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OMAHA, Neb. - A strong-willed final minute allowed No. 4 ranked Villanova to fend off an upset bid from Creighton here on Tuesday night, 76-72.

With his team trailing 67-66, junior guard Ryan Arcidiacono converted a traditional 3-point play to give the Wildcats the lead for good with 50 seconds to play. And then, the native of Langhorne, Pa., came up with a critical defensive rebound on the Bluejays' final offensive possession to help seal the win.

Arcidiacono completed the night with a season high 23 points while classmate Dylan Ennis contributed 19 points to the win, which was Villanova's 11th in a row. With their 28th victory, VU matched the best regular season win total in school history, established a season ago. The Wildcats are 28-2 overall, 15-2 BIG EAST while Creighton drops to 13-17 overall, 4-13 in conference play.

"Creighton deserves a lot of credit," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "They had a great game plan. They played really physically and played great defense. We just had to gut it out. It was an ugly game. We had to be willing to play ugly and gut it out, which we did."

A crowd of 16,337 was loud and into the upset attempt made by the home squad.

"It was a great crowd and great atmosphere," noted Wright. "It wasn't pretty but I am proud of our guys' guts."

The Wildcats trailed 30-29 at halftime but regained the lead at the start of the second half and seemed poised to lock this one down when they grabbed a 60-51 lead with 8:13 to play after a pair of free throws from Josh Hart.

Yet the Bluejays battled back and moved back in front with 1:10 to play when Austin Chatman (21 points) sank two free throws to give Creighton a 67-66 edge.

The final minute, though, belonged to the Wildcats. Arcidiacono's move to the basket and score gave VU back the lead. Villanova then forced a Creighton turnover on the next possession and senior Darrun Hilliard sank two key free throws to extend the lead to 71-67 with 25 seconds left. Another defensive stop got Phil Booth to the line and the freshman added a point to the lead at 72-67 with 20 seconds remaining.

A Toby Hegner tip-in brought the Bluejays back to within 72-69 before Arcidiacono dropped in a pair of free throws after being fouled to make it 74-69 with nine ticks left on the clock. Chatman, though, drained a 3-pointer with six seconds left and as Villanova inbounded after the score, Arcidiacono was whistled for an offensive foul. That gave Creighton a chance to tie or go ahead down by two.

The Wildcats, though, got the stop they needed as junior Daniel Ochefu (nine points, nine rebounds) helped alter Will Artino's bid to tie and Arcidiacono collected the rebound. With 0.4 seconds left, Arcidiacono sank two free throws to make the final 76-72.

That capped a wild night with a first half dominated by defense and a second half where the points flowed.

"We almost separated when we got it to 11 (51-40) but they kept grinding and hit some tough shots," stated Wright.

"They're a tough home team, they had the crowd behind them, and they were making shots when we weren't early," stated Arcidiacono. "We had to keep grinding and trusting in the end."

The two teams were into a fast-paced groove over the first 4:09. The contest was tied at nine when the first official timeout was whistled as Ennis netted a pair of baskets in that early run.

But matters tightened up considerably after that point. Defense defined the proceedings and the Wildcats had a particularly challenging stretch, scoring only one on an Ennis 3-pointer, in more than nine minutes. The Bluejays built a 20-12 lead as halftime approached.

Villanova kept its nose to the collective grindstone and by halftime had shaved the gap to 30-29 after senior Darrun Hilliard scored his first points of the evening and a drive with three seconds left in the period.

But in the game's last 60 seconds it was the Wildcats who came up with just enough big plays to secure the triumph.

The Wildcats will wrap up the regular season this Saturday at Wells Fargo Center when St. John's visits for a 2 p.m. contest. At halftime, Villanova will honor its 1995 BIG EAST Championship team that featured the likes of Kerry Kittles, Jason Lawson, Jonathan Haynes, Alvin Williams, and Eric Eberz and was coached by Steve Lappas.

The game will air nationally on Fox.

Note: There will be a special edition of Talking Villanova Basketball with Jay Wright that will air on Thursday, March 5 at 6 p.m. from J.D. McGillicuddy's in Wayne. This replaces a show that was postponed in January due to winter weather conditions.

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