Creighton University
Wichita State
Men's Hoops Wins Eighth Straight, Tops Shockers in MVC Opener
12/28/2008 9:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. -- A record crowd of 17,954 turned out to see Creighton men's basketball's eighth straight victory, a 68-56 victory over Wichita State on Sunday night at Qwest Center Omaha.
Creighton is now 11-2 and 1-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while Wichita State fell to 6-6 (0-1 MVC) and had a season-long three-game win streak halted.
Senior guard Booker Woodfox led Creighton in scoring for a seventh straight game, finishing with a game-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He was 2-of-4 from three-point range, his eighth straight game in which he's made multiple three-pointers and hit 50 percent or better of his trey attempts.
The first half featured eight lead changes and seven ties. Creighton took its biggest lead of the first half -- five points -- into the locker room after a 7-0 run to close the half. A Kenton Walker jumper, followed by a three-pointer from Woodfox tied it, and Josh Dotzler's steal and lay-up just before the halftime buzzer gave CU the lead.
Creighton maintained a lead of five or more throughout the second half. A pair of free throws by Cavel Witter with 10:08 left pushed CU's lead into double-figures for the rest of the evening. Creighton's largest lead of the night came with 90 seconds left following a three-pointer from Justin Carter that gave CU a 68-52 lead. The Shockers would score the game's last four points in the last 24 seconds for the final margin.
Woodfox led CU with 16 points, while Carter had 11 points and seven rebounds. Five other players scored between five and nine points in CU's victory, including Dotzler, who scored six points and added six assists and four steals. The Jays shot 23-of-50 (46 percent), including 6-of-16 from three-point territory (37.5 percent) and 84.2 percent (16-19) from the line.
WSU was led by Clevin Hannah's game-high 17 points, while Toure' Murry had 16 points. WSU shot just 35 percent (21-60) from the field, 5-of-20 from three-point range (25 percent) and were 9-of-14 (64.3 percent) at the line. The Shockers outrebounded CU 38-32, but could only convert 15 offensive rebounds into eight second-chance points.
Creighton returns to action on Wednesday with a game at Indiana State. The contest will start at 1:05 pm Central time and can be heard on KXSP (Big Sports 590 AM).
NOTES: This was Wichita State's first double-digit defeat of the season, which includes eight-point losses to nationally-ranked Georgetown and Michigan State on a neutral floor ...The crowd of 17,954 was the largest in Creighton men's basketball history, as well as the largest basketball crowd in state history ...Creighton has won 16 straight home games against the Shockers, dating to 1992 ...Dana Altman is now 25-5 at Creighton and 28-6 in his career against Wichita State ...Dana Altman is 23-2 all-time against WSU when holding the Shockers to less than 70 points ...Dana Altman is 20-3 all-time against WSU in games decided by 12 points or less ...Dana Altman is now 11-4 in MVC openers ...Creighton's eight-game win streak is tied for the sixth-longest in Altman's 15 years at Creighton ...Creighton has won 45 straight games when scoring 68 or more points at home ...Booker Woodfox extended his free throw streak to 21 in a row, going 2-for-2 ...Booker Woodfox has made at least one three-pointer in 16 straight halves ...Creighton has won 14 straight home games ...Booker Woodfox has led CU in scoring in seven straight games ...Creighton has started 8-0 at home in six of the past seven years ...Justin Carter's three-pointer was his first after opening his CU career with 15 straight misses behind the arc.
