Creighton beats highest-ranked foe ever in No. 3 Villanova

A Creighton season that was beginning to head in the wrong direction righted itself in glorious fashion for at least one afternoon.

The Bluejays came into their game against No. 3 Villanova on Saturday having lost three straight in the Big East. Starting forward Ronnie Harrell Jr. was out of the lineup because of a foot infection, and they were down eight points with 4½ minutes left in regulation.

With Marcus Foster and Khyri Thomas leading the way and two freshmen making major contributions, Creighton came back to defeat the highest-ranked opponent in program history with its 89-83 upset of the Wildcats in overtime.

“Sitting in the locker room, I couldn’t stop smiling,” said Foster, who scored 28 points. “I’m so happy how we won that game. We’ve been talking these last three games about how we want to play, and then to go out and execute what we said we wanted to do, it’s a great feeling right now.”

Creighton (20-9, 9-7 Big East) won for the first time in nine games against Villanova since 2014. The Bluejays also avenged a 20-point road loss to Villanova on Feb. 1.

“We always get a great game from Creighton, especially here,” Nova coach Jay Wright said. “You know on the road in this league you’re going to play in great environments against great teams. You have to be one step ahead of them to win on the road, and we weren’t today. They were one step better.”

Villanova (25-4, 12-4) had taken a 68-60 lead in regulation thanks to eight straight points from Jalen Brunson, but the Wildcats missed seven of its last nine shots in overtime as Creighton tightened its defense.

Davion Mintz scored on his own putback to put the Bluejays ahead 78-76, and Jacob Epperson made it a four-point game with two free throws with 1:45 left in the extra period.

Brunson lost control of the ball under his basket on the Wildcats’ next possession, and Phil Booth committed a flagrant-1 foul before Mitch Ballock scored for Creighton to make it 84-78.