Creighton earns 86-79 victory against Villanova

Dec 21, 2025, 06:53 pm

OMAHA, Neb. -- — Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 23 points as Creighton beat Villanova 86-79 on Saturday night.

Kalkbrenner had five rebounds for the Bluejays (8-5, 1-1 Big East Conference). Neal Jamiya added 20 points while going 7 of 11 (6 for 7 from 3-point range) while they also had six assists. Steven Ashworth shot 6 for 11 (3 for 5 from 3-point range) and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line to finish with 20 points, while adding 11 assists.

The Wildcats (8-5, 1-1) were led in scoring by Eric Dixon, who finished with 27 points. Wooga Poplar added 19 points and 10 rebounds for Villanova. Jhamir Brickus finished with 16 points and four assists. The loss ended a five-game winning streak for the Wildcats.

Creighton took the lead with 16:12 to go in the first half and did not relinquish it. The score was 40-38 at halftime, with Kalkbrenner racking up 10 points. Creighton turned a three-point second-half lead into a 10-point advantage with a 7-0 run to make it a 56-46 lead with 14:40 left in the half. Neal scored 14 second-half points in the victory.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.