MEN’S BASKETBALL: No. 9 Creighton Pulls Away From St. Thomas In Season-Opener

OMAHA–(CU Athletics Nov. 7)–No. 9 Creighton used a game-ending 16-3 run to open the 2022-23 regular-season with a 72-60 victory over St. Thomas. The Bluejays trailed 57-56 with 9:58 left before holding UST scoreless in 11 straight possessions to pull away.

Creighton used a 14-0 run to build a 23-9 run midway through the first half and settled for a 40-35 lead at the break behind 10 points from Trey Alexander.

After a three-pointer by UST’s Will Engels to open the second half, neither team led by more than three points in the next nine minutes. A trey by Brooks Allen gave UST its lone second half lead (57-56) with 9:58 left before back-to-back three-pointers from Baylor Scheierman started the 14-0 Bluejay avalanche. By the time UST scored again with 2:45 left, the Tommies were down 70-57.

Sophomore Arthur Kaluma led all scorers with 17 points and added eight rebounds for the Bluejays, and Scheierman notched a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) in his CU debut. Alexander had 12 points and blocked a career-high three shots. CU shot just 8-for-34 from deep (23.5 percent) but made up for it with 12-of-14 marksmanship at the line (85.7 percent). CU also had just five turnovers on the night. Creighton won the rebound battle 39-35 and blocked six shots.

St. Thomas was paced by 15 points from freshman Andrew Rohde and 14 by Allen. The Tommies started the game 8-for-14 from three-point range but finished 9-for-22 from deep.

The Bluejays return to action on Thursday when they host North Dakota at 8 p.m. The Fighting Hawks won at Incarnate Word on Monday evening .