Bluejays' Men's Basketball win over Nova boosts Jays back into Top 25

Men’s basketball edged out the 10-12 Villanova Wildcats 66-61 in a nail-biter Saturday night, good enough to propel the Jays back into the AP Top 25 for the first time since December at No. 23.  

Trey Alexander posted 27 points in a decisive victory that saw 11 lead changes between the Big East foes. 15 of Alexander’s points came by way of the three-pointer, hitting five of the team’s seven shots from behind the arc. 

“I felt good during shoot-around and I told Mac I had to get him back for the 1-7 last game [at Georgetown],” Alexander said.  

Shots from behind the arc were something the Jays relied heavily on, particularly in the first half. In fact, 15 of Creighton’s first 25 points were from threes, which helped them build an eight point lead at the half.  

For the majority of coach Kyle Neptune’s first season with the Wildcats, they’ve been without team-leader Justin Moore and have struggled to stay in games once falling behind. Now fully healthy, they fought back strongly to start the second period and by the 10 minute mark they had taken the lead for themselves.  

“Villanova is so hard to play against,” coach Greg McDermott said. “Full strength with Justin Moore, it’s a heck of a basketball team.” 

Experienced Villanova forward Eric Dixon - who had 20 points on the day - certainly didn’t fold under the pressure, nailing a go-ahead three with 34 seconds left. On what could have been their last possession of the game, the Bluejays fed the hot hand of Alexander who swished both free throws for the lead.  

Alexander got the job done on the other end of the floor too, deflecting fifth-year guard Caleb Daniels’ dribble to Baylor Scheierman with 12 seconds left. Scheierman was fouled and scored both free throws to ice the game and push the Jays’ win streak to six games. 

“When it comes down to these tight games, like one point, tie game going into the last minute, we just feel like we’re together, nothing can pull us apart and we’re gonna win the game,” said Ryan Kalkbrenner.  

Kalkbrenner provided 16 points in the paint with three blocks. For the second consecutive game however, the Jays bench was scoreless.  

Despite the week’s unconvincing wins over Georgetown and Villanova, who are 1-12 and 4-8 in Big East play respectively, Creighton was ranked No. 23 in the AP Poll, the only team with eight losses in the AP Top 25.  

The Bluejays (15-8) will host No. 21 UConn (18-6) in front of their third straight sold-out crowd at the CHI Health Center on Saturday at 1 p.m.