Men's Basketball Wins at DePaul For Sixth Straight Year

CHICAGO, Ill. -- Five men scored in double-figures as the Creighton men's basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak with a 79-67 victory at DePaul on Wednesday night.

It marked the first time Creighton (14-13, 5-9 BIG EAST) has beaten the same opponent on the road in six straight seasons since a seven-year streak over Grinnell from 1929-36. DePaul dropped to 13-12 (5-9 BIG EAST).

The teams were deadlocked at 25 with five minutes left in the first half before the Bluejays embarked on a 16-5 run to close out the half, never trailing again. The charge started after an alley-oop dunk by Martin Krampelj, stretched to 34-29 on a three-point play by Damien Jefferson, and was capped by Ty-Shon Alexander's three-pointer beat the buzzer after CU went the length of the court in 2.7 seconds after forcing a DePaul shot clock violation. It was the 30th straight game that Alexander has made a three-pointer, one shy of the school record. Krampelj led CU with nine points in the opening half, while Connor Cashaw provided a spark and scored eight points before picking up his third foul.

Creighton started the game 3-for-12 from the field but finished the first half 14-for-28 and was perfect in eight free throw attempts. The Jays outscored DePaul 18-8 in the paint, even though the Blue Demons converted nine offensive rebounds into nine points. Freshman reserve Flynn Cameron, who averaged 1.2 points and hadn't scored since January 16, led the Blue Demons with a season-best 11 points in the first half while shooting 4-for-4 from the field and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.

The Blue Demons scored on their first three trips of the second half, including a pair of Max Strus three-pointers, to quickly narrow their gap to 43-38, before a Marcus Zegarowski trey stemmed the tide, starting off a 10-2 spurt that also included a rare Zegarowski tip-in.

The 53-40 lead would not last, as DePaul answered with a 15-5 rally to close within three points. Devin Gage had eight points during the Blue Demon run. Creighton turned the tables with three-pointers by Alexander and Zegarowski, a stepback hoop from Mintz to beat the shot clock and transition lay-in by Christian Bishop, returning its cushion to 13 (68-55) with six minutes remaining.

DePaul made yet another run, scoring six points in a row to slice CU's advantage to 68-61 with 3:57 to play. Alexander milked the shot clock to the final ticks, scoring on a left-handed lay-up with 3:26 left as Creighton's lead grew to 70-61.

Alexander made three big buckets down the stretch to help the lead grow back to 74-64, and Mintz, Krampelj and Alexander helped ice the game at the charity stripe.

Alexander led CU with 16 points and tied his career-high with six assists. Krampelj had 14 points and seven rebounds, while Davion Mintz added 12 points. Zegarowski turned in 11 points and Cashaw finished with a season-high 10 points. Creighton shot 52.8 percent form the floor and made 14-of-26 free throws. CU outscored DePaul 36-16 in the paint.

The Blue Demons were paced by 18 points and eight rebounds by Strus before he fouled out. Sophomore forward Paul Reed was limited to two points due to foul trouble all night long.

Creighton will play three of its final four games at home, starting with Saturday's 1:30 p.m. game vs. Georgetown at CHI Health Center Omaha. The Hoyas are coming off an 85-73 win over No. 17 Villanova earlier on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

NOTES: Creighton has made at least one three-pointer in 843 straight games ... Creighton has made at least one three-pointer before halftime in 214 consecutive contests ... Creighton has made five or more three-pointers in the last 63 straight games ... Ty-Shon Alexander's streak of 30 straight games with a three-pointer is one shy of the school-record set by Booker Woodfox in 2008-09 ... Max Strus surpassed 2,000 collegiate points with his final basket of the first half. He spent two years at Lewis University before spending the past two seasons at DePaul ... Connor Cashaw had a season-high 10 points for Creighton ... Ty-Shon Alexander tied his career-high with six assists ... Creighton has scored 75 or more in 19 straight victories.

Men's Basketball Wins at DePaul For Sixth Straight Year

Next Event

Team Stats

Ty-Shon Alexander

Martin Krampelj

Davion Mintz

Marcus Zegarowski

Players Mentioned

Ty-Shon Alexander

Christian Bishop

Connor Cashaw

Damien Jefferson

Martin Krampelj

Davion Mintz

Marcus Zegarowski

Players Mentioned

Ty-Shon Alexander

Christian Bishop

Connor Cashaw

Damien Jefferson

Martin Krampelj

Davion Mintz

Marcus Zegarowski