Big East play starts for No. 9 Nova, Creighton

Published Dec. 16, 2021 6:30 a.m. ET

Associated Press

No. 9 Villanova (7-3, 0-0) vs. Creighton (8-3, 0-0)

CHI Health Center Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska; Friday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Creighton hosts No. 9 Villanova as Big East play starts for both teams. In conference play last season, Villanova finished with 11 wins and four losses, while Creighton won 14 games and lost six.

TEAM LEADERS: The Wildcats have been led by Justin Moore and Collin Gillespie. Moore has averaged 15.6 points and 5.5 rebounds while Gillespie has recorded 16.2 points per game. The Bluejays have been led by Ryan Hawkins and Ryan Kalkbrenner, who are scoring 13.7 and 12.7 per game, respectively.MIGHTY MOORE: Moore has connected on 38.1 percent of the 63 3-pointers he's attempted and has made 8 of 24 over the last three games. He's also made 69.2 percent of his free throws this season.

UNDEFEATED WHEN: The Bluejays are 5-0 when recording at least 11 offensive rebounds and 3-3 when they fall shy of that mark. The Wildcats are 5-0 when converting on at least 73.3 percent of its free throws and 2-3 when they shoot worse than that from the line.

ASSIST RATIOS: The Wildcats have recently converted baskets via assists more often than the Bluejays. Creighton has an assist on 33 of 67 field goals (49.3 percent) over its past three games while Villanova has assists on 36 of 65 field goals (55.4 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: The Villanova offense has recorded a turnover on only 14.3 percent of its possessions, which is the 11th-best rate in the nation. The Creighton defense has forced opposing teams to turn the ball over on just 17.6 percent of all possessions (ranked 274th among Division I teams).

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