'Nova races to 15-0 lead and routs Creighton

Villanova came out Sunday night for the tipoff of its game at the Pavilion against Creighton with extra bounce, extra speed, increased hustle and seemingly longer arms, and opened with a 15-0 rush against the bewildered Blue Jays.

Could it be the Wildcats couldn't wait to redeem themselves after their 20-point drubbing last Monday at Georgetown? Or was it the fact that Creighton, sparked by 2014 consensus player of the year Doug McDermott, pounded the Cats by 28 and 21 points in their two meetings last season, their only two Big East defeats?

Well, if you listened to point guard Ryan Arcidiacono after the fourth-ranked Wildcats comfortably rolled to a 71-50 victory over the Blue Jays, it definitely was more "A" than "B."

"It's never a good break when you come off a loss like that," said Arcidiacono, referring to the six days since the 78-58 loss to the Hoyas. "But we were definitely battling each other in practice and eager to get back on the court and play our next game.

"In our minds, we know how to play tough, and for us not to do that against Georgetown really was eating at us. I know for myself, we wanted to start the game diving all over the place and starting everything defensively."

The Wildcats (18-2, 5-2 Big East) did just that. Of Creighton's first eight possessions, only one trip produced a shot that hit the rim. There was a blocked shot, an air ball, a missed three, and five turnovers.

"We've been slipping a little bit defensively," 'Nova coach Jay Wright said. "It was nothing major, just getting a little loose and losing attention to detail. Georgetown really exposed that and we really focused on it this week. Our captains, we talked to them about it and they took care of it. We just did a really good job defensively.

"Usually we do it by coming out and banging threes. This time we came out and got stops. We were really good defensively. I just thought our defensive start to the game was one of our better starts this season."

Darrun Hilliard sparked the offensive side of matters with a pair of three-point baskets en route to a season-high 24 points that included six of Villanova's 12 buckets from outside the arc, the last of which gave the Wildcats their largest margin, 24, at 67-43.

The Blue Jays (9-12, 0-8) shot 37.3 percent from the field and turned the ball over 19 times, leading to 21 'Nova points. They came into the game averaging more than eight three-point baskets but converted just four - in 21 attempts - Sunday night.

Only three times after Villanova's 15-0 start did they reduce the deficit to single digits - the last occasion at 19-11 with 51/2 minutes left in the first half. Trailing by 29-14 at the half, Creighton was unable to get any closer than 11.

Now the Wildcats get another long break - five days off - before their next game, Saturday at surprising DePaul.

"This is kind of crazy in the middle of the season," Wright said, "so how do you keep these guys fresh and hungry and then get them ready for DePaul? That's really taking up a lot of my thoughts: What do we do these five days? We've got to be smart about it."

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