OMAHA, Neb. – Creighton snuffed out a Villanova rally in the final minute and claimed a 66-61 victory Saturday night before 18,504 at CHI Health Center. The Bluejays scored the game's final six points after an Eric Dixon 3-pointer had put Villanova on top 61-60 with 34.3 seconds left in the contest.
 
Dixon finished with 20 points to lead Villanova (10-13 overall, 4-8 BIG EAST). Creighton (15-8 overall, 9-3 BIG EAST) got 27 points from Trey Alexander.
 
"It was a tough loss for us on the road against a really good team," stated Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune. "I give them a lot of credit. I thought we were really resilient, took some good shots, but they made the plays at the end."
 
Four points on the interior from Dixon and a triple from Justin Moore staked Villanova to a 7-5 lead through 4:05 of the first half. Alexander's second triple of the night for Creighton was part of a quick 5-0 response that put the Bluejays up, 10-7. A free throw from Cam Whitmore and a driving bucket by Brandon Slater tied the contest at 10 after eight minutes.
 
An 8-0 spurt by Creighton midway through the period that included another 3-pointer from Alexander, gave the Bluejays a 22-14 edge with 7:34 to play in the period. Villanova missed five straight 3-pointers after Moore's make in the opening minute.
 
A Caleb Daniels 3-pointer halted the surge. But Arthur Kaluma answered with a step-back 3-pointer for Creighton to extend the edge to 25-17. With 2:34 left in the period, the Creighton advantage was holding steady at eight points, 32-24.
 
Creighton took a 35-27 lead with it into the locker room at halftime. The Bluejays' defense limited Villanova to 9-of-23 shooting in the half (.391), including 3-of-13 from long range (.231). The Wildcats did a solid defensive job themselves, holding Creighton to 12-of-29 accuracy from the field (.414).
 
Moore led Villanova with seven points while Alexander and Ryan Kalkbrenner each contributed 12 points to the Creighton cause.
 
The Wildcats closed to within 41-36 by the first official timeout of the second half. A pair of Ryan Nembhard free throws was followed by another Alexander 3-pointer to extend the lead to 46-36 at the 14:19 mark of the second half.
 
An 8-0 spurt born of superb defense got the 'Cats back to within 46-44 before Alexander scored and added a free throw to push the margin to 49-44 at the game approached the midpoint of the second half. Two Whitmore free throws made it 49-46 and Villanova then forced a 10-second violation. A pair of Dixon free throws narrowed the Creighton lead to 49-48.
 
When Dixon scored inside at the 9:43 mark, Villanova led 50-49. He added a free throw after being fouled. Two Arthur Kaluma free throws tied it at 51.
 
Off a timeout, Alexander came off a screen and sank a 3-pointer from the right corner to make it 54-51 in favor of the Bluejays. Dixon used another low-post move to score again for Nova to pull it back to within 54-53. Villanova then forced a shot-clock violation to regain possession with 6:17 to play.
 
Dixon found Slater, who calmly dropped in a 3-pointer to give the 'Cats a 56-54 lead before Creighton tied it at 56.
 
The contest remained deadlocked at 56 at the final official timeout with 3:46 remaining. Alexander then dropped in a jumper from the elbow to put the Bluejays up, 58-56. Two Slater free throws tied it at 58 as the clock went below two minutes in regulation.
 
After a steal, Ryan Nembhard scored on a drive to put the Bluejays back on top, 60-58. A Dixon jumper then rimmed out and Creighton grabbed the rebound with 46.5 seconds to go. Kaluma was fouled but missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Villanova collected the carom, raced down the court, and Dixon drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 34.3 seconds to go.
 
On the next possession, Alexander was fouled on a drive to the goal and sank both, putting the Bluejays up, 62-61 with 26.2 seconds left. A Villanova turnover on the next possession led to two more Kaluma free throws.

 The Wildcats begin a three-game homestand on Wednesday night at Finneran Pavilion against DePaul (8:30 p.m./FS1 and the Villanova Sports Network). At halftime, Villanova will retire the No. 1 jersey of two-time NCAA national champion and 2018 consensus National Player of the Year Jalen Brunson.