PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Creighton built a 17-point first half lead and then held off a series of second half charges to down No. 8/10 Villanova 76-61 at the Wells Fargo Center.
 
Denzel Mahoney led four double-figure scorers for Creighton (17-5 overall, 6-3 BIG EAST) while junior Collin Gillespie and freshman Justin Moore each scored 18 points to pace the Wildcats (17-4 overall, 7-2 BIG EAST). Creighton converted 11-of-22 from beyond the 3-point arc (.500) on the day while Nova was just 7-of-26 (.269) from long range and 22-of-61 (.361) overall.
 
"Creighton deserves a lot of credit," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "They just came in here and played a better basketball game than we did. I've been saying this all year: every game in this league is going to be a battle. If you don't play your best, you're going to get beat.
 
"We weren't that bad. They just really played well. We've said this when we've won some games. We're still a team that's learning and growing. Creighton just played an all-around better basketball game than us. They did a great job defensively and hit big, timely shots."
 
A Gillespie 3-pointer helped the Wildcats move out to an early 5-1 lead but Creighton bounced right back with a 7-0 run keyed by the work of Ty-Shon Alexander to move on top 8-5 five minutes into the first half. A Mitch Ballock 3-pointer extended the run to 10-0 and the lead to 11-5. Moore dropped in a 3-pointer from the left wing to halt the run.
 
A 7-0 surge pushed Creighton's lead to 18-8 and then three straight 3-pointers from Alexander gave the Bluejays at 27-12 edge with 5:30 to play in the first half. Villanova, meanwhile, struggled to find an offensive groove, connecting on 5-of-20 from the field, including 2-of-13 from long range.
 
Some offensive firepower from Moore (10 first half points) and Gillespie (seven points at intermission) helped Villanova shave its halftime deficit to 35-23.
 
Over the first 20 minutes, the Wildcats were held to 10-of-28 shooting from the field (.357) and 3-of-14 from outside the arc. Creighton, meanwhile, was 14-of-29 from the floor (.483) and 6-of-13 from distance (.462). Alexander's 14 first half points led all scorers.
 
A 7-2 burst to open the second half by the Wildcats brought them back to within 37-30 before Marcus Zegarowski drained a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 40-30 three minutes into the period. But Villanova kept putting a dent in the lead and when Gillespie scored on a layup the 'Cats were back to within 51-48 midway through the second half.
 
But a Creighton switch to a zone defense slowed the 'Cats' spurt. Meanwhile the Bluejays generated a 9-0 burst to push the lead back to 13, 63-50 with just more than five minutes to play.
 
Villanova scored seven straight points to close the gap to 63-57 but a Ballock 3-pointer pushed the margin back to 66-57 with 2:45 remaining. The final count was 76-61.
 
"I think they hit a lot of the (3-point) shots today that they missed the last time we played them," stated Wright, referencing a 64-59 Villanova victory in Omaha on Jan. 7. "In the first half, because we were having a hard time scoring, they were getting out in transition a lot more. It's harder to match up on them in transition.
 
"In the second half, Ballock made some really tough (3's). Mahoney hit one at the end of the shot clock from really deep. They're capable of doing that. That's not shocking. You've got to do a better job offensively so you can counter those shots. We didn't do a good job offensively today."
 
Up next, the 'Cats journey to Indianapolis to meet Butler. That game will take place on Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. (FS1 and 610 ESPN Radio).
 
The 2019-20 season – Villanova's 100^th college basketball campaign – is presented by Hartford Funds and Coca-Cola.