GAMEDAY Mens Basketball

Creighton 87, Villanova 74

By RALPH D. RUSSO
AP College Sports Writer

NEW YORK - Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 21 points, Ryan Nembhard added 17 and No. 24 Creighton defeated Villanova 87-74 at the Big East Tournament in a rematch of last season's championship game.

The third-seeded Bluejays (21-11) advanced to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden to face second-seeded and 15th-ranked Xavier. The top four seeds swept the quarterfinals.

Nembhard made three of Creighton's 12 3-pointers, including one from the corner off an offensive rebound that put the Bluejays up 18 with 12:54 left in the second half.

Eric Dixon's 3 for sixth-seeded Villanova (17-16) cut lead to 65-56 with 4:43 left and perked up the Villanova fans at the Garden after a Creighton had dominated the second half.

But Arthur Kaluma responded with a 3 after the Bluejays broke Nova's press to bump the lead back to 12 on the next possession. Kaluma finished with 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting

Kalkbrenner competed a three-point play with 3:26 left to make it 73-61 and Creighton cruised from there.

The Wildcats came in having won seven of nine to salvage their first season post-coach Jay Wright.

In need of a championship run in New York to extend their NCAA Tournament streak to 10 appearances, the Wildcats couldn't match up with the 7-foot-1 Kalkbrenner on the defensive end (9 for 12 from the field) and had a hard time finishing at the rim with him lurking in the paint.

Dixon scored 20 points to lead the Wildcats.

The Bluejays took a 32-23 lead at half behind Kalbrenner's 10 points and a personal nine-point run from Trey Alexander, who made three consecutive 3s.

Creighton has played in the last two Big East finals and four overall since joining the conference in 2014 - but the Bluejays have yet to win a title.

Villanova has been the beast of the new Big East, going 18-4 and winning five tournament titles since the conference dropped football and reconfigured.

Against Creighton, Villanova was playing as the lower seed in a Big East Tournament game for the first time since 2013 against Louisville.

BIG PICTURE

Villanova: Kyle Neptune's first season as coach was derailed in part by injuries and absences, along with a challenging early-season schedule. Fully loaded, the Wildcats found a groove late in the season, but they still lacked length and a natural point guard and Creighton exposed those deficiencies.

Creighton: Baylor Scheierman scored seven points in 45 seconds early in the second half that opened up the lead to 16 and Villanova never really recovered.

Scheierman hit a 3 from up top and was fouled by Dixon for what turned out to be a four-point play, and then made another 3 in transition to make it 44-28 with 16:34 left.

Scheierman, the South Dakota State transfer, finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.

March 9, 2023