Overview
 
A blistering second half shooting display carried Creighton past Villanova 76-72 Wednesday night in a BIG EAST game at Finneran Pavilion.
 
The Wildcats led 34-30 at halftime thanks in large part to a defensive effort that held Creighton in check. But that changed after intermission with the Bluejays connecting on 15-of-19 from inside the arc and 3-of-8 from beyond it to bounce all the way back from a 10-point first half deficit. Creighton shot .667 from the field in the final 20 minutes.
 
Villanova was led by freshman guard Acaden Lewis, who finished with 20 points. Tyler Perkins added 18 points while Duke Brennan contributed his sixth double-double of 2025-26 with 16 points and 12 boards.
 
Austin Swartz led the Bluejays with 20 points. Josh Dix and Blake Harper each added 17 points apiece. k
 
"I thought they did a really good job of using their size to their advantage," said Villanova head coach Kevin Willard. "Dix and Harper made some big plays using their size against us. You've got to give those two credit. They played really well."
 
Fast and Furious
 
Villanova jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the opening minutes, but the Bluejays responded quickly, scoring the next five points. A Perkins triple pushed the margin to 13-9 and Brennan added his fifth and sixth points of the first 7:05 to make it 15-11 as Creighton called for a timeout.
 
Sophomore Malachi Palmer provided an immediate lift upon entering the game, forcing a steal at the defensive end. He then followed that with a 3-pointer to push the Villanova advantage to 18-11 at the 11:20 mark of the first half.
 
Helping to ignite Nova's offense was Lewis, who dished out five assists in the contest's first 12:16. When the native of Washington, D.C., sank two free throws, the Wildcats were on top 25-15. He ended the evening with seven helpers.
 
Bluejays Battled Back
 
Creighton got its prolific long-range game going with triples on consecutive possessions late in the period sandwiched around a Zion Stanford basket for the Wildcats. Villanova held a 29-26 lead with 2:59 to play in the first half.
 
When Austin Swarz scored on a drive for the Bluejays the lead was shaved to 29-28.
 
"I thought we took some bad shots in the first half when we had a good run going," Willard said. "We were playing well defensively early and I thought we took some bad shots that kind of let them get back into it. In the first half, I thought the offense was the issue."
 
Lewis scored twice in the next minute plus, allowing the Wildcats to take a 34-30 lead with them into the locker room at the break. The freshman finished the period with nine points, typing Perkins for team high honors.
 
Villanova limited the Bluejays to 11-of-31 shooting in the half (.355). Creighton enjoyed a 19-15 edge on the glass.
 
Points Began to Flow
 
The Bluejays converted 5-of-6 field goal attempts, including a 3-pointer from Dix to pull even with Villanova at 41 with just more than 16 minutes to play in the second half.
 
Swartz and Harper also did damage for the Bluejays, utilizing a series of mid-range jumpers within the offense. Lewis and Perkins, meanwhile, were shouldering the scoring load for Nova, which led 51-48 after 8:11 of the second half had been played.
 
When Swarz banked home a left-handed runner with 10:04 left in the half, Creighton had its first lead of the night, 55-53. Second chance points helped tip the scales to the Bluejays – at that juncture they held an 11-0 edge in second chance points.
 
It added up to a 9-0 run for Creighton, giving it a 59-53 lead with 8:13 remaining in the second half. The Wildcats, meanwhile, struggled to find a shooting groove, missing eight of nine in that span.
 
Villanova got to within four points at several points in the home stretch, but was unable to string together the series of defensive stops it needed to claw its way past the Bluejays. The final count was 76-72.
 
Creighton finished the night shooting 29-of-58 (.500). It marked only the second time this season that the 'Cats allowed an opponent to convert 50 percent or more of its field goal attempts (Queens, .574).
 
What They Said
 
Willard: "You can't give up 13 offensive rebounds. When you do that, you've got no chance."
 
Perkins on the team's first loss at home in 2025-26: "We've just got to get better. We've got to learn from it, see what we did wrong. There were too many offensive rebounds, and we've got to work on our defense."