Villanova, PA -- Darrun Hilliard scored a season-best 24
points and fourth-ranked Villanova blitzed Creighton on Sunday,
holding the Bluejays to 37.3 percent shooting in a 71-50 win at the Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.
Ryan Arcidiacono added 10 points as five players had between five and
eight for the Wildcats (18-2, 5-2 Big East), who shook off a rare
20-point loss against Georgetown on Monday.
James Milliken
scored 13 points to pace Creighton (9-12, 0-8), which remained winless
in league play and has matched a program record with nine straight
losses.
The Jesuit program based in Omaha beat 'Nova twice last season and produced the Wildcats' last true home loss, a 96-68 drubbing on Jan. 20, 2014.
"I've got good kids on my team and we've got a good
culture in our locker room," said Creighton coach Greg McDermott. "I
think that's allowed us to stay relatively together through some
challenging times."
Villanova locked down over the first 20
minutes and just about put the game out of reach by halftime.
Creighton had nearly as many turnovers (12) as points (14) at the
break, and would have had more if it wasn't for Avery Dingman's 3
just before the buzzer. No Bluejay had more than one field goal or three
points at halftime.
"Tonight was a really good defensive effort
for us," said Villanova coach Jay Wright. "I think Georgetown exposed
(us) so that is what we really focused on this week."
The
Wildcats scored the game's first 15 points. Creighton countered with
the next six, then went cold again. Hilliard hit a pair of 3s during a
10-0 run late in the half that made it 29-11 before Dingman's trey
cut the deficit to 15 at intermission.
Creighton was within 11
points following Milliken's three-point play early in the second half.
Villanova scored nine of the next 11 points, however, and the lead was
back to 18.
Notes: Hilliard was shooting 7-for-25 over his last three games. He hit
9-of-15, including 6-of-10 from distance, in this one ... Villanova
has won 29 of 30 home games against unranked opponents ... Creighton's
only previous nine-game losing streak came in 1995.
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