After a brutal 81-57 loss at Georgetown on Wednesday night that coaches and players alike called “embarrassing,” Creighton returns home to take on a suddenly surging Villanova squad. The Jays’ lack of a second ball handler and shot creator was especially apparent in that game, and with no one able to make Georgetown pay for double-and-triple teaming Ryan Kalkbrenner by knocking down open shots, the Hoyas were able to blanket the Jays’ center all night with no fear.
There’s still hope that Fedor Žugić will be cleared by the NCAA to take the floor, and provide them with the exact type of player they’re missing: a sharpshooter that can create his own shot off the dribble. But when asked point-blank by the D.C. media about Žugić after Wednesday’s game, Greg McDermott told them there’s been little movement.
“To my knowledge, no, there’s been no update. We’re still waiting and working every day,” McDermott told them. “Our compliance people and attorneys are working tirelessly to try to get a resolution.”
Meanwhile, Villanova beat Seton Hall 79-67 in their Big East opener, their fifth straight win after a 3-4 start that included a loss to cross-town rival St. Joseph’s — and calls for Kyle Neptune to be fired. Eric Dixon, a fifth-year senior in his sixth year at Villanova, has been one of the country’s best players this year. But as that rough start showed, he can’t do it alone. Now that the Wildcats’ supporting cast is rapidly improving, so have their fortunes.
Dixon has long been Creighton’s kryptonite, without a doubt, the best version of the exact type of player who gives them the most trouble: a mobile big man who’s comfortable shooting midrange jumpers and threes. He’s scored 156 points in eight all-time meetings against the Jays (that’s 19.5 points per game), scoring 30 or more twice. He’s scored 20 points or more in each of his last five meetings against Creighton, the longest streak by any Bluejay opponent since Evansville’s Colt Ryan also did it in five straight meetings from 2010-12.
And he’s particularly enjoyed playing in Omaha. He hit a pair of threes in overtime and scored 32 points to lead the Wildcats to a 68-66 victory in Omaha last December; he hit a three in the final minute of the game in Omaha two years ago that briefly gave VU a lead before Creighton rallied to win 66-61.
This year he’s been everybody’s kryptonite. Dixon leads the nation in scoring at 25.7 points per game, and also leads the nation in Offensive Rating with an absurd 134.8 mark — the next closest player is Auburn’s Johni Broome, who has an excellent 129.7 that is still more than five points lower than Dixon.
One of their early season losses was to Maryland, a team ranked #17 in KenPom, by a single point. Illustrating how Dixon was attempting to prop up a wobbly supporting cast, he scored 38 points in that loss, making 10-of-18 from inside the arc and 5-of-11 outside — taking 29 of his team’s 62 shots, and scoring 38 of their 75 points.
Dixon was an even bigger part of their offense in a win over KenPom #24 Cincinnati earlier this month, scoring 31 of their 68 points and taking 23 of their 47 shots. He scored 25 in their Big East opening night win over Seton Hall on 7-of-12 shooting, and went 8-of-10 from the line with six rebounds and three assists.
But it’s more than just the Eric Dixon show now — Wooga Poplar, a 6’5” senior transfer from Miami, has emerged as a legitimate second scoring option, shooting 34.8% from three-point range and averaging 12.7 points with a team-best 6.3 rebounds per game. And 5’11” senior point guard Jhamir Brickus, a transfer from La Salle, is averaging 11.2 points and 5.7 assists per game, while shooting 49.0% (24-of-49) from three-point range.
Both struggled to score against Seton Hall, with Brickus scoring just seven points (though he did have seven assists) and Poplar getting off only three shots, scoring three points. But other players stepped into the void. 6’4” sophomore Tyler Perkins, averaging 8.8 points per game, made five 3-pointers en route to 17 points, and has made 14-of-25 over the last five games. Senior Jordan Longino scored 15 thanks to a perfect 7-of-7 from the line, the third time in five games he’s been in double figures.
And this sequence late in the first half looked like vintage blue collar Villanova basketball, with seemingly the entire team hitting the deck to fight for a loose ball, securing it, and turning it into easy points.
Before going 1-of-6 from three-point range in that game, Dixon had been over 50% for the season (34-of-65 entering the game, or 52.3% — an insane number for a player with his usage). He’s always been a solid perimeter threat, making 34.6% a year ago (55-of-159) and 37.8% two years ago (42-of-111), but he’s taken a giant leap forward this year. He’s on pace to double his made three’s from a year ago while only attempting about 1/3 more of them.
With Dixon leading the way, Villanova ranks 10th in D1 in adjusted offensive efficiency at 121.1. Their effective field goal percentage is 58.3%, 12th best in D1. And while they’ve not been very good at all in the paint or inside the arc — they’ve made just 43.0% of their two-pointers so far, ranking 331st, and gotten only 16.5% of their points from the line — they’ve been elite from three-point range. As a team, they’ve made 40.6% of their three-pointers, ninth best in D1. And they’ve leaned into it, taking nearly half (46.5%) of their total shots from three-point range.
Villanova had 17 assists on 26 makes against Seton Hall, and had 36 combined assists in the two games before that (wins over FDU and Temple). They’re getting better looks at the basket than they were in November because the ball is moving better.
Defensively, they’re a work in progress. Their adjusted defensive efficiency ranks 150th at 105.9. Opponents have generally had success in the paint, shooting 47.5% on two-pointers thanks to a lack of real rim protection or the threat of a shot blocker to alter shots. But their pace is still vintage Villanova — their average possession length is nearly 19 seconds, and their adjusted tempo is just 64.8.
- Tip: 3:00pm
- Venue: CHI Health Center Omaha
- TV: FS1
- Announcers: Connor Onion and Nick Bahe
- In Omaha: Cox channel 78 (SD), 1078 (HD); CenturyLink Prism channel 620 (SD), 1620 (HD)
- Outside Omaha: FS1 Channel Finder
- Satellite: DirecTV channel 219, Dish Network channel 150
- Cable Cutters: Available on all major streaming platforms
- Streaming on the Fox Sports app and website
- Radio: 1620AM, 101.9FM
- Announcers: John Bishop and Taylor Stormberg
- Streaming on 1620TheZone.com and the 1620 The Zone mobile app
- Simulcast on SiriusXM channel 384 as well as on the SiriusXM App
- Since the start of the 2023-24 season, Villanova is 24-5 when holding opponents below the 70-point threshold (.821) and is 7-0 this season. It is 2-15 (.118) when the opposition scores 70 or more points in a game and 1-4 (.200) in that circumstance this season.
- Villanova has made 50% or more of their field goal attempts six times so far this season, including the last three games in a row. In 2023-24, they did it just six times in 34 games.
- Last season Villanova became the first school in NCAA history to lead the country in Free Throw Percentage in three straight seasons. As a team, the Wildcats connected on 80.8% of their attempts from the charity stripe. They’re at 80.1% (157-of-196) so far this year, which leads the Big East and is 13th best nationally.
- Creighton doesn’t lose many games by 20 or more points, as it did on Wednesday at Georgetown in its last game. It’s happened just 22 times since January 1, 2002, and they’ve responded with a win in the next game all but twice.
- Creighton has scored 76 or more points in all seven of its victories this season, and 79 points or more in five of those wins. Creighton is 6-0 all-time when scoring 79 points or more against the Wildcats, compared to a 3-19 record when scoring 78 points or fewer.
- Steven Ashworth has made a three-pointer in 30 games in a row. That’s the longest active streak in the Big East, and fourth-longest in program history. The longest streak in CU history, Baylor Scheierman’s 48 in a row at Creighton (plus 10 more at South Dakota State), was snapped last December by… Villanova.
Villanova leads the all-time series with Creighton, 19-9. Creighton has won the three of the last four meetings in Omaha, but Villanova leads 6-5 in games played in Omaha after a 68-66 win in overtime last December. CU got revenge in March in Philadelphia, winning 69-67 after blowing a double-digit lead — something they did in both meetings a year ago, incidentally. Trey Alexander provided the heroics, making a buzzer-beater to win.
Saturday marks the third time in Villanova’s last four visits to Creighton that the teams will play a game in December. By comparison, CU has hosted the other nine Big East teams in December just twice in the past four seasons (Butler and DePaul, both in 2022).
On December 21, 2019, Creighton led Arizona State 61-55 after Christian Bishop’s layup with 4:01 to play. But the Sun Devils scored five straight points, and held CU scoreless for three minutes, to cut the lead to 61-60. The last of those Sun Devil points came on a wide open dunk from Rob Edwards, the result of a blown defensive assignment, that brought the home crowd to its’ feet.
Ten seconds later the home crowd was silenced when Mitch Ballock calmly drained a three-pointer to give the Jays breathing room, 64-60. And then he silenced them for good with a breakaway dunk.
The Bottom Line:
It feels early to call a game a must-win, and yet, Saturday’s game feels awfully close to that. If they trip up in this one, things could get bleak in a hurry — the next two games are against KenPom’s #11 and #8 teams, respectively, in St. John’s and Marquette, followed by a trip to Hinkle Fieldhouse to play Butler in an 11:00am game. And Bluejay fans know all too well how poorly CU has historically played in day games at Hinkle.
They’re underdogs in all three of those games according to KenPom. With a loss to Villanova, an 0-5 start to league play wouldn’t be out of the question. Must win? I’d say so.
I think the Jays figure out a way to get this one at home.
Creighton 72, Villanova 68