Creighton University
Drake
Altman Earns 300th Win at Creighton as Men's Basketball Beats Drake, 79-68
2/4/2009 9:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball
DES MOINES, IOWA -- Head men's basketball coach Dana Altman earned his 300th victory at Creighton Wednesday night, as the Bluejays beat Drake 79-68 in front of 5,445 fans at the Knapp Center to snap a four-game losing streak against the Bulldogs.
For his career Altman has amassed 383 wins during his 20-year career and is just the second coach in Missouri Valley Conference history to earn 300 wins at one school as Henry Iba first accomplished the feat from 1934-57 at Oklahoma State.
The Bluejays were led by Booker Woodfox who scored 23 points, including 15 in the second half.
Creighton withstood an early charge by Drake as the Bulldogs used an 11-2 run in the first half to get the lead to 17-11 before Woodfox drained his second of five three-point baskets on the night to start Creighton on an 8-0 run of its own.
The first half saw the two teams combine for nine three-pointers as Drake went into halftime up 29-28 despite Creighton owning an 18-10 advantage on the boards. On the night the Bluejays finished with a 35-26 advantage, it's largest rebounding margin since it outboarded Evansville 37-25 on Jan. 20.
Drake then opened the second half on a 9-2 run before P'Allen Stinnett used a backdoor lob from Woodfox to stop the bleeding and start the Bluejays on a 49-30 run of their own to close out the game. Creighton grabbed the lead for good at 44-43 with 9:29 to go.
Woodfox's 23 points gave him four straight games he has reached double digits and was his highest total since Dec. 23, 2008 against DePaul.
Creighton returns to action on Sunday when it visits league-leading Northern Iowa (17-6, 11-1 MVC) for a 1:05 pm game in Cedar Falls, Iowa. That game will be broadcast on KXSP (Big Sports 590 AM) and televised on both KMTV and ESPN360.com.
NOTES: P'Allen Stinnett returned to the starting lineup a game after coming off the bench due to a knee injury...Woodfox extended his streak to 20 straight games with a three-point basket, good for 21st in the country and the longest in the MVC...Kaleb Korver's first half three-point basket made it 39 straight field goals he has had from three without a two-pont field goal...His last two-point field goal came on Jan. 2, 2008...Creighton had five-plus three-point baskets for the 24th straight game, good for seventh in the country, and longest in the MVC...CU's +8 rebound advantage in the first half was its largest at halftime since it had a +10 advantage on Dec. 22, 2008...Cavel Witter's three-point basket with 5:23 to go in the first half was his first field goal since Jan. 24, 2009 against Drake...Coming into the game he had gone consecutive games without a field goal for the first time this season...Stinnett scored his first points of the game with 1:28 to go in the first half...He had gone scoreless in the first half in the Bluejays previous two games, and has now put together double-digit second halves for the third straight game...Josh Dotzler fouled out for just the second time in 106 contests when he picked up his fifth foul with 1:19 to go...Casey Harriman's steal in the second half was the first time he has had steals in consecutive games since a four-game stretch from Nov. 29-Dec. 10, 2008...Woodfox's five three-pointers was the fifth time he has accomplished the feat this season and his most since Dec. 23, 2008 against DePaul...Creighton has won 57 straight games when scoring 72 points or more...The win was Creighton's seventh away from home (road + neutral) this season...Each of the past eight times CU has posted seven or more wins away from home, the Jays have reached the NCAA Tournament.
