Final Stats | USATSI Photo Gallery

OMAHA, Neb. ââ'¬" A stirring road effort helped lift No. 1 Villanova past No. 10 Creighton 80-70 on Saturday before 18,813 at the CenturyLink Center. The win was the Wildcats 20th straight, including the last six victories of 2015-16. The 14-0 start is the best in program history as is the overall winning streak.

"I say this every time we come here, but that was just a great atmosphere for college basketball," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "We have great respect for Creighton and I thought this win was really about our seniors ââ'¬" Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins and Darryl Reynolds."

"Creighton is a fun team to scout and to prepare for. It is so well-coached. You know that you have to play so smart and so tough. They're so tough, especially here."

Sophomore Jalen Brunson netted a career high 27 points, one better than the 26 points he scored earlier this season at La Salle. Hart added 16 points and 10 rebounds while Jenkins poured in 21 points.

The Bluejays connected on six of their first seven field goal attempts in the contest's first three minutes to build an early 13-5 advantage. While Creighton was sizzling from the field, Villanova had a tough time getting untracked at the offensive end, connecting on just 3-of-10 in the first seven minutes, which allowed the Bluejays to craft a 21-11 lead.

Brunson helped fuel an 11-0 Wildcats burst that erased a 24-14 deficit. Brunson sank a pair of 3-pointers and Kris Jenkins added another to push Villanova into its first lead of the day, 25-24.

The next key surge of the period belonged to Creighton, which used an 8-0 flurry to pull ahead 39-33. Then came a Villanova response as the Wildcats outscored the Bluejays 9-2 over the final 1:42 of the half, that was capped by another deep 3-pointer from Jenkins on the final possession.

Villanova took a 42-41 lead into its CenturyLink Center locker room at halftime. Brunson's 16 points and 13 more from Jenkins set the scoring pace for the Wildcats over the first 20 minutes. Marcus Foster's 12 points led Creighton in the half.

A 12-4 spurt by Villanova after it had fallen behind 50-49 in the early stages of the second half allowed the Wildcats to open a 61-54 lead with 10:54 to play in the second half. Sharp ball movement, again keyed by Brunson and Jenkins, helped Villanova establish its advantage as the contest approached the mid-point of the second period.

Creighton, however, came right back at the Wildcats keyed by the interior work of Justin Patton. After a pair of free throws by Maurice Watson Jr. with 7:41 to play in the second half, the contest was deadlocked at 63. Not long after a deep Isaiah Zierden tied the contest again at 66, the Wildcats reeled off a closing 14-4 burst to put this win into the win column.

"We know against the best teams it's about being solid and playing Villanova Basketball," stated Hart. "We knew that when they tied it we had to come closer together. We stuck to playing Villanova Basketball."

Next up for Villanova is a Wednesday night BIG EAST tussle as the Wildcats will be in Indianapolis to face No. 13 Butler at 6:30 p.m. (FS1 and 610 Sports Radio).