Creighton University
Northern Iowa
Men's Basketball Tops UNI For Third Straight Road Win, 68-59
1/15/2008 8:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The Creighton men's basketball team won its fourth straight game, defeating Northern Iowa, 68-59 on Tuesday night before a national ESPN2 audience. For the second straight game senior guard Nick Bahe tied a career-high with 15 points, leading three CU players in double-figures.
The win was Creighton's eighth in a row in the series over UNI and moved its season record to 13-3 (4-2 MVC). UNI lost its fourth straight and is 10-7, 2-4 MVC.
The Jays came out on fire, hitting six straight shots to open the game and take an early 16-11 lead. The early surge included two trifectas by P'Allen Stinnett as well as trey's from both Bahe and Cavel Witter.
UNI would rally to tie the game at 20, but baskets by Kenny Lawson Jr. and Booker Woodfox gave the Jays a lead they would maintain into halftime. CU scored the final seven points of the first half to take a 35-28 at the break, getting field goals from nine different players in the opening 20 minutes.
Creighton came out hot to open the second half, opening with a 10-0 run to culminate a 17-0 flurry. It started with a trey by Dane Watts, a floater by Stinnett, an old-fashioned three-point play from Stinnett and a jumper by Bahe as the Jays quickly built a 45-28 lead with 16:34 to play. The Panthers snapped a nearly eight-minute scoreless stretch with 16:34 mark on a three-point play by Eric Coleman and drawing within 45-31.
Coleman's powerful dunk ignited a 15-1 run for UNI that saw them draw to within 46-42. CU's only point in that six-minute span was a free throw from Millard. However, after a Bluejay timeout Millard drained a trey and give CU a 49-42 lead with 10:30 to play.
After UNI had trimmed the lead to 52-47, UNI head coach Ben Jacobson was whistled for a technical foul arguing a non-call. Bahe drained both free throws, then scored on CU's ensuing possession to stretch the lead to nine. Watts then drained a trey on the next trip down, giving the Jays a 58-46 lead.
UNI would close within seven in the final minute before Watts hit 4-of-4 free throws to ice the game.
Creighton hit 10 three-pointers for the second straight contest and shot 42.3 percent for the game from the field. The Jays also drained 14-of-17 free throws (82.4 percent). In addition to 15 from Bahe, Watts finished with 14 points and Stinnett had 12 in his second straight start. CU outrebounded UNI 36-30, led by seven boards from Watts.
UNI was led by 13 points from Travis Brown, while Coleman had 12 points and 12 rebounds on 5-of-5 shooting from the floor. UNI shot 40.4 percent for the game and hit 11-of-13 at the line (84.6 percent).
Creighton returns home to play Indiana State on Saturday at 7:35 pm. The game can be heard on KXSP (Big Sports 590 AM) and will be televised by Fox Sports Net Midwest.
