VILLANOVA, Pa. – On the weekend of BIG EAST regular season play, the Villanova Wildcats find themselves in the thick of the jockeying for position in next week's BIG EAST Tournament at New York's Madison Square Garden.
 
The Wildcats (17-13 overall, 10-9 BIG EAST) host No. 10 Creighton (22-8 overall, 13-6 BIG EAST) Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Center. The Bluejays will finish as either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed next week in midtown Manhattan. Meanwhile, Villanova, which enters Saturday's action in a tie for fifth place with Providence and St. John's can finish anywhere between fifth and eighth in the league race.
 
This contest is one of five league games Saturday, and the second of the day on Fox. Kevin Kugler and Donny Marshall will handle the announcing duties on the national telecast while Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby will be on the Villanova IHeart Radio Network beginning with the pregame show at 2 p.m.
 
Villanova dropped a 66-56 decision at Seton Hall Wednesday. It outlasted Creighton in Omaha in the conference opener 68-66 back on Dec. 20.
 
After Wednesday night's loss, Neptune was asked if he viewed that as a lost opportunity.
 
"I get why most people would look at it like that," he stated. "But for us, we've got to worry about what we can control. That game is over. There is nothing we can do about it."
 
Villanova went through a spirited practice Friday at Finneran Pavilion ahead of Saturday's matchup with the Bluejays.
 
"Creighton is a talented team," said Neptune Friday. "They're a finely tuned offensive juggernaut and they are underrated defensively. For us, they have so many different aspects to deal with. It's going to be a huge challenge. I think our guys are ready for it."
 
Erix Dixon played an enormous role in the first meeting prior to Christmas, notching 32 of Nova's 68 points. Tyler Burton collected 12 rebounds as part of the effort.
 
TJ Bamba played his second game with a protective mask at Seton Hall after suffering a facial fracture on Feb. 24 at Connecticut. The transfer from Washington State added 11 points and three rebounds in 25:45 of action.
 
Villanova will celebrate "Fan Appr3eciation Day" as part of its regular season home finale. The Wildcats have taken three of four games as the host at Wells Fargo Center, including an 80-54 triumph over Seton Hall in its most recent visit to South Philadelphia on Feb. 11.
 
The pairings for the 2024 BIG EAST Tournament presented by Jeep are expected to be announced Saturday night at the conclusion of final conference game of the day.