WALDRON GRAIN & FUEL

12/31 03:43 CST Townsend leads Creighton against Villanova Townsend leads Creighton against Villanova By The Associated Press Creighton Bluejays (6-7, 2-2 Big East) at Villanova Wildcats (11-2, 4-0 Big East) Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania; Thursday, 12 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Creighton visits Villanova after Kennedy Townsend scored 30 points in Creighton's 76-74 loss to the Georgetown Hoyas. The Wildcats are 5-2 in home games. Villanova ranks third in the Big East at limiting opponent scoring, giving up 58.5 points while holding opponents to 36.8% shooting. The Bluejays are 2-2 in Big East play. Creighton is 3-5 against opponents with a winning record. Villanova scores 75.7 points, 8.5 more per game than the 67.2 Creighton allows. Creighton scores 12.0 more points per game (70.5) than Villanova allows (58.5). The Wildcats and Bluejays square off Thursday for the first time in conference play this season. TOP PERFORMERS: Jasmine Bascoe is averaging 17.5 points, 4.2 assists and 1.6 steals for the Wildcats. Brynn McCurry is averaging 15.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.5 steals over the past 10 games. Ava Zediker is scoring 12.8 points per game and averaging 5.2 rebounds for the Bluejays. Neleigh Gessert is averaging 3.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Wildcats: 9-1, averaging 77.7 points, 33.3 rebounds, 20.4 assists, 10.1 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 47.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 60.7 points per game. Bluejays: 5-5, averaging 72.2 points, 34.0 rebounds, 17.4 assists, 7.2 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 40.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 63.8 points. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.