Saturday, February 13
Omaha, Neb.
4:00 PM
Creighton University
16-5,12-4BE
86
vs
70
Villanova
13-3,8-2BE
1
2
F
#5 Villanova
36
34
70
#19 Creighton
42
44
86
Mitch Ballock
Photo by: Catherine Grosdidier
#19 Men's Basketball Earns 86-70 Win vs. #5 Villanova
2/13/2021 6:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bluejays improve to 12-4 in BIG EAST play with another top-5 win
OMAHA, Neb. -- Marcus Zegarowski and Mitch Ballock combined for 45 points and Christian Bishop and Damien Jefferson each had double-doubles as No. 19 Creighton played its most complete game in a month in an 86-70 win vs. No. 5 Villanova on Saturday.
Creighton improved to 16-5 overall (12-4 BIG EAST) with its sixth win in its past seven games while narrowing the gap behind league-leading Villanova (13-3, 8-2 BIG EAST).
Zegarowski had 17 points and Bishop 10 more in the first half as Creighton took a 42-36 lead into the intermission. CU trailed for the game's first eight minutes before back-to-back triples by Zegarowski and Ballock gave CU a 21-17 lead it would never surrender. The Jays led by as much as 10 (42-32) in the opening half before settling for the six-point halftime edge.
An 8-0 run early in the second half featuring three-pointers by Ballock and Denzel Mahoney pushed the Bluejay advantage to 54-41, and a 10-0 spurt minutes later that included two more Ballock trifectas advanced the lead to 64-45.
Creighton's lead would grow as large as 21 on two occasions before Nova ended the game with eight of the final 11 points.
Zegarowski's 25 points were a season-high for the Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year, and Ballock's 20 points came on 6-for-8 shooting from downtown. Jefferson added 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Bishop posted his second double-double this month with 16 points and 10 rebounds on 6-of-7 shooting from the field. Creighton made 59.3 percent of its shots from the floor and 12-of-26 three-pointers (46.2 percent). The Jays overcame an early rebounding hole to win that category 33-31, and also had 16 assists against just nine turnovers. Creighton outscored Nova 36-20 in the paint.
Justin Moore paced the Wildcats with 21 points and Jermaine Samuels added 16 points and blocked two shots. All-America candidates Collin Gillespie and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl both scored eight points on combined 6-for-25 shooting. The Wildcats shot 37.5 percent for the game and were 10-of-32 from deep. VU also had a 17-6 edge in second chance points.
Creighton returns to the court on Feb. 24th when it hosts DePaul at 8 p.m. Villanova hosts UConn next Saturday.
NOTES: Creighton's five wins vs. Villanova since 2013-14 are tied with Seton Hall for the most of any team nationally in that span of the 80 schools to play the Wildcats ... Christian Bishop and Damien Jefferson are the first Bluejays with a double-double in the same game since the same duo did it at St. John's on Dec. 17, 2020 ... Creighton is now 3-0 at home this season against top-25 teams ... Creighton is also 42-148 all-time against top-25 teams, including a 24-33 mark under Greg McDermott at all sites, 24-42 vs. the top-25 at home (13-12 under McDermott) and 15-13 at CHI Health Center Omaha ... Creighton has won its last seven games televised on FOX ... Creighton is 5-1 in its last six games against top-10 opponents ... Today's victory was Creighton's first vs. a top-five opponent since a Feb. 24, 2018 overtime win vs. No. 3 Villanova ... Creighton is now 5-3 all-time vs. Villanova when making nine or more three-pointers ... Creighton is now 6-4 all-time at CHI Health Center Omaha against top-10 teams, including a 3-2 mark vs. Villanova ... Creighton surpassed 24,000 points in the game on a basket by Marcus Zegarowski for CU's 72nd point of the afternoon. CU has now outscored foes 24,014 - 20,118 in 306 games at the facility, and 23-1 in games when moving over any 1,000 point milestone at the building ... Mitch Ballock moved from a tie for 10th to a tie for seventh with Cincinnati's Deonta Vaughn on the BIG EAST's all-time career list with 172 three-pointers in league play, passing former Villanvoa stars Allan Ray, Gary Buchanan and Kerry Kittles in the process ... Marcus Zegarowski moved into 10th place on Creighton's all-time list for three-pointers made with 186, passing Matt Roggenburk (185) ... Marcus Zegarowski moved from 36th to 33rd on Creighton's all-time scoring list with 1,119 career points, passing Kenny Evans (1,116), Doug Brookins (1,115) and Daryl Stovall (1,115) ... Alex O'Connell was Creighton's first sub off the bench today, the first time all season that Ryan Kalkbrenner was not the initial substitute ... Since 2013-14, Villanova has played 269 times but lost by 15 points or more just 10 times. Four of those losses are to Creighton.
Creighton improved to 16-5 overall (12-4 BIG EAST) with its sixth win in its past seven games while narrowing the gap behind league-leading Villanova (13-3, 8-2 BIG EAST).
Zegarowski had 17 points and Bishop 10 more in the first half as Creighton took a 42-36 lead into the intermission. CU trailed for the game's first eight minutes before back-to-back triples by Zegarowski and Ballock gave CU a 21-17 lead it would never surrender. The Jays led by as much as 10 (42-32) in the opening half before settling for the six-point halftime edge.
An 8-0 run early in the second half featuring three-pointers by Ballock and Denzel Mahoney pushed the Bluejay advantage to 54-41, and a 10-0 spurt minutes later that included two more Ballock trifectas advanced the lead to 64-45.
Creighton's lead would grow as large as 21 on two occasions before Nova ended the game with eight of the final 11 points.
Zegarowski's 25 points were a season-high for the Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year, and Ballock's 20 points came on 6-for-8 shooting from downtown. Jefferson added 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Bishop posted his second double-double this month with 16 points and 10 rebounds on 6-of-7 shooting from the field. Creighton made 59.3 percent of its shots from the floor and 12-of-26 three-pointers (46.2 percent). The Jays overcame an early rebounding hole to win that category 33-31, and also had 16 assists against just nine turnovers. Creighton outscored Nova 36-20 in the paint.
Justin Moore paced the Wildcats with 21 points and Jermaine Samuels added 16 points and blocked two shots. All-America candidates Collin Gillespie and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl both scored eight points on combined 6-for-25 shooting. The Wildcats shot 37.5 percent for the game and were 10-of-32 from deep. VU also had a 17-6 edge in second chance points.
Creighton returns to the court on Feb. 24th when it hosts DePaul at 8 p.m. Villanova hosts UConn next Saturday.
NOTES: Creighton's five wins vs. Villanova since 2013-14 are tied with Seton Hall for the most of any team nationally in that span of the 80 schools to play the Wildcats ... Christian Bishop and Damien Jefferson are the first Bluejays with a double-double in the same game since the same duo did it at St. John's on Dec. 17, 2020 ... Creighton is now 3-0 at home this season against top-25 teams ... Creighton is also 42-148 all-time against top-25 teams, including a 24-33 mark under Greg McDermott at all sites, 24-42 vs. the top-25 at home (13-12 under McDermott) and 15-13 at CHI Health Center Omaha ... Creighton has won its last seven games televised on FOX ... Creighton is 5-1 in its last six games against top-10 opponents ... Today's victory was Creighton's first vs. a top-five opponent since a Feb. 24, 2018 overtime win vs. No. 3 Villanova ... Creighton is now 5-3 all-time vs. Villanova when making nine or more three-pointers ... Creighton is now 6-4 all-time at CHI Health Center Omaha against top-10 teams, including a 3-2 mark vs. Villanova ... Creighton surpassed 24,000 points in the game on a basket by Marcus Zegarowski for CU's 72nd point of the afternoon. CU has now outscored foes 24,014 - 20,118 in 306 games at the facility, and 23-1 in games when moving over any 1,000 point milestone at the building ... Mitch Ballock moved from a tie for 10th to a tie for seventh with Cincinnati's Deonta Vaughn on the BIG EAST's all-time career list with 172 three-pointers in league play, passing former Villanvoa stars Allan Ray, Gary Buchanan and Kerry Kittles in the process ... Marcus Zegarowski moved into 10th place on Creighton's all-time list for three-pointers made with 186, passing Matt Roggenburk (185) ... Marcus Zegarowski moved from 36th to 33rd on Creighton's all-time scoring list with 1,119 career points, passing Kenny Evans (1,116), Doug Brookins (1,115) and Daryl Stovall (1,115) ... Alex O'Connell was Creighton's first sub off the bench today, the first time all season that Ryan Kalkbrenner was not the initial substitute ... Since 2013-14, Villanova has played 269 times but lost by 15 points or more just 10 times. Four of those losses are to Creighton.
Team Stats
VU
CU
FG%
.375
.593
3FG%
.313
.462
FT%
.923
.769
RB
31
33
TO
7
9
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
25
FGM
10
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
20
FGM
7
3FGM
6
FTM
0
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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