Advertisement Villanova edges Creighton in top-10 showdown at CenturyLink Center Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Five hours before tipoff, fans -- cold, cold fans dressed in Creighton blue-and-white -- lined up outside CenturyLink Center for the first top-10 showdown the venue has ever hosted. It was the school's first-ever top-10 matchup, too, and just the second time twin unbeaten Big East teams met. One Omaha World-Herald columnist called it the biggest game in the history of the state. If nothing else, it was a jewel of a matchup, the best the sport had to offer on this Saturday, held hours before the New Year. Moments before the 10th-ranked Bluejays (13-1, 1-1 in Big East) took the court, Fox Sports 1's cameras picked up Greg McDermott telling his team, “We don’t have to do anything extraordinary to win this game.” He was right. On the back of the team’s best start since 1942-43, Creighton emptied its chamber early, drilling its first five shots and 10 of its first 14 from the field, sending the crowd of 18,831 into pure and unabated elation. It was the third-largest home crowd in school history. A turnaround jump shot by Cole Huff near the baseline gave the home team a 19-9 lead. However, starting point guard Maurice Watson Jr. picked up his second foul with around 14 minutes remaining in the first half, relegating him to the bench for the next eight minutes. During that stretch, Villanova (14-0, 2-0 in Big East) roared back, only surging with more velocity after Creighton starting center Justin Patton picked up his second foul a few minutes later. The top-ranked Wildcats, the reigning national champions, took a 25-24 lead, their first of the game, on a Kris Jenkins three-pointer, capping an 11-0 scoring run. Watson returned and returned the lead to Creighton, but the Wildcats re-took the lead 42-41 with 5 seconds remaining in the half. Indeed, Villanova had weathered Creighton’s runs and turned what appeared to be a lopsided opening 20 minutes into a halftime lead. The Bluejays outscored the Wildcats 31-21 with Watson on the floor, but were outscored 21-10 with him on the bench. Creighton, the national leader in three-point percentage, hit just 3-of-11 shots in the opening half from beyond the arc. Foster led the Bluejays with 12 points in the first half. Creighton took a 48-47 lead with 16:43 remaining on a gorgeous drive and dish from Khyri Thomas to Patton. But Villanova countered with exceptional ball movement, stringing together baskets. Patton asserted his dominance with less than 10 minutes to go, catching and finishing an alley-oop thrown from well beyond the three-point line and creating havoc on the defensive end. The Bluejays rode a 9-0 scoring run to tie the game at 63. But sophomore Jalen Brunson, who led Villanova with a career-high 27 points, poured in baskets down the stretch, and All-American Josh Hart added some of his own to help Villanova escape with an 80-70 win. The Wildcats shot better from the free throw line (92.3 percent compared to 75 percent), three-point line (37 percent compared to 25 percent) and from the field (50.9 percent compared to 49.2 percent). Foster led the Bluejays with 22 points on 9-for-19 shooting. Patton had 18 points on 9-for-12 shooting and added eight rebounds. Creighton next plays Wednesday versus St. John's.