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A Big East Player of the Year candidate, two all-Big East Candidates, and multiple tournament appearances in the last decade. This one-liner describes both programs playing on Saturday afternoon in South Philadelphia. Yet, the feelings around each team couldn’t be any more different. The Creighton Bluejays came into this matchup winning 8 of their last 9, a streak that began with their 7-point victory in Omaha against Villanova. Despite injuries to key players, with Pop Isaacs out for the year and an early season injury to 5th-year senior Steven Ashworth, the Bluejays have found a way to stay extremely competitive in a tough Big East conference.
Jamiya Neal has carried his weight, with 20 points in the catalyzing win over Villanova, and Jackson McAndrew has had a solid start in his rookie campaign, averaging just under 8 PPG. Wins over UConn, Xavier, Kansas, Ryan Kalkbrenner looking like a lock for Big East Defensive Player of the Year–and maybe even Player of the Year–Greg McDermott’s squad has been in the upper echelon of the conference. Creighton was one win away from an Elite 8 in 2024 and has the potential for a deep tournament run once again.
Eric Dixon stands amongst Kalkbrenner as the crème de la crème of the conference. Dixon is an offensive star, carrying this Villanova team with 24.6 PPG. Wooga Poplar and Jhamir Brickus are both averaging double-digit PPG, with Brickus shooting 49.4 % from 3PT range on 85 attempts. Senior Jordan Longino is having a renaissance of sorts, crediting a fully healthy offseason to his success, averaging 11.7 PPG with career-high after career-high scoring games in 2025, with 27 points against #10 Marquette last Friday January 24th.
Yet, the wins and losses are where the two teams’ respective paths diverge. Villanova’s biggest wins against UConn and Cincinnati look worse by the day, and their devastating loses against Columbia, Virginia, and St. Joseph’s have aged like milk. With back-to-back tournament misses leading to NIL exits, and ten 1985 Championship Level perfect games needed to make the tournament this year, the ‘Cats have fallen from the elite status held just 3 years ago.
The similarities on paper were nullified by the performance on the court at the Wells Fargo Center this weekend. Villanova came out of the gates ice-cold shooting, hitting a at a clip of just 35.5% from the field and 25% from three-point land. Creighton’s big man Kalkbrenner was as advertised and more with 10 points in the first. Buoyed by a 14-4 run to tie the game at 29 going into the half that included Eric Dixon’s 2,000th point, the Cats kept the game close for most of the second half.
Nonetheless, the second half collapse that many Wildcat fans have come to expect came right on time for this team. A 3+ minute scoring drought that started with just 7 minutes left in the game enabled the Bluejays to go on a 7-0 run. After a Wooga Poplar (24 Points, 5 Rebounds, 5 Steals) dunk gave Villanova a late 60-59 lead, a series of what one can only describe as tumultuous plays allowed Steven Ashworth to have a wide open 3 to seal the game and take the lead for Creighton with just 5 seconds remaining. Dixon had a look for the win, but an unfortunate bounce off his foot led to a turnover and a 62-60 Wildcats loss.
Where do these teams go from here? It looks like Creighton has a decent shot at being ranked after what the metrics will respect as a Quad 1 win for the Bluejays. They will most definitely be in the tournament and look like a tough team to beat when Kalkbrenner plays like he did tonight.
As for Villanova, the writing is on the wall. With collapse after collapse, brutal loss after brutal loss, blown lead after blown lead, the program is looking in on the bubble with a telescope. This is not a tournament team and will not be, barring a 2021 Georgetown-esque tournament run. With Eric Roedl at the helm as the new Athletic Director, the program will most definitely reflect upon the state of the program. Although many will recite their trust in the leaders of the program, anyone surrounding the program will tell you that Villanova is not where they want to–or should–be.
Millions in NIL, one of the best players in Division 1 basketball, multiple top transfers, and returning leaders has still not been enough for this team to figure it out. For the third year in a row, Villanova has less than 13 wins after their first game of February, something that has happened only once in the past 15 years. The NCAA is in a new chapter, one of NIL and the transfer portal. And in this new chapter, Villanova’s greatness has been left behind, with another season of big names and big spending, with nothing to show for it.
With Creighton, UConn, Marquette, St. John’s all rising to the top of the Big East, Villanova has to reflect and ask how it can climb back into relevancy. Tough questions will have to be asked. Changes will have to be made. Until then, Villanova will be on the outside looking in, wondering how many more times they will have to bear expected heartbreak from an underperforming team.
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