On Saturday, Feb. 14, love was in the air as Villanova men’s basketball defeated Creighton University, 80-69, while on the road in Omaha, NE.
The win marks the Wildcats’ (20-5, 11-3 Big East) first double-digit margin of victory in Omaha since 2019.
Additionally, the victory is Villanova’s twentieth of the season, stretching them to a five-game win-streak. Creighton (13-13, 7-8 Big East) now moves to a two-game loss streak.
“At our place we got caught up on switches a couple of times, and they took advantage of it,” Head Coach Kevin Willard said about their last meeting with Creighton. “This time we guarded our man really well.”
Two Wildcats posted double-doubles at the CHI Health Center arena. Senior forward Duke Brennan led the Wildcats, scoring 21 points and tallying 12 rebounds. Junior guard Tyler Perkins totalled 17 points and 11 rebounds.
“Duke has been great, you can’t talk enough about him,” Willard said. “Perks [Perkins] is really starting to settle into who he is as a player, and he just keeps getting better.”
Senior guard Nik Graves led the Bluejay’s offense, tallying 15 points. Senior guard Josh Dix followed, scoring 14 points.
Junior forward Jasen Green led Creighton against the glass, totalling 11 rebounds for the night.
The Wildcats went 30-for-65 (46%) on field goals, 6-for-21 (26%) on three pointers and 14-for-19 (74%) on free throws. In comparison, the Blue Jays went 27-for-65 (42%) on field goals, 8-for-27 (30%) on three pointers and 7-for-12 (58%) at the free throw line.
Following tip-off, the teams got off to a back-and-forth start with both maintaining defensive control.
Midway through the half, Villanova went on a 16-3 scoring run to pull away from the Blue Jays.
Six Wildcats aided the offensive effort before Villanova found its largest lead of the half at 16 points.
The first half ended, 41-27.
Coming out of halftime, the Blue Jays exerted control in the half’s opening minutes.
Following a 13-6 scoring run, Creighton managed to trail by just 7 points, 47-40.
The Wildcats extended their lead again in the game’s closing minutes, securing the 80-69 win.
The Wildcats will now travel to Cincinnati, OH, on Tuesday, Feb. 17, to face Xavier University (13-12, 5-9 Big East). In their last meeting in Feb. 2025, the Wildcats defeated Xavier, 80-68. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on FS1.
