VILLANOVA, Pa. _ Villanova returned to Finneran Pavilion for the first time in nearly a month Wednesday night and shot the basketball as if it was totally unfamiliar with the place for large stretches of its Big East game against Creighton.
The 14th-ranked Wildcats struggled from the field in the first half and from the free-throw line in the second, never able to get a comfortable margin against the Bluejays. Meanwhile, leading scorer Phil Booth struggled from the field for the second straight game.
Booth, however, hit the key basket of overtime, his first 3-point basket of the game, with 1 minute, 28 seconds to play, and carried the Cats to their 11th straight victory, 66-59, over the Bluejays.
In a game in which neither team led by more than four in regulation, the teams entered overtime tied at 49 and began that period by trading 3-point baskets. Collin Gillespie then made the first of two free throws and missed the second, but Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree slammed home the offensive rebound for a 55-52 lead with 2:56 to play.
Creighton did not score for 4:15 after its opening 3-pointer, and Booth gave the Wildcats (19-4, 10-0) a six-point lead with his 3-ball. The Bluejays got no closer.
Saddiq Bey scored a career-high 17 points to lead the Wildcats, and Booth finished with 14. Davion Mintz led the Bluejays (13-10, 4-6) with 19. Villanova shot just 37.5 percent from the field and went 10 for 34 from 3-point range.
Mintz had given the Blue Jays a 48-45 lead on a 3-point basket with 4:37 remaining, but Booth hit the next two baskets on drives to the hoop, the second one with 1:05 to play giving Villanova a 49-48 lead.
Kaleb Joseph drew a foul against Bey on a 3-point attempt on Creighton's next possession, but hit only one of three free throws to tie the game with 37.1 seconds to play. Booth had the ball in his hands for the lead, but his driving layup attempt was blocked by Martin Krampelj with 8 seconds remaining.
The Bluejays had the ball for the last shot, but Joseph's runner went off the rim.
The Bluejays played without sophomore guard Ty-Shon Alexander, their leading scorer with a 17.0-point average. The Creighton program tweeted that Alexander suffered an injury in Tuesday's practice but did not specify the nature of the injury.
The Wildcats led, 25-24, at the half but a slow start in the second half resulted in an 8-3 run that gave Creighton a 32-28 lead with 15 minutes remaining. Villanova answered with seven straight points over the next two-plus minutes, five of them from Bey, for a 35-32 advantage.
The Wildcats had picked up their shooting from the floor, making five of six attempts at one point, but not at the free-throw line. They had seven free throws in a 1:48 stretch but made just three, and Jermaine Samuels and Paschall each missed the front ends of 1-and-1s.
Paschall did hit a pair of free throws to give 'Nova its largest lead, 43-39, with 8:07 to play but Creighton scored on its next four possessions, including Mintz's basket that put the visitors in front, 48-45, with 4:37 remaining.
The Wildcats led by one at halftime despite being in front for only 5{ minutes in the period. They shot just 34.6 percent from the field and 26.3 percent (5 of 18) from distance. Gillespie knocked down three 3-balls and led the Cats with nine points.
