Villanova Wildcats 19-5 (10-3) at Creighton Blue Jays 13-12 (7-7)
Where: CHI Health Center (Omaha, NE)
When: Saturday, Feb. 14 at 2:30 PM
Betting Line: Villanova -3.5 (subject to change)
How to Listen: Villanova Sports Radio Network
Net Rankings: Villanova 30, Creighton 80 (Quad 2)
KenPom: Villanova 29, Creighton 76
Torvik: Villanova 33, Creighton 77
About Creighton: In the meeting on January 7th, the Blue Jays unleashed an offensive onslaught after halftime on the way to a 76-72 victory. Creighton has gone 3-6 since that point, with its only three wins against Georgetown, Seton Hall and Xavier by a total of five points. The Seton Hall and Xavier wins were on buzzer beaters. The losses came at home against St. John’s and Connecticut by a combined 44 points, and road losses to Providence, Marquette, Georgetown and DePaul, who just defeated the Blue Jays by one on Wednesday. The Blue Demons got a basket from Brandon Maclin with seven seconds remaining, and Creighton’s Nik Graves missed a three at the horn.
In that previous game against Villanova, freshman Hudson Green did not play. The 6’7” forward has been getting increased playing time of late, with his 9 points against DePaul being his high in conference play.
The Blue Jays have made two changes to the starting lineup since that time, with a pair of 6’4” sophomores hitting the bench. Ty Davis and Austin Schwartz both started against Villanova, with Davis playing 25 minutes and scoring 2 points, while Schwartz got anything he wanted and scored 20 on the night. They have been replaced in the lineup by Blake Harper and the aforementioned Graves. Harper was a challenge against the Wildcats, using his height to his advantage in the mid-range. The 6’7” sophomore scored 17 points on 6/9 shooting.
Harper, Schwartz and Josh Dix combined to score 54 of the Jays’ 76 points. The 6’6” senior, like Harper, took smaller guards into his sweet spot all throughout the second half. Dix finished with 17 points on 7/14 from the floor.
Notes on Nova: Offense wasn’t the problem the last time these two teams met, it was the putrid defense. Creighton scored on nearly every possession after halftime, totally 46 second-half points. On possessions where the initial shot was missed, they seemingly got an offensive rebound more times than not. Villanova needs to have a different plan this time around, even with the Blue Jays currently struggling.
The Wildcats didn’t take advantage in the first half, especially when Jasen Green was out temporarily with an injury. The lead should have been greater than 4 points going into the locker room.
Villanova only shot 6/24 from deep, but conversely only turned the ball over 5 times all night. If the defense can tighten up (and Creighton can just calm down a little), there’s no reason why we can’t be celebrating a victory with our loved ones on Valentine’s Day.
