Saturday, December 17
Omaha, Neb.
7:00 PM
Creighton University
11-0
66
vs
65
Oral Roberts
2-10
1
2
F
Oral Roberts
38
27
65
Creighton
45
21
66
Marcus Foster scored 22 points on Saturday.
Photo by: A.J. Olnes
Defense Steps Up Late In 66-65 Men's Basketball Win Over ORU
12/17/2016 9:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Creighton overcomes late five-point deficit to earn one-point win
OMAHA, Neb. -- Down five with 6:08 to play, No. 10 Creighton held Oral Roberts scoreless the rest of the way to earn a 66-65 win on Saturday before 16,489 fans.
Creighton improves to 11-0 for the fifth time in program history, and first time since a 12-0 start in 2003-04. Oral Roberts dipped to 2-10 in a season of close calls that also includes an overtime loss to Ole Miss and a four-point setback at Michigan State.
Marcus Foster led Creighton with 22 points and shared team-high honors with six rebounds. He scored 10 points in the first three minutes as Creighton bolted to a 12-5 lead in the opening minutes. The lead reached double-figures at 21-11 on a floater by Maurice Watson Jr. before ORU answered with seven straight points.
CU returned its lead to 11 on a Foster trey with 5:58 left in the half before settling for a 45-38 halftime lead. Foster had 16 points at the break.
A 9-0 Creighton surge early in the second half pushed the Bluejay lead to 54-41 before the game changed. ORU embarked on a 24-6 run and took a 65-60 lead after big man Albert Owens banked in a three-pointer with 6:08 to play. ORU would not score again on its final 10 possessions.
The Bluejay comeback started with a lay-up by Justin Patton on Watson's 10th assist of the night. Patton then threw down a thunderous dunk off a Khyri Thomas alley-oop as CU got within one at 65-64 with 4:15 to play.
CU took the lead for good with 3:21 left as Foster overpowered a defender on a drive to the hoop to score from six feet out. Incredibly, neither team scored in the final 3:21, as ORU missed four shots and had three turnovers in its final six possessions.
ORU's best chance came with nine seconds left when Owens missed a shot from the right block and Watson grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 5.7 seconds left. CU would miss the front-end of a 1-and-1, but ORU was whistled for traveling with 2.8 seconds left while racing upcourt after the miss. CU would again miss at the line with 1.7 seconds left as it deflected out-of-bounds with 0.9 left. A baseball pass from ORU was stolen by Watson as time expired as CU improved to 11-0.
Watson became the first Creighton player since Doug McDermott in 2014 to record double-doubles in consecutive games, as the nation's leader in assists per game finished with 13 points and 10 assists. Patton finished with 10 points and six rebounds while adding a pair of blocked shots.
Owens led ORU with 23 points and eight rebounds, while Norfolk, Neb., native Jalen Bradley added 16 points. Creighton transfer Darian Harris played 31 minutes for the Golden Eagles, finishing with season-highs of six points and eight rebounds.
NOTES: Creighton is ranked 10th nationally in both the USA Today Coaches poll and the Associated Press poll ... Creighton is one of six remaining unbeaten teams nationally ... Creighton honored the Sutton family in a pregame ceremony. Eddie Sutton coached at CU from 1969-74, while sons Scott and Sean Sutton are now leading the Oral Roberts program ... Creighton's 21 points after halftime and 66 points for the game were both season-lows ... Creighton has won 97 straight home games against teams with a .500 or worse record ... Creighton has won 67 straight games when scoring 42 points or more in the first half ... Maurice Watson Jr. now owns four double-doubles this year, and five games this season with 10 or more assists ... Creighton has won 10 straight home games ... Creighton's 48.3 percent shooting from the field was its first game under 50 percent this season ... Creighton had six more dunks tonight, including four by Justin Patton.
Creighton improves to 11-0 for the fifth time in program history, and first time since a 12-0 start in 2003-04. Oral Roberts dipped to 2-10 in a season of close calls that also includes an overtime loss to Ole Miss and a four-point setback at Michigan State.
Marcus Foster led Creighton with 22 points and shared team-high honors with six rebounds. He scored 10 points in the first three minutes as Creighton bolted to a 12-5 lead in the opening minutes. The lead reached double-figures at 21-11 on a floater by Maurice Watson Jr. before ORU answered with seven straight points.
CU returned its lead to 11 on a Foster trey with 5:58 left in the half before settling for a 45-38 halftime lead. Foster had 16 points at the break.
A 9-0 Creighton surge early in the second half pushed the Bluejay lead to 54-41 before the game changed. ORU embarked on a 24-6 run and took a 65-60 lead after big man Albert Owens banked in a three-pointer with 6:08 to play. ORU would not score again on its final 10 possessions.
The Bluejay comeback started with a lay-up by Justin Patton on Watson's 10th assist of the night. Patton then threw down a thunderous dunk off a Khyri Thomas alley-oop as CU got within one at 65-64 with 4:15 to play.
CU took the lead for good with 3:21 left as Foster overpowered a defender on a drive to the hoop to score from six feet out. Incredibly, neither team scored in the final 3:21, as ORU missed four shots and had three turnovers in its final six possessions.
ORU's best chance came with nine seconds left when Owens missed a shot from the right block and Watson grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 5.7 seconds left. CU would miss the front-end of a 1-and-1, but ORU was whistled for traveling with 2.8 seconds left while racing upcourt after the miss. CU would again miss at the line with 1.7 seconds left as it deflected out-of-bounds with 0.9 left. A baseball pass from ORU was stolen by Watson as time expired as CU improved to 11-0.
Watson became the first Creighton player since Doug McDermott in 2014 to record double-doubles in consecutive games, as the nation's leader in assists per game finished with 13 points and 10 assists. Patton finished with 10 points and six rebounds while adding a pair of blocked shots.
Owens led ORU with 23 points and eight rebounds, while Norfolk, Neb., native Jalen Bradley added 16 points. Creighton transfer Darian Harris played 31 minutes for the Golden Eagles, finishing with season-highs of six points and eight rebounds.
NOTES: Creighton is ranked 10th nationally in both the USA Today Coaches poll and the Associated Press poll ... Creighton is one of six remaining unbeaten teams nationally ... Creighton honored the Sutton family in a pregame ceremony. Eddie Sutton coached at CU from 1969-74, while sons Scott and Sean Sutton are now leading the Oral Roberts program ... Creighton's 21 points after halftime and 66 points for the game were both season-lows ... Creighton has won 97 straight home games against teams with a .500 or worse record ... Creighton has won 67 straight games when scoring 42 points or more in the first half ... Maurice Watson Jr. now owns four double-doubles this year, and five games this season with 10 or more assists ... Creighton has won 10 straight home games ... Creighton's 48.3 percent shooting from the field was its first game under 50 percent this season ... Creighton had six more dunks tonight, including four by Justin Patton.
Team Stats
ORU
CU
FG%
.441
.483
3FG%
.316
.368
FT%
.700
.333
RB
40
30
TO
13
10
STL
6
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
9
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
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