No. 3 Villanova Falls to Creighton in Shocking 89-83 Upset

Third-ranked Villanova's struggles continued on Saturday with an 89-83 overtime loss to Creighton. 

The Bluejays' duo of Marcus Foster and Khyri Thomas paved the way for their biggest victory of the season. They combined for 52 points and made nine of Creighton's 12 three-pointers. 

Villanova failed to secure the win in regulation when Donte DiVincenzo missed the first of his two free throws with nine seconds remaining, though he tied the score at 72 by making his second attempt.

The loss is Villanova's third in its last six games after starting the season 22-1. The Wildcats' loss drops them to 12-4 in the Big East, one full game behind Xavier (13-3) for the top seed in the conference tournament.

Creighton was able to pad its NCAA tournament resume by beating one of the nation's best teams. The Bluejays are 20-9 overall and avenged a 98-78 road loss against Villanova on Feb. 1.

Villanova head coach Jay Wright even acknowledged the dominance of Foster and Thomas after his team lost. 

"(They) just played their guts out," he said, per Jon Nyatawa of the Omaha World-Herald. 

Prior to Saturday's win, Creighton appeared to be trending in the wrong direction. It lost back-to-back games against Marquette and Butler, and its only win since Feb. 10 was against Division II Bemidji State. 

Per ESPN Stats & Info, Saturday's victory over Villanova was one for the Creighton history books:

Adding to the frustration for Villanova, it held a 68-60 lead after Jalen Brunson made two free throws with 4:32 remaining. The offense went cold for the next three minutes while Creighton went on a 9-0 run to take the lead. 

That trend continued in overtime when Creighton scored 11 points to just two for Villanova after the score was tied at 76 to take a commanding nine-point lead in the final minute to secure the win. 

Per Creighton's official Twitter, head coach Greg McDermott has been perfect in Big East games that go to overtime in his career:

On the other side, Wright is scrambling to find answers for Villanova with two games left in the regular season. The Wildcats won both of their games against Xavier, so if they win out and the Musketeers lose to either Providence or DePaul, Nova will secure the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. 

The biggest difference for Villanova during its late-season lull is offense. The Wildcats lead Division I, averaging 87.6 points per game heading into Saturday, but that number dips to 76.3 in their last three losses. They were held to 41.1 percent shooting and made just 12 of 39 three-point attempts against Creighton. 

Villanova has shown it has the talent to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament, but its flaws have been more apparent down the stretch, giving cause for concern with March Madness on the horizon. 

Creighton needed to win more for its tournament prospects, and it played its best game of the season to put itself squarely on the radar when Selection Sunday arrives on March 11.