A horrid start put Villanova in a 24-point first half deficit against Creighton. But the Wildcats clawed back.
They kept it close for a majority of the second half, but a major run late tied the game — which Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune had called “our Super Bowl” — at 67 with 25 seconds left.
But hoping to be the Kansas City Chiefs, Villanova instead ended up being the San Francisco 49ers as Creighton’s Trey Alexander hit a fadeaway jumper with less than a second left to break the Wildcats’ hearts.
The defeat capped a disappointing week for Villanova.
The Wildcats entered the week winners of five of their last six and had positioned themselves to be among the last four teams in the NCAA Tournament, per the latest USA TODAY Sports Bracketology prediction. But Villanoa had a disappointing performance at Seton Hall on Wednesday, and combined with the stunner on Saturday, it shouldn’t be surprised if it’s on the outside looking in heading into the Big East tournament. It dropped both Quad 1 chances this week and fell to 4-9 against Quad 1 opponents. A 17-14 overall record with a 10-10 record in conference isn’t the look of a tournament team.
It’s not officially set, but with the loss, Villanova likely will have to play Wednesday in the first round of the Big East tournament, giving the team an uphill battle to secure an NCAA Tournament spot. If it wants the automatic bid, it’ll have to win four games in four days. That will likely include a matchup against…
