Men's Basketball Earns Fourth Top-25 Win of February, Topping #21 Butler 81-59

OMAHA, Neb. -- Marcus Zegarowski was a perfect 7-for-7 from three-point range and Christian Bishop had career-highs in points (19), assists (5), blocks (4) and steals (3) as No. 15 Creighton capped off one of its best months in program history with an 81-59 win over No. 21 Butler on Sunday, Feb. 23.

Creighton (22-6, 11-4 BIG EAST) scored the game's first five points and never trailed, avenging a 71-57 loss in Indianapolis on January 4 at Butler (19-9, 7-8 BIG EAST).

Zegarowski had 17 points in the first half, making his first five tries from three-point range, as Creighton owned a 40-21 lead at intermission. CU led 23-19 before closing the first half on a 17-2 run in the final 6:15 of the half. The flurry started as a 14-0 run that featured three triples from Zegarowski, a trey from Mitch Ballock and a tip-dunk by Bishop. After two free throws by Aaron Thompson ended the CU run, Ty-Shon Alexander closed the first half with a three-pointer that gave CU its largest halftime margin in any BIG EAST game since Jan. 11, 2017, when Creighton led No. 12 Butler 47-27.

Any chance of a Butler comeback was quickly put to bed in the second half, as back-to-back dunks by Bishop were part of a 9-1 run that quickly ballooned the lead to 49-24 with just under 16 minutes remaining. The lead would grow as large as 35 (70-35) with 9:59 to go after Bishop's fifth dunk of the game, his team-best 37th slam of the season.

Creighton still led 75-43 with 4:02 left at the final media timeout before surrendering a 16-6 run in the final minutes.

Zegarowski led all players with 25 points, making 9-of-12 shots overall, despite not playing in the final 11:48. Zegarowski also became the fourthth player in BIG EAST history to shoot 100% from 3-point range in a league game with 7+ attempts, and first since Butler's Kellen Dunham vs. Seton Hall on March 8, 2014.

The Bluejays made a season-high 15 three-point baskets while connecting at a 57.7 percent clip from downtown. Also in double-figures was Alexander, who had 15 points and became the fourth player in program history to surpass 200 career three-pointers during his junior season.

Butler was paced by a season-high 13 points by Henry Baddley, who also added a career-best four steals. All-BIG EAST guard Kamar Baldwin scored seven points in 15 first half minutes but did not play after the break. The Bulldogs shot 37.9 percent for the game, including a 6-for-20 mark from downtown, and hit 9-of-14 free throws. Butler did win the rebound battle, 35-31, including 14 offensive boards.

Creighton returns to action on Sunday, March 1, when it plays at St. John's in an 11 a.m. Central game that will be nationally televised by FS1.

NOTES: Creighton's five-game win streak in BIG EAST play ties its longest streak of conference wins since joining the league in 2013-14, done twice previously ... Creighton set school records for top-25 wins in a season (5) and month (4) ... Creighton earned its ninth Quad 1 win of the season, which trails only Kansas (11), Baylor (10) and Seton Hall (10) nationally ... Greg McDermott improved to 20-32 against top-25 teams as Creighton coach, compared to a 18-115 mark by all other Creighton coaches ... Creighton improved to 15-1 at home this season, and 20-1 in its past 21 home contests ... Creighton has now beaten a ranked Butler team four times in the last five seasons ... Creighton assured itself a top-six finish in the league standings, avoiding the play-in round of the BIG EAST Tournament on March 11 ... Creighton has made a three-pointer before halftime in 250 straight games, and a trey in 878 consecutive contests ... Creighton is now 9-1 in its last 10 games, matching its best 10-game stretch in league play since joining the conference in 2013-14 ... Creighton has led at halftime in 13 straight games ... Creighton improved to 37-3 all-time on Sunday's at CHI Health Center Omaha ... Creighton improved to 9-12 all-time when playing in a game featuring a pair of top-25 foes, including a 3-0 record this year and a 7-8 mark under Greg McDermott ... Mitch Ballock made three three-pointers and now has 84 this season, breaking Tad Ackerman's (82) school-record for three-pointers by a junior ... Ballock is now tied for 46th on Creighton's all-time scoring list with 965 career points with Fritz Pointer ... Ty-Shon Alexander moved from ninth to eighth in program history with 201 career three-pointers, passing Nate Funk (200) ... Alexander has now scored in double-figures in 12 straight games, and made multiple three-pointers in 11 of those 12 contests ... Creighton improved to 7-1 all-time against Butler when scoring 72 points or more, compared to a 1-5 record when being held to 71 or fewer points ... Zegarowski is just the third Division I men's player nationally to be perfect this season from three-point range with seven or more three-point attempts, joining South Dakota's Tyler Hagedorn (8-8) vs. Texas Southern (Nov. 15) and Florida State's Devin Vassell (7-7) vs. Virginia Tech (Feb. 1) ... The previous Creighton record for three-pointers without a miss was held by Kyle Korver on Nov. 17, 2002 vs. Texas-Arlington (6-6).

Men's Basketball Earns Fourth Top-25 Win of February, Topping #21 Butler 81-59

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Team Stats

Marcus Zegarowski

Christian Bishop

Ty-Shon Alexander

Mitch Ballock

Players Mentioned

Ty-Shon Alexander

Mitch Ballock

Christian Bishop

Marcus Zegarowski

Players Mentioned

Ty-Shon Alexander

Mitch Ballock

Christian Bishop

Marcus Zegarowski