National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Creighton 96, Villanova 68
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, January 20, 2014
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Officials: # John Gaffney, # Ray Natili, # Mike Roberts
Attendance: 14114

No. 24 Creighton 96, No. 5 Villanova 68: Ethan Wragge scored a career-high 27 points and tied a school record with nine 3-pointers as the visiting Bluejays upended the Wildcats to move into first place in the Big East.

Wragge finished 9-for-14 from 3-point range, leading a red-hot perimeter attack as Creighton (16-3, 6-1) rebounded from Saturday’s loss at Providence that snapped a 10-game winning streak. Doug McDermott scored 23 points and Jahenns Manigat added 19, and the Bluejays shot 21-for-35 from beyond the arc to set school and Big East records for most 3-pointers made in a game.

James Bell scored 19 points to lead Villanova (16-2, 5-1), which shot 39.7 percent from the field as its five-game winning streak ended. JayVaughn Pinkston added 11 points.

The Bluejays hit their first seven shots – all 3-pointers, five by Wragge – in sprinting to a 21-5 lead a little more than four minutes into the contest. Two more Wragge 3-pointers extended the advantage to 27-8 with a little less than 14 minutes to play in the half, and while Villanova used a 13-0 run to cut a 47-19 deficit to 47-32, Wragge halted the surge with his eighth 3-pointer of the half.

The Bluejays led 54-41 at halftime and sealed the victory with a 30-6 run early in the second half, with McDermott hitting three 3-pointers during the spurt. Devin Brooks capped the run with a layup to make it 84-47 midway through the second half, and the Bluejays led by as many as 40 points in the final minutes.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Creighton, which came into the game leading the nation at 18.1 assists per game, finished with 25. … Wragge shot 8-for-10 from 3-point range in the first half, surpassing his previous career high of 22 points with 3:19 left before halftime. … The Wildcats started the day 24th in the country in scoring at 81.3 but were held to their lowest output since a 78-62 loss at Syracuse on Dec. 28.
Top Game Performances
 
Creighton   Villanova
Ethan Wragge 27 Scoring James Bell 19
Austin Chatman 10 Assists Ryan Arcidiacono 4
Devin Brooks 5 Rebounds Daniel Ochefu 6
Zach Hanson 4 Free Throws Made JayVaughn Pinkston 5
Devin Brooks 4 Steals James Bell 1
N/A Blocks Josh Hart 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Creighton 96 56.9 21-35 9-14 25 29 0 7 8
Villanova 68 39.7 10-29 12-16 11 31 2 2 11