Wednesday, February 24
CenturyLink Center Omaha
7:05 PM
Creighton University
17-11, 8-7BE
61
vs
66
Marquette
18-10, 7-8BE
1
2
F
Marquette
39
27
66
Creighton
29
32
61
Zach Hanson tied his career-high with three blocked shots.
Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann
Furious Comeback Falls Just Short in MBB's 66-61 Loss to Marquette
2/24/2016 8:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Creighton owns 29-0 advantage in bench points
OMAHA, Neb. -- Trailing by as much as 15 early in the second half, the Creighton men's basketball team held Marquette without a field goal for over seven minutes to claw back to even before succumbing to the Golden Eagles, 66-61, on Wednesday, Feb. 24.
The loss dropped the Bluejays to 17-11 on the season and 8-7 in BIG EAST play, while Marquette moved to 18-10 overall and 7-8 in conference action with its first win in Omaha since 1996.
Down 44-29 at the 17:36 mark, the Bluejay comeback began in earnest with 13:00 minutes remaining. Trailing 53-40 Creighton's Maurice Watson Jr. found Zach Hanson for an easy bucket in the paint. Creighton began to put more pressure on the Golden Eagles in the backcourt, resulting in a steal by Watson and another layup. This time it was freshman Khyri Thomas converting the deuce to give the crowd of over 17,000 a flicker of life. Over the next five minutes the Bluejays pushed their run to 12 consecutive points, making it a 53-52 game with 7:59 left. The Golden Eagles held the Bluejays at bay from the free throw line but a three-ball from Isaiah Zierden knotted the game at 56-56 (4:17) to cap Creighton's comeback.
Over the final four minutes Marquette was just a hair better than Creighton to complete the win and salvage a season split in the series.
The first half of play was strikingly similar as Marquette jumped out to a 13-4 edge, only to watch Creighton rally back to take the lead at 19-17 (10:28). The Golden Eagles, however, responded down the stretch of the opening period, scoring the last eight points to take a 39-29 lead at the half.
Watson led the way for Creighton with 14 points and five assists, while Cole Huff finished with 12. The Bluejays missed their first 13 three-point attempts finished 3-for-21 from downtown on the evening. One area that Creighton did dominate was bench points, where CU outscored MU 29-0.
Marquette got a game-high 22 points from heralded freshman Henry Ellenson, while Jajuan Johnson and Duane Wilson also reached double figures with 15 and 14, respectively. The Golden Eagles made 25-of-54 shots from the floor and had nine steals.
Creighton returns to the court on Sunday when it hosts St. John's at 1:37 p.m. on FS1. Bluejay seniors Geoffrey Groselle and James Milliken will be honored following the game as part of Senior Day festivities.
NOTES: Creighton had trailed for a total of 31 seconds in its last two home games vs. Marquette, but tonight the Jays led for just 35 seconds ... Henry Ellenson was assesed a technical foul after a play in the second half with 8:01 remaining ... Creighton has made a three-pointer in 741 straight games, but had a streak of 111 straight games with a first half trifecta (since 1/23/13) snapped when it went 0-for-9 from downtown before the break ... Maurice Watson Jr. has led or tied for the team lead in assists each of the last 19 games ... Creighton fell to 7-8 all-time at CenturyLink Center Omaha when trailing by 10+ points at half, and 25-22 all-time at CenturyLink Center Omaha in games it's fallen behind by 10 or more points at any juncture ... The sellout crowd of 17,412 lifted Creighton's season average to 17,048 fans per home game, which remains eighth-best nationally ... Zach Hanson tied his career-high with three blocked shots.
The loss dropped the Bluejays to 17-11 on the season and 8-7 in BIG EAST play, while Marquette moved to 18-10 overall and 7-8 in conference action with its first win in Omaha since 1996.
Down 44-29 at the 17:36 mark, the Bluejay comeback began in earnest with 13:00 minutes remaining. Trailing 53-40 Creighton's Maurice Watson Jr. found Zach Hanson for an easy bucket in the paint. Creighton began to put more pressure on the Golden Eagles in the backcourt, resulting in a steal by Watson and another layup. This time it was freshman Khyri Thomas converting the deuce to give the crowd of over 17,000 a flicker of life. Over the next five minutes the Bluejays pushed their run to 12 consecutive points, making it a 53-52 game with 7:59 left. The Golden Eagles held the Bluejays at bay from the free throw line but a three-ball from Isaiah Zierden knotted the game at 56-56 (4:17) to cap Creighton's comeback.
Over the final four minutes Marquette was just a hair better than Creighton to complete the win and salvage a season split in the series.
The first half of play was strikingly similar as Marquette jumped out to a 13-4 edge, only to watch Creighton rally back to take the lead at 19-17 (10:28). The Golden Eagles, however, responded down the stretch of the opening period, scoring the last eight points to take a 39-29 lead at the half.
Watson led the way for Creighton with 14 points and five assists, while Cole Huff finished with 12. The Bluejays missed their first 13 three-point attempts finished 3-for-21 from downtown on the evening. One area that Creighton did dominate was bench points, where CU outscored MU 29-0.
Marquette got a game-high 22 points from heralded freshman Henry Ellenson, while Jajuan Johnson and Duane Wilson also reached double figures with 15 and 14, respectively. The Golden Eagles made 25-of-54 shots from the floor and had nine steals.
Creighton returns to the court on Sunday when it hosts St. John's at 1:37 p.m. on FS1. Bluejay seniors Geoffrey Groselle and James Milliken will be honored following the game as part of Senior Day festivities.
NOTES: Creighton had trailed for a total of 31 seconds in its last two home games vs. Marquette, but tonight the Jays led for just 35 seconds ... Henry Ellenson was assesed a technical foul after a play in the second half with 8:01 remaining ... Creighton has made a three-pointer in 741 straight games, but had a streak of 111 straight games with a first half trifecta (since 1/23/13) snapped when it went 0-for-9 from downtown before the break ... Maurice Watson Jr. has led or tied for the team lead in assists each of the last 19 games ... Creighton fell to 7-8 all-time at CenturyLink Center Omaha when trailing by 10+ points at half, and 25-22 all-time at CenturyLink Center Omaha in games it's fallen behind by 10 or more points at any juncture ... The sellout crowd of 17,412 lifted Creighton's season average to 17,048 fans per home game, which remains eighth-best nationally ... Zach Hanson tied his career-high with three blocked shots.
Team Stats
MU
CU
FG%
.463
.441
3FG%
.353
.143
FT%
.833
.545
RB
32
33
TO
13
14
STL
9
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
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