Creighton University
Saint Joseph's
Woodfox Scores 29 As Men's Hoops Silences St. Joe's, 69-58
12/6/2008 10:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Booker Woodfox hit 7-of-9 three-pointers and scored a career-best 29 points to lead Creighton men's basketball to a 69-58 win at Saint Joseph's on Saturday night.
Creighton improved to 5-2 on the year while the Hawks fell to 3-4. The game was Creighton's first trip since 1971 to the historic Palestra, as Saint Joseph's on-campus arena is being renovated this year.
Creighton hit 13-of-28 three-pointers during the win, including a career-best seven from Woodfox. The Jays drained six trifectas in the first half while building a 32-20 lead at intermission. Trailing 11-8 early, CU unleashed a 10-0 run fuled by treys from Kaleb Korver and Woodfox to take the lead for good.
After Saint Joseph's cut its deficit to nine early in the second half, Woodfox hit back-to-back three's, followed by another trey from Casey Harriman, as CU's lead stretched to 43-25 with 15:45 to play.
The Hawks would cut the gap to 12 at 43-31, but a short time later CU would match its largest lead of the night at 58-37 with 7:50 to go on a fast-break lay-up by Woodfox.
True to its motto (The Hawk Will Never Die), Saint Joseph's would not go quietly. The Hawks held CU scoreless for more than five minutes as the hosts narrowed the gap to 61-55 with 1:07 to play thanks to a 18-3 run. After Saint Joseph's would then miss a lay-up that could have cut it to four, and CU would make all eight shots from the stripe in the final 50 seconds to ice its first road win of the year.
Woodfox was CU's only player in double-figures, finishing with 29 points on 9-of-13 shooting. His 7-of-9 effort from downtown was a personal best for three-pointers in a game, and he also tied a personal-high with seven rebounds. Kenny Lawson Jr. had yet another near-miss in his quest for his first double-double, finishing with nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Creighton shot 40.4 percent for the game from the field, including an impressive 13-of-28 from behind the arc (46.4 percent), and hit 10-of-14 (71.4 percent) from the line. CU also outrebounded SJU 37-31 and had 18 assists with just 11 turnovers.
Saint Joseph's was led in scoring by two-time all-Atlantic 10 center Ahmad Nivins, who had his fifth double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. Also in double-figures was Darrin Govens with 13 points and Tasheed Carr with 11 points and nine rebounds. Saint Joseph's shot 40.8 percent for the game (20-49), but could not keep up with CU from long-range while making just 2-of-15 shots from three-point territory.
Creighton returns to action on Wednesday when undefeated Dayton invades Qwest Center Omaha. Tip-off is set for 7:05 pm.
NOTES: The game was part of the Jesuit Basketball Challenge ...Creighton has led by seven or more points at half in all three road games this year ...Booker Woodfox's previous career-high had been 26 in the season-opener against New Mexico ...P'Allen Stinnett returned to the starting line-up for CU, starting in place of Kaleb Korver ...Kaleb Korver, younger brother of former Philadelphia 76ers guard Kyle Korver, had nine points, four rebounds and two assists in 18 minutes off the bench.
