Creighton University
2-0
Chicago State
0-2
Wire-to-Wire Win Pushes Men's Basketball Past Chicago State
11/16/2014 7:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. -- Will Artino had career-highs with 20 points and five steals as Creighton men's basketball led wire-to-wire in an 84-66 win over Chicago State on Sunday before a crowd of 16,143 fans in Omaha.
Creighton is now 2-0 and has yet to trail heading into a showdown with No. 19 Oklahoma on Wednesday in Omaha. Chicago State, which played late Friday night at Arizona State, fell to 0-2.
The career night by fifth-year senior Artino was aided by Isaiah Zierden's second-straight scoring effort, as he added 18 points in 22 minutes. Redshirt freshman Toby Hegner also had broke loose, finishing with 17 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in the win. Guard Devin Brooks led CU on the glass with a career-high 10 rebounds to go with six points and six assists.
Chicago State was led by 22 points and eight rebounds by Clarke Rosenberg, who played all 40 minutes. Anthony Glover added 18 points, including 5-of-8 three-pointers, and also dished a team-high three assists.
Just as it did in Friday's 104-77 win over Central Arkansas, Creighton never trailed. Hegner had six points in the first 4:06 to help the Bluejays to a 10-0 lead. Chicago State would rally to get within 15-14 four minutes later, but Zierden quickly extinguished the Cougars upset bid with consecutive three-pointers. The Bluejays took a 45-27 lead into halftime after Hegner sank a 35-foot heave at the buzzer.
Rosenberg scored 12 points in the first six minutes of the second half to lead a 15-6 run and cut the CU lead to nine points on a pair of occasions before Zierden ended the CU rally with two free throws after a Flagrant 1 foul on Rosenberg, which jump-started an 11-0 Bluejay run. Creighton's lead would grow as large as 23 points (79-56) in the final minutes before CU settled for the 84-66 triumph.
Creighton shot 44.8 percent for the game and sank 10 three-point baskets. The Bluejays outrebounded CSU 36-31 and had 18 assists on 26 baskets.
Chicago State shot 45.5 percent for the game and also sank 10 three-pointers, but it wasn't enough to offset a 22-6 disparity at the free throw line.
Creighton returns to action on Wednesday night when No. 19 Oklahoma (1-0) comes to town. The game will tip at 7:01 pm and air nationally on FOX Sports 1.
NOTES: Chicago State has led for a total of 108 seconds in three all-time meetings vs. Creighton at CenturyLink Center Omaha ... Will Artino's previous career-high scoring game was 14 points (done 3x), and his previous high in steals was two. His five steals today give him six this season in 39 minutes, just three steals behind his entire 2013-14 total in 457 minutes ... Creighton improved to 15-0 with 12 double-digit wins all-time in Sunday games at CenturyLink Center Omaha that tip after 4 pm ... Creighton has won 32 straight home games against winless teams and is 46-0 all-time in regular-season home games that take place on or before Nov. 26th ... Creighton has won 53 of its last 54 regular-season non-conference home games vs. unranked foes ... Creighton has started 2-0 for the fifth straight season under Greg McDermott ... Creighton has won 20 straight home games (T-7th-longest nationally) and never trailed in 10 of those contests ... Creighton has not trailed in 50 of its 188 all-time home games at CenturyLink Center Omaha ... Creighton has won 35 straight games when leading at halftime and 38 straight games when leading with 5:00 left ... Today Will Artino snapped a streak of 17 straight games in which Creighton's leading scorer was a walk-on.
