Tuesday, December 5
Omaha, Neb.
7:00 PM
Creighton University
6-2
111
vs
68
North Dakota
4-4
1
2
F
North Dakota
37
31
68
Creighton
51
60
111
Martin Krampelj
Photo by: Joe Willman
Men's Basketball Tunes Up For Nebraska With 111-68 Win Over North Dakota
12/5/2017 8:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bluejays and Cornhuskers will meet in Omaha on Saturday
OMAHA, Neb. -- The Creighton men's basketball team never trailed in an 111-68 win over North Dakota on Tuesday to open a five-game homestand.
Creighton improved to 6-2 on the season with its 18th straight non-conference home win, while North Dakota dropped to 4-4 and has alternated wins and losses in its last 10 games dating to last season. It was the first meeting between the schools since 1975, and 13th overall.
The game was tied at 11 at the first media timeout before an 8-0 Bluejay run turned the game in CU's favor. The lead stretched into double-figures on a Martin Krampelj trey to make it 26-15 with 11:17 left in the first half, and the Jays led by as much as 20 (51-31) in the first half before the Fighting Hawks scored the final six points of the opening stanza.
The Bluejays outscored the Fighting Hawks 60-31 in the second half, shooting 62.9 percent, en route to the win. A 12-0 run in less than two minutes stretched the margin to 102-66 with 3:36 to go before CU finished off its largest margin of victory since a 113-58 victory over Longwood on Dec. 9, 2016.
Creighton placed five men in double-figures, as Marcus Foster tied his season-high with 23 and Krampelj added 15 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for his first career double-double. Toby Hegner added a season-best 15 points in 17 minutes off the bench, and Khyri Thomas (15) and Ty-Shon Alexander (11) also scored more than 10.
Creighton shot 56.9 percent for the game, drained 13-of-33 three-pointers, and sank 16-of-20 foul shots. CU had 22 assists, led by six from MItch Ballock and five by Ronnie Harrell Jr., and just eight turnovers in the game. Creighton won the rebound battle 48-29, had a 43-17 advantage in bench points, and outscored UND 28-6 in transition.
Creighton transfer Marlon Stewart led UND with 18 points and five rebounds, while Cortez Seales added 16 points. Geno Crandall, who opened the season with 41 points and was averaging a team-high 19.0 points per game, was held to three points on 1-of-5 shooting. The Fighting Hawks shot 40.3 percent from the floor on the evening.
Creighton returns to action on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. when it seeks a seventh straight victory over Nebraska.
NOTES: Creighton has scored 103 points or more in each of its last three home games, and is now averaging 103.8 points per home contest this season ... Marcus Foster has scored in double-figures in 26 straight games and Khyri Thomas has made a three-pointer in 22 straight contests ... Creighton is now 3-2 this season against 2017 NCAA Tournament teams ... Creighton has won 33 straight games when scoring 100 points or more ... Creighton's 19 games of 100 points or more since Greg McDermott was hired in the spring of 2010 trails only VMI (28) and North Carolina (22) nationally ... Martin Krampelj's previous career-high in rebounds had been 12 ... Greg McDermott's first coaching job came from 1989-94 as an assistant coach at North Dakota ... Creighton's 111 points were a season-high and tied for its seventh-most in a game in school history ... Creighton averaged 1.354 points per its 82 possessions.
Creighton improved to 6-2 on the season with its 18th straight non-conference home win, while North Dakota dropped to 4-4 and has alternated wins and losses in its last 10 games dating to last season. It was the first meeting between the schools since 1975, and 13th overall.
The game was tied at 11 at the first media timeout before an 8-0 Bluejay run turned the game in CU's favor. The lead stretched into double-figures on a Martin Krampelj trey to make it 26-15 with 11:17 left in the first half, and the Jays led by as much as 20 (51-31) in the first half before the Fighting Hawks scored the final six points of the opening stanza.
The Bluejays outscored the Fighting Hawks 60-31 in the second half, shooting 62.9 percent, en route to the win. A 12-0 run in less than two minutes stretched the margin to 102-66 with 3:36 to go before CU finished off its largest margin of victory since a 113-58 victory over Longwood on Dec. 9, 2016.
Creighton placed five men in double-figures, as Marcus Foster tied his season-high with 23 and Krampelj added 15 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for his first career double-double. Toby Hegner added a season-best 15 points in 17 minutes off the bench, and Khyri Thomas (15) and Ty-Shon Alexander (11) also scored more than 10.
Creighton shot 56.9 percent for the game, drained 13-of-33 three-pointers, and sank 16-of-20 foul shots. CU had 22 assists, led by six from MItch Ballock and five by Ronnie Harrell Jr., and just eight turnovers in the game. Creighton won the rebound battle 48-29, had a 43-17 advantage in bench points, and outscored UND 28-6 in transition.
Creighton transfer Marlon Stewart led UND with 18 points and five rebounds, while Cortez Seales added 16 points. Geno Crandall, who opened the season with 41 points and was averaging a team-high 19.0 points per game, was held to three points on 1-of-5 shooting. The Fighting Hawks shot 40.3 percent from the floor on the evening.
Creighton returns to action on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. when it seeks a seventh straight victory over Nebraska.
NOTES: Creighton has scored 103 points or more in each of its last three home games, and is now averaging 103.8 points per home contest this season ... Marcus Foster has scored in double-figures in 26 straight games and Khyri Thomas has made a three-pointer in 22 straight contests ... Creighton is now 3-2 this season against 2017 NCAA Tournament teams ... Creighton has won 33 straight games when scoring 100 points or more ... Creighton's 19 games of 100 points or more since Greg McDermott was hired in the spring of 2010 trails only VMI (28) and North Carolina (22) nationally ... Martin Krampelj's previous career-high in rebounds had been 12 ... Greg McDermott's first coaching job came from 1989-94 as an assistant coach at North Dakota ... Creighton's 111 points were a season-high and tied for its seventh-most in a game in school history ... Creighton averaged 1.354 points per its 82 possessions.
Team Stats
UND
CU
FG%
.403
.569
3FG%
.292
.394
FT%
.583
.800
RB
29
48
TO
11
8
STL
4
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
10
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G/F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
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