Villanova stays unbeaten, stops Creighton
Blue Devils, Tar Heels both taste ACC defeat
OMAHA, Neb. — It was New Year’s Eve, but it sure felt like March to Josh Hart and the rest of the top-ranked Villanova Wildcats.
The defending national champions overcame an early 10-point deficit, Hart’s slow start and a frenzied crowd to defeat No. 10 Creighton 80-70 on Saturday.
“It’s good to get in here, play Villanova basketball against a tough team and have something we can build on,” Hart said. “We know we can get a lot better. In March we can say we played in a tough environment. We faced adversity and we overcame it.”
Jalen Brunson scored a career-high 27 points, including 11 in a row, as the Wildcats wiped out their early deficit, and Villanova (14-0, 2-0 Big East) extended its schoolrecord winning streak to 20 games.
The game marked only the second time in Big East history that two unbeaten teams met in a conference game, and it lived up to the hype with nine lead changes and five ties before the Wildcats pulled away late.
Kris Jenkins added 21 points and Hart had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats.
Marcus Foster led the Bluejays (13-1, 1-1) with 22 points. Justin Patton had 18 points and eight rebounds.
“Certainly disappointed we lost, but a great learning experience for us,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. “Villanova is terrific. We knew they we were terrific and knew it would take a great effort to win.”
VIRGINIA TECH 89, (5) DUKE 75: In Blacksburg, Va., Justin Bibbs scored 18 points to lead the Hokies (12-1, 1-0 ACC) to the upset.
Bibbs broke out of a season-long slump, hitting 6-for-9 from the field, including a season-high four 3-pointers.
“Our confidence is sky high right now,” Bibbs said. “I feel like we can play against anybody, with anybody.”
Virginia Tech snapped a nine-game losing streak to Duke (12-2, 0-1), which played without preseason All-America Grayson Allen, who was suspended indefinitely by Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski after tripping an Elon player on Dec. 21 — the third such incident in Allen’s career.
Luke Kennard paced the Blue Devils with 34 points.
“I really feel like the two teams played like the way they’ve been playing. Virginia Tech has been playing really good basketball — continuity, good eight-man rotation, feed off of one another,” Krzyzewski said. “We played like we’ve been playing — without continuity. We haven’t played well since before exams, and that continued.”
(6) LOUISVILLE 77, (16) INDIANA 62: In Indianapolis, Donovan Mitchell scored a career-high 25 points and Deng Adel had 17 for the Cardinals (12-2).
OG Anunoby finished with 14 points and James Blackmon Jr. added 10 for the Hoosiers (10-4), who lost for the second time in four days.
Louisville broke open a close game with a 15-4 run late in the first half and led 39-27 at halftime.
Indiana used a 13-4 spurt to cut the Cardinals’ 14-point lead to 50-44 with 12:20 left, but Mitchell scored eight straight points for Louisville to make it 58-46.
(7) GONZAGA 81, PACIFIC 61: In Stockton, Calif., Jordan Mathews scored 16 points and fueled a big run in the second half to help the Bulldogs (14-0, 2-0 WCC) beat the Tigers (6-9, 0-2).
Gonzaga trailed by eight with 17:13 remaining before going on a 25-4 run in a 10-minute span. Mathews and Josh Perkins had two 3-pointers apiece during the spurt to help the Bulldogs continue their best start in school history.
GEORGIA TECH 75, (9) NORTH CAROLINA 63: In Atlanta, Josh Okogie scored 26 points and Ben Lammers had 11 points and 11 rebounds as the Yellow Jackets (9-4, 1-0 ACC) pulled off a major upset.
Justin Jackson finished with 16 points and Nate Britt scored 13 for the Tar Heels, who committed a season-high 20 turnovers. North Carolina (12-3, 0-1) never led after Okogie hit two free throws with 11:59 remaining.
(20) FLORIDA STATE 60, No. 12 VIRGINIA 58: In Charlottesville, Va., Dwayne Bacon scored 26 of his 29 points after halftime and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 4 seconds left for the Seminoles (14-1, 2-0 ACC) .
Virginia (11-2, 1-1) lost for just the second time in its last 37 ACC home games.
(17) XAVIER 81, GEORGETOWN 76: In Washington, Edmond Sumner scored a career-high 28 points on his birthday and J. P. Macura added 23 for the Musketeers (12-2, 2-0 Big East).
L.J. Peak scored 21 points for the Hoyas (8-6, 0-2).
(24) NOTRE DAME 78, PITT 77 (OT): In Pittsburgh, Steve Vasturia knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing with 2.5 seconds left in overtime for Notre Dame (12-2, 1-0).
The Panthers (11-3, 0-1) took a 77-75 lead on a runner by Jamel Artis with 41 seconds to play. Vasturia missed a shot but grabbed his own rebound with 21 seconds left. The Irish reset their offense and Vasturia ended up with the ball in the corner. He faked a shot, took a step to his right and made the 3-pointer right in front of the Notre Dame bench.
Top 25 women
(14) OHIO STATE 92, INDIANA 82: In Bloomington, Ind., Kelsey Mitchell scored 31 points and Stephanie Mavunga grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds and scored 14 points as the Buckeyes (12-4, 2-0 Big 10) beat the Hoosiers.
Mavunga made back-to-back layups, Mitchell had a 4-point play, Mavunga added another layup and the Buckeyes had an 18-4 lead with 4:14 left in the first quarter.
Mitchell made another jumper for a 24-10 lead and Ohio State was never challenged.