OMAHA, Neb. — Eric Dixon made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 28 seconds left in overtime to finish his 32-point night and Villanova held off No. 12 Creighton 68-66 on Wednesday night in the Big East opener for both teams.
The Bluejays (9-3) led by double digits until midway through the second half before Villanova (8-4) rallied to tie it and force overtime.
Baylor Scheierman had a chance to tie it with seven seconds left but missed the front end of a one-and-one, and he missed a long 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Trey Alexander scored all eight of Creighton’s points in overtime and finished with 16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.
Scheierman also had 16 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner added 14.
Creighton led by 14 early in the second half before hitting a cold spell.
The Wildcats chipped away to tie it at 56 with under four minutes left when a defensive breakdown allowed Jordan Longino to go in for an uncontested layup.
It was 58-all when Alexander came away with a hard-earned rebound with 32 seconds left.
Coming out of a timeout, Alexander held the ball late into the shot clock before passing to Scheierman, who missed a desperation turnaround shot from the wing.
Creighton kept possession after the ball went out of bounds, but Alexander’s shot ahead of the buzzer wasn’t close, forcing overtime.
The Wildcats were without Justin Moore for a second straight game.
Moore has been out since spraining his right knee in the first half against Kansas State on Dec. 5.