Creighton University
Bradley
Streaks Continue As Men's Basketball Tops Braves, 79-65
2/11/2009 10:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. -- The Creighton men's basketball team extended a pair of lengthy streaks on Wednesday night with a 79-65 win over Bradley. The victory marked Creighton's 11th straight year of 20 or more wins, as well as a 13th straight season with 10 or more league victories. Both marks extend CU's Missouri Valley Conference records.
Winners of five straight games overall this year, Creighton (20-6, 10-4) has now beaten the Braves 11 straight seasons in Omaha. The Jays remain two games behind league-leading Northern Iowa (18-7, 12-2 MVC), which defeated Southern Illinois 81-55 in Cedar Falls on Wednesday night.
Bradley dropped to 13-12 with the loss and remains tied for fourth in The Valley with a 7-7 league mark.
Creighton led most of the first half, including a 23-13 lead with 9:53 to play, before Bradley scorched the nets to close the first half. The Braves made their final five three-point attempts of the first half, including a half-court buzzer beater from Sam Maniscalco that hit off the glass and rim before rolling in to give BU a 39-37 intermission lead. Maniscalco led BU with 13 first-half points, while CU's Booker Woodfox matched Maniscalco with 13 points of his own.
The second half featured four ties and nine lead changes, the last coming when Creighton went ahead 59-57 on two Kenny Lawson Jr. free throws with 8:29 to play. Bradley had just one field goal in the final 10:48, a lay-up by Taylor Brown with 1:06 remaining.
Woodfox led five Bluejays in double-figures with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. The nation's No. 2 three-pointer shooter also hit 4-of-6 from downtown to up his season average to 49.0 percent marksmanship from three-point range. Also in double-figures was P'Allen Stinnett (15), Kenton Walker (11), Justin Carter (10) and Lawson (10). CU point guard Josh Dotzler dished a season-high nine assists against just one turnover while also pushing his league-high steal total to 60. Creighton shot 54 percent for the game (27-50), 42.9 percent from three-point range (9-21) and 16-of-21 at the line (76.2 percent).
Bradley was led by 15 points and 11 rebounds from Theron Wilson. Maniscalco was held scoreless after intermission and finished with 13 points, while Chris Roberts added 11 off the pine. BU shot 41.7 percent for the game (20-48), including 42.9 percent from downtown (6-14) and 19-of-27 at the line (70.4 percent).
Creighton won the rebound battle for the fourth time in five games, 32-29, and outscored BU 30-24 in the paint and 33-16 off turnovers.
Creighton returns to the court on Saturday when it visits league rival Southern Illinois for a 4:05 pm game. The contest will be broadcast on KXSP (Big Sports 590 AM) and be televised nationally on ESPN2.
NOTES: The game was delayed approximately 10 minutes late in the first half when a member of the Jays Dance Team was injured. The dancer left on a stretcher, was hospitalized, and released from an area hospital with a mild concussion ...Creighton has won 30 straight home games on Wednesday's ...Creighton has won 20 straight meetings with Bradley when scoring 70 or more pionts ...Creighton has scored 70-plus vs. Bradley in four straight meetings, while the rest of the MVC has been held below 70 in that time (12 games) vs. the Braves ...Creighton entered this year one of seven teams nationally with 20 or more wins for 10 straight seasons, an elite list that also includes Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kent State and Syracuse ...The only other schools to enter 2008-09 with 10 or more league wins in 12 straight years was Stanford and Kansas ...Booker Woodfox has made a three-pointer in 22 straight games, tied for 19th-longest nationally ...Kenny Lawson Jr. and Kenton Walker both scored in double-figures in the same game for the second time this season ...Fifteeen of Creighton's 20 wins this year have come by 10 or more points ...Kaleb Korver made his first two-pointer since Jan. 2, 2008 when he sliced through the lane for a lay-up with 2:46 to play. Each of Korver's previous 38 field goal makes had been three-pointers.
