Creighton beats Villanova in BIG EAST quarterfinal 87-74, Xavier up next

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - The Bluejays will play in yet another BIG EAST Tournament semifinal Friday night after beating Villanova 87-74. Creighton pulled away early building a 15-6 lead, thanks in part to an 8-0 run. Creighton led by as many as 12 points in the first half before going to the locker room ahead by nine 32-23. Creighton extended the lead out to 19 points with 14:05 to go with an Arthur Kaluma three-pointer. Ryan Kalkbrenner pushed it out to a 65-45 advantage with 6:37 to go.

Again the starting five all scored double figures, Kalkbrenner led with 21 points on 9 of 12 shooting. Baylor Scheierman was one assist short of a triple-double, he had 12 points and 12 rebounds. The Jays were very good at the arc shooting 48% and they had 22 assists on 28 field goals.

Up next a third consecutive appearance in the semifinals, the Jays will play Xavier in the second game which is scheduled to start around 8 p.m. central Friday night.