Villanova rallies to defeat Hoyas in Big East opener

Collin Gillespie and Caleb Daniels each made f ive three- pointers and scored 18 points to lead No. 9 Villanova past Georgetown 76- 63 on Friday night at Washington in the Big East opener for both teams.

The Wildcats ( 5- 1) trailed by 18 early in the first half at Georgetown’s empty oncampus gym — a surprising deficit considering Villanova entered as 111⁄ 2- point road favorites — until they got three- point happy and showed again why they are the team to beat in the Big East.

at No. 3 Iowa 105, Iowa State 77: Luka Garza surged in the second half and f inished with 34 points in just 17 minutes for the Hawkeyes ( 5- 0).

Garza missed nearly 11 minutes in the first half after picking up his second foul, but he responded with 25 points in the second half. He was 13 of 14 from the f ield — including 10 of 10 after halftime — and knocked down four straight three- pointers.

The 6- foot- 11 senior scored the most points by a Division I player who played less than 20 minutes in a game over the past 25 seasons, according to ESPN.

at No. 11 West Virginia 62, North Texas 50: Sean McNeil scored 15 points and the Mountaineers rallied after a cold first half.

West Virginia ( 5- 1) trailed by eight points at halftime but scored the first 18 points of the second half to take control. The Mountaineers made nine of 35 shots in the f irst half, and North Texas ( 1- 3) made only six of 33 after the break.

at No. 8 Creighton 98, Nebraska 74: Marcus Zegarowski scored 22 points, Denzel Mahoney had 20 and the Bluejays ( 4- 1) used a 30- 7 run to pull away.

at No. 5 Kansas 95, Omaha 50: Ochai Agbaji scored 18 points to lead four players in double f igures for the Jayhawks ( 6- 1).