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Creighton lands massive win over No. 3 Villanova

National Collegiate Basketball Hall Of Fame Classic

KANSAS CITY, MO - NOVEMBER 20: Head coach Greg McDermott of the Creighton Bluejays reacts from the bench during the National Collegiate Basketball Hall Of Fame Classic game against the UCLA Bruins at the Sprint Center on November 20, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

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Creighton landed its biggest win of the season on Saturday afternoon as the Bluejays outlasted No. 3 Villanova for an 89-83 overtime Big East win.

The home win comes a few weeks after the Bluejays fell just short of knocking off Xavier as Creighton has the signature victory they were looking for when it comes to the 2018 NCAA tournament. More importantly for Creighton, they seem to be gaining some positive momentum in the final weeks of the regular season.

Guards Marcus Foster (28 points) and Khyri Thomas (24 points) led the charge for the Bluejays against the Wildcats as the duo combined for 52 points while making some timely plays down the stretch in a tight game. Creighton can almost always rely on Foster and Thomas to bring their best effort and the veteran duo did a great job of carving up an average Villanova defense that can struggle against strong backcourts.

Foster and Thomas coming through was a huge storyline. The continued emergence of freshman big man Jacob Epperson is becoming the main thing to keep an eye on for Creighton’s season.

Initially redshirted at the start of the 2017-18 season, Epperson has played in the last eight games for the Bluejays after the team decided to play him this season once Martin Krampelj went down with injury. The 6-foot-11 Epperson delivered another strong outing against Villanova on Saturday as he had 12 points, five rebounds and two blocks in a season-high 23 minutes. Playing key minutes in overtime against a top-five team, Epperson was thrown into the fire and responded by playing very well.

A month ago, Epperson was a redshirt freshman who was returning to practice following a minor knee procedure in December. A week away from March, Epperson is actively in the rotation now for Creighton as he has scored in double-figures in three of his last four games. Epperson seems to be gaining confidence with every game and it’ll be fascinating to see if his minutes and his role can stay at this type of level.

Epperson has added 20 pounds of muscle since the start of the season, and that added weight has helped the skinny Australian compete against Big East opponents right away. And the Bluejays really need Epperson to be a steady presence on the interior now that Krampelj is down for the season with the torn ACL.

Not a lot of NCAA tournament-caliber teams add players at this point in the season. Creighton is incorporating a four-star prospect into the rotation who is already producing against some of the better teams in the Big East. That’s an encouraging sign and something to build on over the next several weeks.

Creighton doesn’t need Epperson to be a go-to guy or even a big-time scorer. That’s why they have veteran guards like Foster and Thomas and other role players like Davion Mintz and Mitchell Ballock -- also in double-figures against Villanova.

But if Epperson can provide a little bit of production on the interior while giving the Bluejays some much-needed size then they becoming an intriguing team that can put up a lot of points.