VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Villanova Wildcats had never before opened a BIG EAST regular season with 10 consecutive victories. It took a lot of grit and five minutes of overtime but the No. 14 Wildcats outlasted Creighton 66-59 to reach that milestone on Wednesday night before 6,501 at the Finneran Pavilion.
 
The Wildcats (19-4, 10-0 BIG EAST) are the first BIG EAST team to begin conference play with 10 straight wins since Connecticut did so to open the 1998-99 season.
 
Getting there was no small task.
 
Villanova needed a stop in the final possession of regulation to force overtime and then some late game heroics on the offensive glass by sophomore Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree. With the game tied at 52 early in overtime, Cosby-Roundtree came up with a pair of vital offensive rebounds that helped key a decisive 6-0 spurt.
 
Freshman Saddiq Bey established a new season high with 17 points to go with five rebounds and three steals. Senior Phil Booth rebounded from a tough shooting night with 14 points, including six in overtime. Davion Mintz led the Bluejays with 19 points and eight caroms.
 
"All the credit in that game goes to Creighton," stated VU head coach Jay Wright. "They were down two starters, their leading scorer. They completely changed their style of play and executed it perfectly. They played extremely well. We didn't and were able to gut it out."
 
In marked contrast to the first meeting between these squads back in January – won by VU 90-78 – both teams struggled to find an offensive flow in the early stages of this one. Creighton, playing without leading scorer Ty-Shon Alexander and freshman Marcus Zegarowski, was 1-of-6 from the field in the opening minutes while the 'Cats were also 1-of-6, with all of their attempts coming from beyond the 3-point arc.
 
A layup by Samson Froling gave the Bluejays a 4-3 lead after five minutes of action. Villanova meanwhile, misfired on nine straight field goal attempts before Booth broke free for a driving layup.
 
The rest of the half was a defensive struggle, with neither team building more than a three point margin at any juncture. A Paschall 3-pointer in Villanova's final possession of the period and a stop of the Bluejays at the defensive end allowed the Wildcats to claim a 25-24 lead at intermission.
 
Collin Gillespie's nine points paced the Wildcats who connected on just 9-of-26 field goal attempts (.346) in the period, including 5-of-19 (.269) from outside the 3-point arc. The Bluejays were 10-of-24 from the field and 1-of-12 from long range.
 
Creighton used an 8-3 spurt over the first 4:23 to expand the lead to 32-28. Villanova's offense continued to search for openings. It was just 1-of-7 from the field in the opening minutes of the second period. That stretch mimicked the first half, where VU sank 1-of-10 to open the period.
 
A 7-0 burst got the Wildcats back the lead and they pushed the edge to 43-39. But Creighton answered with a 9-2 spurt of its own, capped by a deep Mitch Ballock 3-pointer to regain the lead at 48-45.
 
There was 3:22 left to play.
 
Booth scored baskets on consecutive possessions, the last coming with just more than a minute to play in regulation. On the next Creighton possession, the Bluejays' Kaleb Joseph was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer with 37.1 seconds on the clock. He made one of three free throws and the game was deadlocked at 49. Both teams had a final possession but weren't able to convert.
 
The game moved into overtime.
 
A Paschall 3-pointer gave the 'Cats a quick 52-49 lead before Davion Mintz answered for the Bluejays with his own 3-pointer. Gillespie was fouled and sank 1-of-2 free throws. Cosby-Roundtree grabbed Gillespie's miss on the second and slammed it home to make it 55-52. On the next Villanova possession, Cosby-Roundtree collected a Booth miss and kicked it back out to Booth. The senior drained a 3-pointer from the left wing and the Wildcats would never trail again.
 
"Those may have been the two biggest plays of the game," stated Wright.
 
The Wildcats survived despite connecting on just .375 of its field goal attempts and 10-of-34 from beyond the arc. It did win the battle of the boards though (37-35) and committed just eight turnovers.
 
"We were able to grind it out against a very good team," Wright stated.
 
Villanova heads back on the road later in the week, this time to Milwaukee. The Wildcats will meet No. 10/9 Marquette (19-4 overall, 8-2 BIG EAST) at the new Fiserv Forum on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. eastern time. The contest will be televised nationally by Fox (Fox 29 in Philadelphia) and also air on 610 ESPN Radio in the Delaware Valley.