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No. 2 Villanova Clinches Fourth Straight Big East Regular-Season Title

VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — Eric Paschall scored a season-high 19 points and Josh Hart added 16 to help No. 2 Villanova clinch its fourth straight Big East regular-season title with a 79-63 victory over No. 23 Creighton on Saturday.

Kris Jenkins scored 15 points and Mikal Bridges had 11 for the defending national champion Wildcats, who were without big man Darryl Reynolds (rib) for the fifth straight game. Reynolds is expected to return for the Big East Tournament.

Marcus Foster scored 25 points and Khyri Thomas had 17 for Creighton, which has lost six of 10 after an 18-1 start.

The game was tied at 33 at halftime and the teams traded baskets over the first 6 1/2 minutes of the second half, resulting in seven lead changes.

Jenkins, the hero of the Wildcats' championship victory last season with a last-second, game-winning 3-pointer, missed his first five 3-point attempts before draining one from the left corner after an assist from Jalen Brunson with 11:12 left in the game to give Villanova a 51-47 lead.

The basket not only gave the Wildcats a little breathing room but seemed to boost their confidence.

Villanova matched its biggest lead to that point on Hart's follow dunk with 8:44 remaining that capped an 8-2 run over 2:28 since Jenkins' basket. And the Wildcats' lead reached 65-54 with 6:19 left on Paschall's acrobatic, over-the-head follow layup.

Creighton never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Creighton was vying to beat a ranked team for the fifth time this season but for the first time in school history versus a team in the top three. The Bluejays entered 0-12 against teams ranked in the top three. Creighton beat two No. 4-ranked teams, defeating Arizona State on Dec. 13, 1963 and Villanova on Jan. 20, 2014.

BIG PICTURE

Creighton: The Bluejays will try to regain their footing and take some momentum into the conference tournament beginning on Tuesday at home against St. John's before finishing the regular season March 4 at Marquette.

Villanova: The Wildcats have a week off before facing Georgetown on March 4 in their regular-season finale that has no implication for them in the league standings. They are guaranteed the top seed in the Big East Tournament and, barring a first-round exit there, likely will be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

SENIOR CEREMONY
Villanova honored its three seniors - Hart, Jenkins and Reynolds - in a pregame ceremony. The heralded trio improved to 124-16 in their careers, and they never have had a losing streak. They suffered their first-ever loss at the Pavilion, Villanova's on-campus home, in Wednesday's 74-66 defeat to Butler that snapped a 48-game Pavilion winning streak.

Saturday marked the last game at the Pavilion until the fall of 2018, as it will undergo a renovation and be renamed Finneran Pavilion.

UP NEXT
Creighton: Hosts St. John's on Tuesday.
Villanova: Closes regular season at Georgetown on Saturday.
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More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25.

(© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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