Nova can’t cool Creighton’s hot hands in blowout
Villanova had seen this act before.
The first time the Wildcats played Creighton in a Big East game, way back in 2014, the Bluejays shot a sizzling 21-for-35 (60 percent) from 3-point range to roll to a 28-point victory at the Wells Fargo Center. The Bluejays followed that up with another 60-point performance from deep in 21-point win several weeks later, solidifying a reputation as one of the Wildcats’ toughest opponents year after year.
Creighton wasn’t quite that efficient from beyond the arc Saturday, but the Bluejays were close in an 86-70 romp at CHI Health Center Omaha.
The 19th-ranked Bluejays connected on 11 of the first 17 attempts from 3-point range (64.7 percent) before cooling off and finishing 12for-26 (46.2 percent). That early barrage was enough to hand the fifth-ranked Wildcats their worst Big East loss since a 78-58 whipping by Georgetown on Jan. 19, 2015.
It also was the most points the Wildcats (13-3, 8-2 Big East) have allowed since an 87-78 loss to Baylor last season, and the most surrendered in a Big East game since an 89-83 setback to the Bluejays in 2018.
“Yeah, we’ve seen this movie, unfortunately,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said.
It was a clash of styles. Creighton (16-5, 12-4) wanted to push the pace while the Wildcats preferred to slow things down. The Blue Jays won that battle, too.
After turning the ball over on its first possession, Creighton scored 12 of the next 13 times it had the ball to open up a 28-25 lead that it would not lose.
“Creighton was outstanding,” Wright said. “Right from the get-go defensively they played very well. Their energy level was outstanding. Offensively, when they get going like that they’re as dangerous as anybody in
the country.”
Guard Marcus Zegarowski, the preseason Big East Player of the Year, and forward Christian Bishop set the tone. The duo combined for 27 points as the Bluejays opened up a 42-36 halftime lead. Zegarowski had 17 of his season-high 25 points and three of his five assists in the first half. Bishop had 10 of his 16 points in the opening 20 minutes.
Creighton shot 65.4 percent overall (17-for-26) and 60 percent from deep (6-for10). Zegarowski was 6-for-10 and 3-for-6.
“He got open shots,” guard Collin Gillespie said of Zegarowski. “He got to the front of the rim and got his teammates involved so he did a little bit of everything. He’s a great player.”
“He was great,” Wright said of Zegarowski. “He totally controlled the game. We had different types of coverages on him, none of them worked. I think that’s because he’s so smart. He’s such and intelligent, veteran player. Every change we made he read it and really sliced us.”
Zegarowski and Bishop weren’t the only Bluejays to
do damage. Mitch Ballock scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half on 6-for-7 shooting, which included a 5-for-6 performance from 3-point land. Damien Jefferson pitched in with 10 points.
“We had a really tough time guarding them,” Wright said. “Their speed, their movement offensively really was difficult for us to guard. We knew we had to get better defensively coming into the game, but it was pretty obvious today.”
Villanova’s offense was out of sync, too. Justin Moore led the way with 21 points. Jermaine Samuels continued his solid play with 16 points, and Brandon Slater added 11 points off the bench. But Gillespie had just eight points on 3-for-12 shooting (2-for-8 from deep), and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl was held to eight points at just 3-for-13 from the field.
“It was really disappointing,” Wright said. “It was similar to our St. John’s game. I think they really sped us up and we lost our decision making. We had poor decision making and I give them credit for it. Our guys were ready. Their intensity and speed defensively really bothered us.”
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Villanova is off until it hosts Connecticut next Saturday. Wright does not expect the Wildcats to add a game, especially a nonleague game.
“What we’re thinking about is if we brought in another team and then we went on quarantine because of that game, it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the Big East,” Wright said. “I think we’re going to stick to our Big East schedule.”
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NOTES » The Wildcats had 13 offensive rebounds but only turned those opportunities into 17 second-chance points … As good as the Bluejays were from deep, they were just as effective in close. Creighton had a commanding 36-20 advantage in points in the paint … Bishop and Jefferson both grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for Creighton.