VILLANOVA, Pa. – For the third time in four seasons, Villanova will make a pre-Christmas visit to Omaha to face Creighton. The Wildcats and Bluejays will play their final games prior to the holiday on Saturday at CHI Health Center.
Tipoff is set for 4:10 p.m. FS1 will carry the game nationally with Connor Onion and Nick Bahe on the call. Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby will be courtside as well to describe the action on the Villanova Sports Network on IHeart (Fox Sports Philadelphia and Sirius XM channel 383).
In both the 2021-22 and 2023-24 seasons, Villanova opened the BIG EAST portion of its schedule on the Bluejays' home court. Creighton claimed the first of those clashes in convincing fashion (79-59) before the Wildcats came back with a 68-66 overtime victory last season on Dec. 20. Sandwiched in between was a 66-61 Creighton win in February 2023.
Creighton also earned a win at the Wells Fargo Center in the 2023-24 regular season finale, staving off a frantic Nova rally for a 69-67 win.
In the two meetings last season,
Eric Dixon averaged 29.5 points per game. The 6-8 Willow Grove, Pa., brings a 25.7 points per game average into this matchup, tied with Green Bay's Anthony Roy for the lead among all NCAA Division I scorers.
Though Dixon led the charge with 25 points in the Wildcats' BIG EAST opening night 79-67 win over Seton Hall, 14 of those points came after intermission. Villanova got production elsewhere, most critically in the stretch of 5:30 in the first half when Dixon watched from the sidelines after being whistled for his second foul.
One of the keys in that stretch was ball movement. In its last two outings, the Wildcats have delivered 36 assists.
"I think it's that our guys are just so unselfish and they're making the right read," noted William B. Finneran Endowed Head Coach
Kyle Neptune. "They're really starting to trust each other. You put them in those spots and call a play for someone. At that point, they become the decisionmaker. If they think they can score, great. If not, make a play for somebody else."
The Wildcats (8-4 overall, 1-0 BIG EAST) have connected on 50 percent or more of their field goal attempts in the last three consecutive games and have done that six times over their first 12 games. Last season, Villanova converted 50 percent or higher from the field six times in 34 games. Only Connecticut has produced a higher field goal percentage among BIG EAST teams at this point of the season than Nova (.489).
One of those making plays on Tuesday night was senior guard
Jordan Longino. The Doylestown, Pa., native matched a career high with five assists and contributed 15 points. That it came against an aggressive defensive squad that used ample amounts of full court pressure, only added to the success.
"Coming In," Longino said, "we knew that they are a team that likes to get up in you and press. With me and (
Jhamir Brickus) being the two main ballhandlers, we just wanted to be solid, aggressive when we could be and kind of just move the ball."
Saturday offers a different set of challenges. Creighton brings a 7-5 overall record (0-1 BIG EAST) into Saturday's matinee but owns a homecourt win over then No. 1 Kansas. It is 6-1 at home this season and dropped an 81-57 decision to Georgetown in its league opener Wednesday night in Washington, D.C. The Bluejays average 76.4 points per game so their firepower remains intact.
Villanova, meanwhile, hopes to take another step forward at the defensive end after some solid work Tuesday night. The Wildcats rank 10
th in the BIG EAST for all games in Field Goal Percentage Defense (.424).
The Wildcats are scheduled to return to Philadelphia Saturday evening. They will then take a short break for Christmas before reassembling on Dec. 26 to begin preparation for a packed slate of conference games in January. That starts on New Year's Day at 6:30 p.m. when Villanova meets Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse (6:30 p.m./FS1).
