OMAHA, Neb. -- Xavier survived three late turnovers Saturday that Creighton couldn't convert into points as the Musketeers held on for an 82-80 Big East Conference basketball victory over the No. 22-ranked Bluejays.

The win for the Musketeers (17-6, 7-3 Big East) before a CenturyLink Center crowd of 17,886 was a big one as it kept Xavier within one game of first place Villanova for the lead in the Big East Conference regular season tournament title. Villanova hosts St. John's later Saturday.

Creighton (20-4, 7-4 Big East) missed several chances in the final 45 seconds to tie the game or regain the lead from the Musketeers. Three times the Bluejays stole a Xavier inbounds pass; the final two times they were unable to convert those mistakes into points.

The Musketeers trailed much of the second half, getting within one point three times and tying the game once before taking the lead for good at 72-70 on a 3-pointer from the left side by Trevon Bluiett.

Bluiett hit a second 3-pointer 40 seconds later to put Xavier ahead 75-70 with 2:55 to play.

"We held the lead for a good portion of the game and then couldn't finish," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. "Made some great hustle plays, executed our press extremely well late and gave ourselves a chance. I certainly don't fault our guys' effort, I thought they played hard."

Bluiett and Tyrique Jones led Xavier with 16 points apiece. Quentin Goodin and J.P. Macura each added 15.

Creighton's Marcus Foster led all scorers with 17 points. Khyri Thomas (15) and Cole Huff (11) also finished in double figures for the Bluejays.

While Creighton's field goal numbers were nearly identical between the first and second halves, Xavier had a notable improvement in the final 20 minutes. After going 15-of-35 in the first half, the Musketeers were 17-of-28 (60.7 percent) in the second half.

"I'm proud of our guys for not being perfect but being able to (with)stand the storm right before the half,? Xavier coach Chris Mack said. In the second half we still had the fortitude to fight back, made some big-time plays and some big-time shots down the stretch."

After trailing 43-34 at halftime, the Musketeers nearly erased that lead in the first four minutes of the second half. Xavier twice cut its deficit to one point at 48-47 and 51-50 before back-to-back slam dunks got Creighton's lead back to five.

The first was a dunk by Patton after Xavier's defense broke up an alley-oop pass to the 7-foot redshirt freshman from Omaha. Twenty-five seconds later Patton got a hand on the ball and knocked it back toward the Creighton goal, where Thomas scooped it up and finished with a jam for a 55-50 lead.

Xavier led from the first basket but the Bluejays never fell behind by more than five points during the opening nine minutes.

The Musketeers built and maintained that lead in part by winning the points-in-the-paint battle 12-4. It was Creighton's bench that kept the Jays close by outscoring Xavier 11-2.

Creighton eventually pulled even at 22-22 on a jumper by Foster before a pair of free throws by Patton 34 seconds later gave the Bluejays their first lead with precisely 10 minutes remaining.

A 3-pointer by Huff from the left wing gave Creighton a 27-22 lead. The Bluejays more than doubled that lead over the next 5:30, with a layup by Thomas putting Creighton up 41-30 with 1:58 to go before the break.

That layup came after Patton blocked consecutive shots at the other end. Thomas scooped up the second rejected ball and went end-to-end for the layup between a trio of Musketeers defenders.

Xavier bounced back for two baskets in 25 seconds to get within 41-34 before Huff tipped in a missed 3-point attempt by Thomas from the top of the key just before the buzzer sounded.

The win for the Musketeers salvaged a split of the season series. Creighton defeated Xavier 72-67 Jan. 16 at Cintas Center in Cincinnati.

NOTES: Xavier is now 5-1 in games decided by four or fewer points. ... Scouts from the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls were sitting courtside taking notes on players from both teams. ... Xavier is one of nine schools that has participated in 10 of the last 11 NCAA tournaments. The Musketeers and Villanova are the two schools from the Big East on that list.