By MIKE McCURRY
Entering Wednesday, two of the nation’s six remaining undefeated teams belonged to the Big East in No. 1 Villanova and No. 10 Creighton.
Both the Wildcats and Bluejays improved to 13-0 on the first day of league play—Villanova via a 68-65 win over DePaul and Creighton by virtue of an 89-75 victory against Seton Hall—which only further increases the hype surrounding Saturday.
That’s when Villanova will take its 19-game winning streak into Omaha to face Creighton on New Year’s Eve (1:00 p.m., Fox Sports 1).
Villanova got all it could handle at home from Depaul, who led 56-55 with under four minutes to go.
That’s around the time National Player of the Year frontrunner Josh Hart decided to take matters into his own hands.
When the going gets tough, let your National POY candidate go to work.
Josh Hart excelled late for @NovaMBB pic.twitter.com/P4vgR6QhXr
— #BIGEASThoops (@BIGEASTMBB) December 29, 2016
Hart scored ten points over the final 3:07, finishing with 25 points and six rebounds.
The senior is averaging 27 points in his last four contests, turning the ball over just twice in 137 minutes of play over that span.
Creighton, meanwhile, showcased their Top-10 offense against a good Seton Hall team by shooting 57% from the floor. The Bluejays also took advantage of 18 Seton Hall turnovers, leading to a 27-9 advantage in points off miscues.
Maurice Watson Jr., who entered the night as the only player in America averaging more assists on a per-game basis than UCLA’s Lonzo Ball, led Creighton with 21 points and 10 dimes.
??? #GoJays #TakeFlight #BIGEASThoops #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/UisZ7ycxh5
— Creighton Basketball (@BluejayMBB) December 29, 2016
Khyri Thomas and Justin Patton dropped 17 points apiece for Creighton, while Marcus Foster added 15.
For Seton Hall (10-3), Khadeen Carrington scored 27 points and Desi Rodriguez chipped in with 24.
The Pirates snapped a 21-game winning streak when receiving a double-double from Angel Delgado (10 points, 10 rebounds).
Photo: @NovaMBB
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