Creighton University
Missouri Western State (Ex)
Men's Basketball Opens Exhibition Season With 94-69 Romp Over MWSU
11/4/2009 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. -- The Creighton men's basketball team opened the 2009-10 exhibition season with a 94-69 victory over Missouri Western State University on Wednesday night before 15,099 fans at Qwest Center Omaha. Creighton's top three scorers came off the bench, a group topped by P'Allen Stinnett's 20 points.
Creighton started the season with a 16-2 run in the opening six minutes, getting baskets by five different players to built its early lead. Justin Carter converted a three-point play to give CU a 3-0 lead, and after two free throws from MWSU's Martin Nolan, CU would embark on a 13-0 flurry. Casey Harriman made a lay-up, then stole the inbounds pass and converted a three-point play to make it 8-2. Stinnett would score on a lay-up to make it 10-2, and Cavel Witter hit a three-pointer following the 16-minute media timeout to push the lead to 13-2. Freshman Ethan Wragge capped the spurt with a trey of his own, giving CU a 14-point lead less than six minutes into the contest.
The Jays lead reached 20 at 37-17 with 6:37 left after two free throws from Stinnett, and would take a 51-29 lead into the locker room. CU shot 8-of-18 in the opening half from three-point range, getting treys from six different men, while taking its large lead. The only category that MWSU outpaced the Jays in the first half was on the glass, where the Griffons owned a 22-20 lead.
Creighton's maintained a lead between 17 and 27 points the entire second half, outscoring the Griffons just 43-40 after intermission. The visitors would dominate the glass in the second half by a 22-8 margin, but CU shot 16-of-31 from the floor to hold off a MWSU club that made 14-of-25 attempts from the field after the break.
Stinnett led CU with 20 points, with Darryl Ashford hitting 6-of-7 shots to notch 16 points in his debut. Wayne Runnels scored 13 points and grabbed a game-best six rebounds. Also in double-figures were Harriman (11) and Carter (10). CU shot 51.6 percent from the floor for the game, including 13-of-31 (41.9 percent) from downtown and 15-of-23 at the charity stripe (65.2 percent). CU dished 24 assists, led by five from Stinnett and Ashford, and had just 11 turnovers. The Bluejay defense added two blocks and 10 steals as well.
Missouri Western State was paced by 14 points from Justin Taylor and 13 from Marcus Rhodes. MWSU was 25-of-58 from the floor, 3-of-10 from downtown (30 percent) and 16-of-23 at the line (69.6 percent). The Griffons hauled down 44 rebounds, with five different players with five each, and had eight assists, 22 turnovers and four steals.
Creighton owned a 34-9 advantage in points off turnovers, a 21-10 advantage in fast break points and a 61-37 edge in bench points.
Creighton will conclude its exhibition season on Sunday with a 2:05 pm match-up at Qwest Center Omaha against cross-town rival Nebraska-Omaha. Creighton's regular-season opener will be Nov. 14 at No. 21 Dayton.
NOTES: The crowd of 15,099 was the largest in Creighton history for an exhibition ...Creighton is now 25-3 under Dana Altman in exhibition games in Omaha, including eight straight victories ...Creighton's six players making their debut (Derek Sebastian, Andrew Bock, Matt Dorwart, Wayne Runnels, Darryl Ashford and Ethan Wragge) combined for 35 points, seven assists, four steals in 68 minutes on 14-of-24 shooting from the floor.
