. Cole Huff had five of those points, then added a four-point play a short time later as CU's lead grew to 17-9. Huff then hit a fadeaway jumper the next trip down, as the senior had 11 points while helping CU to an early 19-9 lead.
But just 31 seconds later star Creighton guard Maurice Watson Jr. was sent to the bench with his second foul and 14:00 left in the first half. Just over three minutes later starting center Justin Patton picking up his second foul. Creighton's lead, once 24-14, quickly turned into a 25-24 deficit as the Wildcats threw an 11-0 run on the board thanks to eight points from Brunson and a three-pointer by Kris Jenkins.
Watson returned the floor and helped CU retake a 39-33 lead, only to see VU produce a 9-2 run over the final 2:02 of the half. A Jenkins trey in the final seconds of the first half helped VU take a 42-41 lead at the break. Jenkins (13) and Brunson (16) combined for 29 points in the opening 20 minutes, including 7-of-12 shooting from three-point range.
Villanova (14-0, 2-0 BIG EAST) led for all but 26 seconds of the second half, but the game was not without drama.
Villanova went ahead 63-54 before consecutive alley-oops to Patton helped CU trim the deficit. Isaiah Zierden then drained a three-pointer, and Watson drained two foul shots to complete a 9-0 run to knot the score with 7:41 to go at 63-all.
A second Zierden trifecta knotted the score with 4:47 left at 66-all before Villanova pulled away. Hart bullied his way to an offensive stickback with 4:05 to go, and the Wildcats did not trail again. VU went 3-for-3 from the field and 6-for-6 at the line in the final four minutes, with Brunson (6), Hart (4) and Jenkins (2) accounting for the final 12 points in that stretch.
Creighton was led by 22 points from Marcus Foster, while Patton had 18 points and eight rebounds.
Brunson's 27 points led VU, with Jenkins scoring 21 points. National Player of the Year front-runner Hart had 18 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Creighton returns to action on January 4 with a game at St. John's that will air on FS1 at 7:45 pm Central.
NOTES: The game was the first league match-up of unbeaten BIG EAST teams since Seton Hall vs. Georgetown on January 3, 1989, and second all-time ... Villanova was the first defending national champion to play at Creighton since Oklahoma State on Feb. 8, 1947 ... Creighton fell to 0-12 all-time against top-three teams, including an 0-2 mark against No. 1 teams. Creighton lost to No. 1 DePaul on January 28, 1980 ... The Wildcats had trailed for just 53:46 all season entering the contest. Creighton led for 17:01, while Villanova led for 17:16 on the day (with 5:43 in ties) ... This is Villanova's 20th straight win dating to last year, and its first 14-0 start in program history ... Creighton's best start a season since opening 16-0 in 1942-43 came to an end ... Per CBSSports.com, Villanova's 38 wins in the 2016 calendar year are an NCAA record for one year. The stretch started on January 2 in Omaha with a win over Creighton, and ended on Dec. 31 in Omaha with a win over Creighton ... Isaiah Zierden's two three-pointers give him 147 in his career are tied with Booker Woodfox for 10th in Creighton history ... Creighton's 11-game home win streak was snapped ... Creighton's 13-game win streak was snapped. It was the program's sixth-longest in history and best stretch since compiling 14 straight victories in 1975 ... Creighton outscored Villanova 36-28 in the paint, but was outrebounded 37-22 on the afternoon.
Team Stats
VU
CU
FG%
.509
.492
3FG%
.370
.250
FT%
.923
.750
RB
37
22
TO
15
11
STL
6
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
9
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
18
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
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