OMAHA (KMTV) — The 10th-ranked Creighton men's basketball team beat UC-Riverside, 80-51, on Thursday night to improve to 4-0.
Courtesy: CU Media Relations
A quartet of Bluejays delivered double-figures as the No. 10 Creighton men's basketball team defeated UC Riverside 80-51 on Thursday, Nov. 17.
The victory lifted the Bluejays to 4-0 on the season, while UC Riverside fell to 1-2 overall.
Creighton bounced out to a quick start with the first eight points of the game, getting a driving layup from Trey Alexander and back-to-back threes by Baylor Scheierman. The Bluejays pushed their lead out to 11 at 17-6 on a three-pointer from Ryan Kalkbrenner, but the Highlanders rallied to take the lead at 24-23 and 26-25.
Creighton responded in emphatic fashion as the Bluejays closed the half on a 16-2 run, powered by three buckets by Alexander and five points from Scheierman .
Staked to a 41-28 lead at the half the Bluejays put the game away midway through the second half with another 15-0 burst. Up 61-45 with 8:54 remaining, Fredrick King delivered a pair of traditional three-point plays to ignite the offense. A total of five Bluejays scored during the run, pushing the advantage to 76-45 with 2:19 left.
Scheierman led all scorers with a season-high 17 points, while Alexander, Kalkbrenner and Arthur Kaluma each closed the game with 12 points. Alexander also grabbed a career-high nine rebounds to lead the Bluejays to a 42-31 advantage on the boards. Creighton shot 52.5 percent from the field and had just seven turnovers.
UC Riverside got a team-high 11 points from Will Tattersall in the loss. Zyon Pullin, who entered the game averaging 20.0 points per game, was held to a season-low eight points on 4-of-10 shooting in 35 minutes of action. The Highlanders shot 35.5 percent from the floor and 15.8 percent (3-19) from downtown.
Creighton opens the Maui Jim Maui Invitational against No. 23 Texas Tech on Monday, Nov. 21 at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN2. The game can also be heard on 1620 The Zone and 101.9 The Keg.
NOTES: Creighton is 4-0 for the eighth time in 13 seasons under Greg McDermott ... Creighton is now 5-0 against Big West Conference schools under Greg McDermott ... Creighton improved to 146-55 when playing as a team ranked in the Associated Press poll ... Ryan Kalkbrenner made his first three field goal attempts to stretch his streak to 22 makes in a row before missing a three-pointer. He finished the game 5-for-6 from the field and is now shooting 80.6 percent from the field this winter ... Arthur Kaluma has scored in double-figures each of CU's last six games ... Ryan Nembhard had his second straight turnover-free game and now owns 34 assists and just two turnovers in his last five contests dating to last season ... Creighton has won its first four games by double-figures for the first time since the 2012-13 season ... Creighton improved to 71-1 all-time in regular-season home games on or before Nov. 26th ... Creighton made a three-pointer for the 952nd straight game ... Shereef Mitchell had a season-high seven points ... Creighton has trailed for a total of 6:02 in its first four contests.
