Men's Basketball Wins at #8 Villanova, 76-61

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Denzel Mahoney scored a season-high 21 points to lead four Bluejays in double-figures as the Creighton men's basketball team earned a 76-61 win at No. 8 Villanova on Saturday, Feb. 1.

Creighton (17-5, 6-3 BIG EAST) upped its win streak to four with the victory, while Villanova (17-4, 7-2 BIG EAST) had a seven-game win streak snapped. The Wildcats also squandered a chance to move into a tie for first place, as league leader Seton Hall was upended earlier in the day by Xavier. The loss was Villanova's first at home in its last 22 home games dating to a November 2018 setback to Furman.

After falling behind 5-1 in the first three minutes, Creighton unleashed runs of 9-0 and 17-3 to build an 18-8 lead after a trey by Mitch Ballock. Three straight three-pointers by Ty-Shon Alexander later, the Bluejay lead ballooned to 27-12 to stun the partisan Wells Fargo Center crowd of 15,105.

Creighton would take a 35-23 lead into the break, with Alexander leading all players with 14 points and six rebounds in the first half. Creighton won the rebound battle 20-14, outscored VU 6-0 in transition and 14-10 in the paint before the break. Villanova was topped by 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting by freshman Justin Moore before half.

The Wildcats came out strong to open the second half, with Collin Gillespie leading the way. Nova drew within three (51-48) by the midpoint of the second stanza, with Gillespie contributing five baskets along the way.

Denzel Mahoney helped flip the momentum. The junior forward scored seven points during a 12-2 burst as the lead returned to double-figures at 63-50 with 6:05 to go. Nova forced a pair of Bluejay turnovers during a 7-0 run in the next two minutes to close to 63-57. But following the final media timeout, Ballock buried a three-pointer from the corner off an inbounds play to help quiet the crowd. Three straight Damien Jefferson drives helped CU ice the win.

Mahoney had 21 points, reaching double-figures for a sixth straight game. Also in double-figures were Zegarowski (13), Ballock (15) and Ty-Shon Alexander (16 points, 10 rebounds). The Bluejays made 11-of-22 three-pointers on the day and won the rebound battle, 38-34.

Villanova was paced by 18 points from Gillespie and Moore added 16. The Wildcats shot 36.1 percent from the floor and 7-of-26 three-pointers (26.9 percent).

Creighton remains on the road until Wednesday night's road game at Providence, which tips at 6 p.m. Central.

NOTES: Creighton has made a three-pointer in 873 straight games, and a three-pointer before halftime in 244 consecutive contests ... Ty-Shon Alexander took over sole possession of 10th place in Creighton history with his 178th career three-pointer in the game's fourth minute, breaking a tie he had held with Duan Cole ... Mitch Ballock has made a three-pointer in 21 games in a row, tied for the eighth-longest streak in program history ... Ballock's five three-pointers give him 209 in his career, passing Jahenns Manigat (206) for sixth in program history .... Creighton won its fourth consecutive game this season, and improved to 4-14 all-time against Villanova ... Creighton is now 2-8 all-time in road games at Villanova, with both wins taking place at Wells Fargo Center (also 2014) ... Creighton improved to 2-2 this season against top-25 teams, and 35-147 all-time. The Bluejays are 12-15 against top-25 foes since the start of the 2016-17 campaign, tied for second-most in the BIG EAST behind only Villanova (19) ... Creighton now owns 17 wins vs. top-25 competition under Greg McDermott, compared to 18 wins in program history before his arrival. CU also owns seven top-10 wins under McDermott, compared to five before his arrival ... Creighton has now beaten multiple ranked foes in each of the last six seasons ... Creighton is now 1-6 all-time against teams ranked exactly No. 8 .. The win was Creighton's sixth Quadrant 1 win of the season (tied for third-most nationally) and its four Quad 1 road wins trail only Seton Hall (5) ... Creighton's four wins against Villanova since the start of 2013-14 are tied for the most of any of the 75 teams the Wildcats have played since then, during which time they've gone 208-35 ... Ty-Shon Alexander had his third double-double of the season.

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Team Stats

Denzel Mahoney

Ty-Shon Alexander

Mitch Ballock

Marcus Zegarowski

Players Mentioned

Ty-Shon Alexander

Mitch Ballock

Damien Jefferson

Denzel Mahoney

Players Mentioned

Ty-Shon Alexander

Mitch Ballock

Damien Jefferson

Denzel Mahoney