PHILADELPHIA _ In the first meeting this season of Villanova and Creighton, the Wildcats put up a defensive wall around the 3-point line and the Bluejays had trouble finding the range.
However, in Saturday's rematch at Wells Fargo Center, the visitors, one of the Big East's most prolific shooting teams from distance, managed to knock down the shots no matter what the eighth-ranked Wildcats did.
Creighton connected on 11 of 22 shots from beyond the arc, repelled the Wildcats' comeback from a 17-point deficit and left South Philadelphia with a 76-61 victory, breaking 'Nova's seven-game winning streak.
The Wildcats (17-4, 7-2 Big East) made just six of their first 23 shots and fell behind by 17, 31-14, with 3 minutes, 11 seconds left in the opening half. After trailing 35-23 at the half, they outscored Creighton 20-11 in the opening 8 minutes of the second half to get to within three, 43-40, on Justin Moore's three-pointer.
Villanova got to within three again at 51-48 on Collin Gillespie's layup but Creighton (17-5, 6-3) again had an answer with a 12-2 run spared by seven points from Denzel Mahoney, including a layup that put the visitors up 63-50 with 6:05 remaining.
The Cats never got closer than six after that, and suffered their first home loss of the season.
Gillespie and Moore each scored 18 points to lead Villanova. Gillespie sparked his team's comeback bid early in the second half with nine points but made just 1 of his last 7 shots.
Saddiq Bey, the Wildcats' leading scorer with a 15.3-point average, shot just 4 of 13 from the floor and 1 of 5 from 3, scoring nine points. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, another reliable scorer, pulled down 10 rebounds but did not make a basket in seven attempts.
Mahoney led the Bluejays with 21 points. Two of Creighton's trio of three-point marksmen had outstanding games _ Mitch Ballock (15 points) hitting 5 of 7, and Ty-Shon Alexander (16 points) going 4 of 6.
Alexander's three consecutive three-point baskets in a 13-4 run that extended the Bluejays' lead to 17, 31-14, with 3:11 to play in the opening half.
The Wildcats had a chance to move into a tie for first place in the Big East when Seton Hall lost to Xavier earlier in the day, but remained one game behind the Pirates. The two teams will meet next Saturday at Wells Fargo Center.
