OMAHA, Neb. – A defensive effort that Villanova head coach Jay Wright called his team's best of 2019-20 helped lift the Wildcats to a 64-59 victory at Creighton Tuesday night before a sellout crowd of better than 17,000 at CHI Health Center Arena.
 
The Wildcats trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half and most of the evening. A late burst keyed by clutch work from junior guard Collin Gillespie (24 points), Saddiq Bey (11 points, five rebounds) and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (14 rebounds) fueled the late rally.
 
"They're a really good team," stated Wright of Creighton. "We played great and won by five. That was our best defensive effort against one of the best offensive teams in the country. Greg McDermott is one of the great offensive minds in our game. Playing them is torture. That's why I'm so proud of our guys."
 
"I think we did a good job of keeping guys in front of us this game compared to last game (at Marquette)," stated Gillespie. "We got back to work and did a good job of staying in our triangles."
 
Villanova held Creighton to 9-of-26 shooting from the field in the second half, including 1-of-9 from beyond the 3-point arc.
 
Early on the Wildcats struggled to find offense. Nova misfired on its first seven attempts from the field and trailed the Bluejays 8-1 after five minutes had been played. Villanova closed to within 13-8 after a Gillespie 3-pointer but Creighton zipped out on a 9-0 burst to stretch its advantage to 20-8 with nine minutes to play before halftime.
 
Creighton's defense continued to confound the Wildcats who were 4-of-20 from the field over the first 13:50 of the contest. Villanova called for time down by 14, 24-10.
 
Five points from Bey helped Nova shave its deficit to 33-25 at halftime. Gillespie scored 11 of those points and Villanova limited the Bluejays to just five 3-point field goal attempts (they made two). But the offensive struggles (8-of-29 from the field, 4-of-20 from beyond the arc) were a theme throughout the period.
 
Villanova (11-3 overall, 2-1 BIG EAST) scored on its first three possessions of the second half to close to within 33-31 two minutes into the period. But an 8-2 response from the Bluejays extended their margin to 41-33 with 15:33 on the second half clock.
 
The Wildcats got it back to within 49-44 with nine minutes remaining but Creighton again had a response, this time in the form of a traditional 3-point play from Christian Bishop. It was 52-44 before four points from the 'Cats, the last on a driving layup by Gillespie, closed the deficit to 52-48 at the 7:17 mark. 
 
A pair of huge 3-pointers – one from Gillespie and another from Bey – gave the Wildcats the lead at 58-57. Another basket from Gillespie – this one on a drive – gave Villanova its largest lead of the night to that point, 60-57. Creighton called for a timeout with possession and 1:56 on the clock.
 
Robinson-Earl grabbed the biggest rebound of the night in the final minute, giving Villanova an extra possession at a critical time. Gillespie and Justin Moore each sank a pair of clutch free throws in the final 11.5 seconds to secure the win.
 
"I'm so proud of our guys," stated Wright. "That's a really hard team to guard."
 
Up next for Villanova is a Saturday matinee at the Wells Fargo Center. Georgetown will be in South Philadelphia for a contest slated to get underway at noon (FS1 and 610 ESPN Radio/TuneIn app). This is the first of four consecutive games played at home sites for the 'Cats, who return to Finneran Pavilion on Jan. 14 to host DePaul.
 
The 2019-20 season – Villanova's 100^th college basketball campaign – is presented by Hartford Funds and Coca-Cola.