Creighton vs. Villanova recap: Wildcats blitz Bluejays at The Pavillon

The Villanova Wildcats are ranked third in the country right now in the AP Poll.

They showed why that is on Wednesday night when they took care of business against the Creighton Bluejays, winning 83-58. at The Pavillon.

It was a back-and-forth game until Villanova went up 26-24 with seven minutes to play in the first half, and the Wildcats never looked back after that.

Villanova finished the first half with a 45-32 lead, and followed that up with a 38-26 second half, to win by an 83-58 margin.

Kris Jenkins led the charge for the Wildcats with 19 points, He was one of six Villanova players to score at least nine points. Due to Daniel Ochefu's concussion, and various other injuries, only seven scholarship players dressed for the Wildcats.

On the other side, Philadelphia's own Maurice Watson had a nice homecoming. He scored 16 points and dished out five assists in the losing effort.

Here are three things we learned from this game.

1. Villanova still shoots a lot of threes

This isn't so much something we learned as something that was proven again. It shouldn't have come as a surprise that without Ochefu, the Wildcats would look to work the ball outside with their small lineup.

The Wildcats hit 16 of their 29 threes (55.6%) which was the most Creighton has ever allowed in a single game.

Kris Jenkins and Jalen Brunson led the way, each going 4-6 from the outside.

It was almost reminiscent of another Villanova-Creighton contest from a couple years ago.

2. Creighton's rebounding struggles continue

The Bluejays allowed nine Villanova offensive rebounds, which the Wildcats turned into 17 second chance points. In total, Villanova outrebounded Creighton, 38-27.

Of course, starting center Geoff Groselle was limited with a sprained ankle, but Villanova was missing their starting center as well.

Groselle is clearly a difference maker for Creighton, as he sprained his ankle early in the Seton Hall loss and the Bluejays lost the rebounding battle in that contest, as well. If Creighton wants to play in the postseason this year, they'll have to get Groselle healthy.

3. Looking ahead

Creighton (14-9, 5-5) will return to Omaha on Saturday to face a DePaul Blue Demons team which they defeated a couple weeks back.

Villanova (19-3, 9-1), on the other hand, will head to Providence on Saturday for a rematch with a Friars team that defeated them in Philadelphia a couple weeks ago. The Friars may be without Ben Bentil, who injured his ankle against DePaul, while the Wildcats may still be without Daniel Ochefu.