No. 3 Villanova eyes first place (Feb 23, 2018)
Villanova will have a chance to pull into a tie for first place in the Big East with Xavier with a victory Saturday afternoon at Creighton's CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Neb.
The third-ranked Wildcats (25-3, 12-3 Big East) do have a daunting challenge going on the road to defeat the formidable Bluejays (19-9, 8-7).
Villanova's last game featured the return of guard Phil Booth from a broken bone in his right hand in a 93-62 victory over DePaul on Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center.
Jalen Brunson, a national player of the year candidate, was able to get some much-needed rest in the rout after he provided 11 points and seven assists.
Villanova coach Jay Wright has continually gushed over his junior point guard.
"I really believe he is the most complete college basketball player in the country on a very good team," Wright said of Brunson. "If we ran everything for him, he could get 30 points. He's done it. To me, he's everything college basketball stands for -- a great representative of what college basketball is all about."
The Wildcats have already won 25 games thanks in large part to Brunson's leadership. They've been without key players for long stretches, including Booth, guard Collin Gillespie and freshman forward Jermaine Samuels.
"He has the biggest impact of anyone in making his team win," Wright said of Brunson. "This year, he's done everything. We've had two starters out so he's carried the team and done it efficiently. When we got those guys back, he gets seven assists, eight assists, leads us defensively."
Villanova has won at least 25 games for the sixth consecutive season and the eighth time since 2005-06. Booth was also a huge reason why the Wildcats won their 25th game.
"As a 56-year-old person, I am just amazed that you can have a cast on your hand and come out and practice like (Phil) did," Wright said. "It's a tribute to him and our assistant coaches who were working with him, our strength coach and our trainer. He looked like he never had anything wrong with his hand in practice. And he looked pretty good."
Villanova leads 17-2 in the all-time series with Creighton, including eight straight victories.
In Creighton's last game, it was soundly defeated 93-70 at Butler on Tuesday night. Mitch Ballock led Creighton with 15 points, Khyri Thomas added 14 and Marcus Foster had 13.
Creighton's defense struggled as Butler knocked down 14 of 26 shots from beyond the 3-point arc.
Overall, the Bluejays have dropped three in a row in conference action.
"It's a scary moment for us," Foster told the Omaha World-Herald. "Because we've put so much work in -- and we're here, with three (consecutive league) losses, falling from where we want to be. ... But we've got to stick with it."
An NCAA Tournament berth is far from guaranteed, though a home win over Villanova would be Creighton's 20th victory.
"That's the challenge of it all," Foster told the World-Herald, referring to how the team will respond. "This is how you become a good team. The teams that do well in (the postseason) -- it's because they find ways to beat fatigue. We've got to figure out how to get over the hump."
