Villanova Reaction: Early Reality Check for the Wildcats

Villanova Men’s Basketball suffered their first Big East loss of the season on Wednesday, Jan. 7, falling 76-72 to the Creighton Blue Jays at home.

While the Wildcats’ defense couldn’t get a stop in the second half and Blue Jays’ head coach Greg McDermott put on a clinic, taking the three-point line away from Villanova entirely down the stretch, the collective reaction remained relatively calm: an ugly loss in a game well within reach, but a lesson learned for a young team that remains in an excellent position moving forward. For comparison, here’s the reaction after another blown double digit lead and late shooting freeze in a Big East game around this time last year.

It’s also worth mentioning that this Creighton team almost certainly came to the Finneran Pavilion fired up and ready to play after blowing a last second lead at Seton Hall over the weekend. While Villanova received plenty of grace for their down night, they can’t waste time applying the lessons they learned: they can’t suffer any hiccups in a Quad 3 matchup against Marquette on Saturday, Jan. 10 if they want to maintain the success of their first half of the season.

Here’s what fans and media had to say after the Wildcats’ loss.

Villanova started its men's basketball program in 1920.

Creighton MBB just became the 7th team to win at Villanova in 3 straight seasons. pic.twitter.com/SpjK7rHoue

— Rob Anderson (@_robanderson) January 8, 2026

Villanova was right on the cusp of being ranked in the AP Top 25 poll. This loss hurts.

Have to wonder how Tafara Gapare social media post impacted the Wildcats, if at all. Will be interested to hear the postgame press conference. https://t.co/tZJOMDkDBf

— Aaron Bracy (@Aaron_Bracy) January 8, 2026

Villanova was due for a clunker but this is an ugly half. Creighton has completely taken Bryce Lindsay out of the game, and Villanova can’t find a stop defensively.

— Jeff Neiburg (@Jeff_Neiburg) January 8, 2026

Despite 20 points from Acaden Lewis, Creighton comes into the Finn and plays a strong 2H to take down Villanova.

Austin Swartz had 20 points in the Blue Jay victory. Wildcats head to Marquette on Saturday.

— BIG 5+1 (@BigFivePlusOne) January 8, 2026

Villanova’s (@NovaMBB) five-game winning streak was snapped tonight against Creighton.

The Wildcats will now prepare to face Marquette on January 10.

My recap video for @wxvu: pic.twitter.com/QpTHAQprOV

— David Szczepanski (@WXVUDavidS) January 8, 2026

Defensive miscues handed Villanova their first loss in conference play tonight. Pathetic showing in the second half defensively.

With 42 seconds to go in the second half, Creighton had 25 possessions. They scored on 21 of them.

I agree with Emma, something looked off tonite. https://t.co/xFJxsQAuKn

— Tommy Godin (@tommygodinjr) January 8, 2026

Creighton has used a 9-0 run to go up 59-53 over Villanova with 8:37 left to play.

Villanova has not scored in the last 2:30.

— Dylan Johnson (@bydylanjohnson) January 8, 2026

Villanova leads 51-48 at the U12 timeout. Creighton has tied it on a handful of occasions, but the Wildcats managed to respond each time. 11:49 to go. @PHLSportsNow pic.twitter.com/tvydDx2d7o

— Griffin Floyd (@GriffinFloyd62) January 8, 2026

Duke Brennan has a double-double.

Villanova is currently 5-0 when Brennan grabs a double-double.

Acaden Lewis just drilled a three to make it a four-point game.

— Dylan Johnson (@bydylanjohnson) January 8, 2026

Creighton didn’t miss in the 2nd half. They were getting to their spots and shooting over Villanova’s smaller defenders

McDermott took Lindsay out of the game

— Perry Sopinsky (@PerryBrackets) January 8, 2026

This game was about effort: they could not get a single important defensive stop in the 2nd half AND they got out-rebounded. Offense kept up but the defense and rebounding were a huge disappointment. Hopefully they learn and can bounce back at Marquette.

— Sidelines Villanova (@SSN_Nova) January 8, 2026

@AcadenLewis to @Dukebrennan86 for the Slam! pic.twitter.com/ubwxjP7cmb

— Villanova MBB (@NovaMBB) January 8, 2026

That was one of the most frustrating Nova games I’ve watched in a long time

Creighton went 19/24 on second half FGs.

Villanova 1985 Championship vs Georgetown esque shooting performance for the Jays.

Onto Marquette…

— Patrick Scanlon (@patrickscanlon_) January 8, 2026

Another two free throws for Brennan, but an Austin Swartz three takes the buzz out of the building. 62-57.

— Griffin Floyd (@GriffinFloyd62) January 8, 2026