Preview: Villanova at Creighton
No. 1 Villanova (13-0 overall, 1-0 Big East) at No. 10 Creighton (13-0, 1-0)
When: Saturday, 1 p.m., Century Link Center (17,390), Omaha, Nebraska.
TV/Radio: FoxSports 1; WTEL-AM (610).
Coaches: Creighton, Greg McDermott (7th season, 154-72; overall, 303-203); Villanova, Jay Wright (16th season, 367-157; overall, 489-242).
Series: Villanova leads, 7-2.
Last meeting: Feb. 2, 2016, Villanova won, 83-58 at home.
Points per game: Villanova, 79.8 ppg.; Creighton, 89.8 ppg.
Opponents points per game: Villanova, 61.5 ppg.; 72.0 ppg.
Up next: Villanova visits Butler on Jan. 4 at 6:30. Creighton visits St. John's, Jan. 4 at 7:30.
VILLANOVA
Nov. 11 Lafayette, 88-48
Nov. 14 at Purdue, 79-76
Nov. 17 Western Michigan, 76-65*
Nov. 18 Wake Forest, 96-77*
Nov. 20 Central Florida, 67-57*
Nov. 23 Coll of Charleston, 63-47
Nov. 29 at Penn, 82-57
Dec. 3 St. Joseph's, 88-57
Dec. 6 La Salle (Palestra), 89-79
Dec. 10 Notre Dame (Newark, N.J.), 74-66
Dec. 13 Temple 79-57
Dec. 21 American University, 90-48
Dec. 28 DePaul, 68-65
*Charleston Classic at Charleston, S.C.
CREIGHTON
Nov. 11 Missouri-Kansas City, 89-82
Nov. 15 Wisconsin, 79-67
Nov. 18 Washington State, 103-77*
Nov. 20 North Carolina State, 112-94*
Nov. 21 Ole Miss, 86-77*
Nov. 26 Loyola (MD), 82-52
Nov. 29 Buffalo, 93-72
Dec. 3 Akron, 82-70
Dec. 7 at Nebraska, 77-62
Dec. 9 Longwood, 113-58
Dec. 17 Oral Roberts, 66-65
Dec. 20 at Arizona State, 96-85
Dec. 28 Seton Hall, 89-75
*Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, the U.S. Virgin Islands
Villanova probable starters
G Jalen Brunson, 6-2 ½, So., 12.8 ppg., 4.0 apg.
G Josh Hart, 6-5 ½, Sr., 20.5 ppg., 6.5 rpg., 3.5 apg.
G/F Mikal Bridges, 6-7, So., 10.5 ppg., 5.1 rpg.
F Kris Jenkins, 6-6, Sr., 12.8 ppg., 4.2 rpg.
C Darryl Reynolds, 6-9, Sr., 6.1 ppg., 5.6 rpg.
Key reserves
G Donte DiVincenzo, 6-5, Fr., 7.3 ppg., 3.4 rpg.
F Eric Paschall, 6-7, Soph., 8.0 ppg., 4.1 rpg.
Creighton probable starters
G Maurice Watson, Jr., 5-10, Sr., 13.5 ppg., 9.0 apg.
G Khyri Thomas, 6-3, So., 12.9 ppg., 5.6 rpg.
G Marcus Foster, 6-3, Jr., 18.8 ppg., 2.8 rpg.
F Cole Huff, 6-8, Sr., 9.1 ppg., 3.5 rpg.
C Justin Patton, 7-0, Fr., 12.7 ppg., 6.2 rpg.
Key reserves
F Toby Hegner, 6-10, Jr., 6.2 ppg., 4.0 rpg.
G Isaiah Zierden, 6-3, Sr., 4.7 ppg., 2.1 rpg.
F Martin Krampelj, 6-9, Fr., 4.1 ppg., 3.5 rpg.
About Villanova: The Wildcats opened Big East play with a 68-65 win on Wednesday over visiting DePaul...Josh Hart scored 25 points, hitting 8 of 15 from the field, including 1 of 6 from three-point range and 8 of 9 from the foul line...DePaul's Bill Garrett Jr. missed a three at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime...All five Villanova starters played 33 or more minutes against DePaul...Hart has averaged 25.8 points and is shooting 53.8 percent from the field in his last five games...Kris Jenkins is averaging 10 points and shooting 31.3 percent from the field in his last five games...Jenkins is shooting a team-best 42.1 percent (among the rotation players) from three-point range...Villanova is shooting 38.8 percent from three-point range and 78.2 percent from the foul line...Junior guard Phil Booth, who started the first three games but hasn't played since Nov. 17 due to pain in his surgically repaired left knee, remains out...The Wildcats have a +5.7 rebounding margin.
About Creighton: This will be the first time since 1947 when the Bluejays met Oklahoma State that Creighton will host a defending national champion...It's the first time since meeting DePaul in 1980 that Creighton has hosted the nation's No. 1 team...Maurice Watson had 21 points and 10 assists in Wednesday's win over Seton Hall...Watson, who played his first two seasons at Boston U, is a product of Philadelphia's Boys' Latin High...Last year in his first season at Creighton, Watson led the Bluejays in scoring (14.1 ppg.) and assists (6.5 per game)...Creighton shot 56.6 percent from the field and forced 18 Seton Hall turnovers...The 13-game win streak is the longest since the 1974-75 team won 14 in a row....Watson's six games of 10 or more assists leads the nation...He leads the team in minutes played (30.9 per game)...Creighton is shooting 44.5 percent from three-point range and 67.2 percent from the foul line...Justin Patton has 31 of the team's 57 dunks...Leading scorer Marcus Foster (18.8 ppg.) sat out last season after transferring from Kansas State...Creighton went 20-15 last year and advanced to the NIT quarterfinals.