Wildcats Drop Creighton Men's Basketball on Alumni Day

OMAHA, Neb. -- Villanova raced to a 25-10 lead and never looked back in an 80-69 win at Creighton on Saturday before 16,479 fans at CHI Health Center Omaha. The two teams have more BIG EAST wins than any other program since the league's reconfiguration in 2013.

The Wildcats (20-5, 11-3 BIG EAST) snapped a four-game losing streak in the series with its first road win in Omaha since 2023 over Creighton (13-13, 7-8 BIG EAST).

Duke Brennan (21 points, 12 rebounds) and Tyler Perkins (17 points, 11 rebounds) both turned in double-doubles for Villanova

Nik Graves finished with 15 points and five assists to lead three Bluejays in double-figures.

CU trailed 9-7 early before Villanova embarked on a 16-3 spurt that featured a pair of 8-0 runs sandwiched around a three-pointer from CU freshman Hudson Greer.  Six different Wildcats scored during the flurry, that was capped by consecutive triples from Devin Askew to make it 25-10. Nova's lead grew to as large as 16 in the first half before it settled for a 41-27 lead at the break.

Creighton closed to within seven points at both 47-40 and 49-42, but VU kept the Jays at bay and didn't let any building momentum turn into an extended run to earn its first double-digit margin of victory in Omaha since 2019.

Josh Dix scored 14 points and Austin Swartz added 12 for the Bluejays, who scored 33 bench points. Greer ended his day with eight points, five rebounds and a career-high four steals. Also producing a career-high was Jasen Green, who snared 11 rebounds.

Askew added 13 points and Malachi Palmer scored 10 for Nova, which outscored CU 48-34 in the paint, 15-7 in second-chance points and 15-6 off turnovers. 

Both teams finished with 41 rebounds.

Creighton is back in action on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Central when it visits No. 6 Connecticut.