MEN’S BASKETBALL: No. 23 Creighton’s Big Second Half Cools DePaul
OMAHA–(CU Athletics Feb. 15)–Leading 42-28 at the half, the No. 23 Creighton men’s basketball team delivered a knockout burst with 23 of the first 28 points in the second half as the Bluejays breezed by DePaul 93-64 on Saturday, Feb. 15th.
The win moved Creighton to 20-6 on the season and 9-4 in BIG EAST play, while reaching the 20-win plateau for the 20th time in the last 22 seasons following Saturday’s contest. DePaul fell to 13-12 overall and 1-11 in conference play after a 12-1 start to the season that included road wins at Minnesota, Iowa and Boston College.
Down 5-4 early in the first half, Creighton began to get its offense rolling as junior Mitch Ballock knocked down a corner trey, then sophomore Christian Bishop flushed home a second chance dunk to give Creighton a 9-5 edge (15:49). CU never trailed again.
Knotted at 10-10 moments later (13:28), the Bluejays seized control of the game with a 12-0 run, including nine straight in a span of 80 seconds. Junior Denzel Mahoney got the Creighton surge started with a driving layup, after a defensive stop Mahoney added two free throws to make it 14-10. Consecutive Blue Demon turnovers fed Creighton’s fast paced offense as Ballock delivered his second trey of the game, then junior Ty-Shon Alexander made it 19-10 (12:08) with a fast-break dunk. Creighton’s run was capped by a three-pointer from sophomore Marcus Zegarowski that pushed the Bluejay edge to 22-10. Creighton extended its lead to as much as 16 twice in the opening frame, first at 31-15 (7:52), taking a 42-28 edge into the locker room at the half.
Coming out of the locker room the Bluejays were not just hot, they were sizzling. Creighton opened the half with an 11-0 run and went on to hit its first eight shots of the half, holding a 65-33 lead with 12:59 remaining. Five different Bluejays contributed to the surge, including five points each from Alexander, Zegarowski and freshman Shereef Mitchell. The burst featured three dunks in a 67-second span that sent the crowd into a frenzy.
DePaul chipped away at Creighton’s advantage, using a 13-3 run to make it 73-50 with 7:10 remaining, but the Bluejays went back to work beyond the arc as getting treys from Zegarowski and Alexander to push the lead by to 79-50 (5:49).
One key to the Bluejays lopsided win was a program record-tying 18 steals. DePaul closed the game with 21 turnovers, leading to 30 Creighton points. Another critical piece of the Bluejay puzzle Saturday night was scoring in transition as the Bluejays closed the game with 26 fast break points.
Alexander led all scorers with 24 points on the night to equal a season-high, while four other Bluejays posted double-digits. The other Bluejays posting double figures were Jefferson and Ballock with 12 points and Mitchell and Zegarowski with 11 points. Creighton shot 57.9 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range in 26 attempts. CU also had a season-high 25 assists in 33 field goals.
DePaul got a game-high 20 points from Charlie Moore, while Romeo Weems finished with 12 points. All-BIG EAST forward Paul Reed was held to season-lows with three points and three rebounds.
The Bluejays return to the hardwood on Tuesday, Feb. 18th as Creighton travels to Milwaukee, Wis. to face Marquette at 7:30 pm. The game will be broadcast on FS1.
