VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Villanova Wildcats used a suffocating defense to down the Creighton Bluejays 75-41 in a BIG EAST clash played Wednesday night at Finneran Pavilion. Nova surrendered just 21 points over the game's final 27 minutes.
 
Justin Moore provided 22 points while Jermaine Samuels added 18 points to go with seven rebounds. The Wildcats (10-4 overall, 3-1 BIG EAST) limited Creighton (10-4 overall, 2-1 BIG EAST) to .356 shooting on the night, including 3-of-24 from beyond the 3-point arc. After sinking six of nine field goal attempts to open the contest, Creighton connected on 10-of-36 the rest of the way (.278). It was 0-of-15 from beyond the arc in the second half.
 
The win was the 500^th of Jay Wright's Villanova tenure (2001-present).
 
"That was a really good defensive effort," said Wright. "That's a really good offensive team that we played. Justin Moore was incredible. He played the whole first half with Collin in foul trouble. He guarded (Ryan) Hawkins, scored 22 points and was exhausted at the end of it. Justin was a great leader for us tonight. I'm really proud of him."
 
Creighton coach Greg McDermott began his postgame remarks by acknowledging Wright's milestone victory.
 
"I'd like to congratulate Coach Wright on his 500^th win," McDermott said. "I don't know that's it an honor to be a victim of that. He's what's right about college basketball. He's been a great leader in this league prior to our time in the league and certainly since we restarted eight years ago.
 
"What he's done at Villanova and continues to do is really incredible."
 
The teams went back and forth over the game's first nine minutes, with Villanova edging out in front of the Bluejays 18-15 after a Samuels slam. Seven early points from Moore also helped the 'Cats get off on the right foot.
 
On the next possession, Villanova's Gillespie was whistled for an offensive foul, his second of the night. The graduate student – named to the Wooden Award midseason Top 25 Watch List earlier in the day - went to the bench with just over 10 minutes to play in the first half and the Wildcats nursing a small lead.
 
With its leading scorer and distributor watching from the sidelines, Villanova leaned on its defense to create a surge. It closed the first half on a 13-2 burst as it limited the Bluejays to 3-of-11 shooting from the field over the final seven minutes of the period. In all it outscored Creighton 18-7 with its floor general watching.
 
"I think that's showing the growth of our team," noted Wright. "I think it's showing the young guys are starting to step up and understand what we're doing. When we would go into those stretches earlier (in the season), we would really look disjointed. I also think it's part of Justin Moore's leadership, realizing Collin is out and taking over.
 
"What's amazing is that Justin did that while guarding Hawkins, who killed us (in December's 79-59 loss in Omaha)."
 
The Wildcats led 36-22 at halftime.
 
Moore led the way with 13 points while Brandon Slater (10 points) and Samuels (nine points) also helped keep the offense flowing. Villanova forced 10 first half turnovers by the Bluejays.
 
The combination of Moore's offense and stout defense helped Nova get off to a fast start in the second half. The junior guard reeled off seven consecutive points while the Bluejays were held scoreless through the first 1:47 of the period. When Creighton signaled for a time out, Villanova had expanded its advantage to 43-22.
 
"Our depth really helped us," said Wright. "We're not playing fatigued. I would attribute that to fresh legs and good energy."
 
"We learned a lot in our game out there. If you're humble and smart, you learn. If you're arrogant, you just kind of dismiss it. The teams in our league know us, they come up with game plans that work and then we have to learn from it. They did a great job of scoring on us, isolating us in the post last time. We did a really good job of guarding that tonight."
 
As for win No. 500 – and No. 622 of a head coaching career that began at Hofstra in 1994 – Wright echoed sentiments from when he became the program's all-time wins leader, passing Alexander Severance (413).
 
"It's a tribute to Villanova," he said. "Every coach that has been here has won. It's the greatest place to coach college basketball. It's because you get great players here. We've had a lot of great players here. You look at any coach that has 500 wins anywhere, they've had a lot of great players. We certainly have."
 
Next up on the schedule for the Wildcats is a trip to Chicago to face DePaul. Tipoff is scheduled for just after 2 p.m. Saturday (FS1 and the Villanova IHeart Radio Network).