Creighton University
George Mason
Men's Basketball Downs George Mason 76-63 For Eighth Straight Win
2/21/2009 11:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. -- Booker Woodfox hit 8-of-10 shots, including 5-of-6 from three-point range, to lead the Creighton men's basketball team to a nationally-televised 76-63 victory over George Mason on Saturday night before 17,411 fans in Omaha.
Creighton has now won eight in a row and improved to 23-6 on the season. George Mason dropped to 18-9 on the season while suffering its first double-digit defeat of the season. The game was part of the ESPNU BracketBusters series, which pits top mid-major teams against each other in a late-season nationally-televised setting.
Creighton led 30-27 at the half, and scored the first four points of the second stanza while never trailing after intermission. Antoine Young ignited a 7-0 run for CU shortly after the halftime break with four straight points, which was capped by a three-pointer from the corner by Kaleb Korver. CU would take its biggest lead of the night at 51-34 on a three-pointer by Woodfox. After Mason closed the gap to six at 64-58 with 2:36 to play, the Jays would ice the game with 10-of-11 shooting at the line down the stretch, in addition to an alley-oop dunk by P'Allen Stinnett in transition with 2:04 to play.
Woodfox led CU with 22 points, while Antoine Young (13 points) and Kenny Lawson Jr. (10) scored in double-figures as well. The Bluejays shot 49.1 percent from the field, 40 percent from downtown and 73.7 percent at the line. Woodfox, who entered the game ranked No. 1 nationally in three-point percentage, drained 5-of-6 from downtown and is now shooting 51.3 percent from three-point territory. Creighton's bench outscored the Patriots, 30-15, keyed by 4-of-4 shooting by Young from the floor. CU's top rebounders were sophomores Kenny Lawson Jr. and Kenton Walker, while Cavel Witter had a game-best three steals.
George Mason was paced by 23 points from Cam Long, one shy of his career high, while John Vaughan scored 12 points. Mason shot 41.8 percent for the game and hit 7-of-18 three-pointers (38.9 percent). George Mason made 10-of-17 shots at the line on the evening and won narrowly won the rebounding battle, 34-33.
Creighton resumes its chase for the Valley regular-season title on Tuesday with a 7:05 pm road game at Missouri State. The game will be broadcast on KXSP (Big Sports 590 AM) and televised on KMTV.
NOTES: Creighton has won seven straight games on ESPNU ...Creighton is now 5-2 in BracketBusters games, including a 4-2 mark in televised contests ...The MVC went 7-3 in BracketBusters games this weekend, including a 2-2 mark in the televised matches ...Creighton has scored 40 or more points in the second half during each game of its eight-game win streak ...Creighton is now 3-0 all-time against George Mason ...Creighton had not posted two win streaks of eight or longer in the same season since the 1990-91 campaign ...Creighton has won 62 straight games when scoring 72 or more points ...Tuesday's opponent, Missouri State, snapped Tennessee-Martin's 11-game win streak on Saturday night.
