Saturday, October 30
Omaha, Neb.
7:00 PM
Creighton University
0-0,0-0Big East
76
vs
61
Upper Iowa
0-0,0-0NSIC
1
2
F
Upper Iowa
29
32
61
Creighton
44
32
76
KeyShawn Feazell and Nembhard each scored 10 points for Creighton.
Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann
Men's Basketball Tops Upper Iowa in Exhibition, 76-61
10/30/2021 9:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Big run to end first half buries the Peacocks
OMAHA, Neb. -- A 32-2 run spanning halftime helped carry the Creighton men's basketball team to a 76-61 win vs. Upper Iowa in an exhibition game on Saturday night at CHI Health Center Omaha.
Ryan Hawkins led CU with 15 points and was one of four Bluejays in double-figures. Alex O'Connell had 14 points while Ryan Nembhard and KeyShawn Feazell both added 10.
Upper Iowa's Jareese Williams led all players with 16 points.
Williams made a three-pointer on Upper Iowa's first possession of the game to set the tone early, as the Peacocks led for all but 23 seconds of the game's first 14 minutes. The UIU lead would grow as large as 27-21 after a Williams trey in transition before a Bluejay timeout was called with 8:31 left in the half.
Whatever was said in the timeout must have worked, as Creighton closed the first half on a 23-2 run to deliver a knockout blow to their Division II foes from Fayette, Iowa. Hawkins drilled a pair of triples and was one of seven Bluejays to score during the flurry. As the Bluejays started scoring, the defense picked up, limiting Upper Iowa to 1-of-14 shooting the rest of the first half and the Jays took a 44-29 lead into halftime.
Hawkins, O'Connell, Nembhard then combined to score the first nine points after intermission, growing the lead to 53-29 with 17:54 left. The Bluejay lead remained around 20 most of the second half until Upper Iowa scored the final six points of the evening to trim the final margin to 15.
Nembhard had eight assists in his Bluejay debut and Feazell and Arthur Kaluma each snared nine rebounds. Feazell also blocked two shots and O'Connell and Rati Andronikashvili contributed a pair of steals. Creighton outscored Upper Iowa 40-14 in the paint and won the rebound battle 55-38.
Upper Iowa launched half of its 72 field goal attempts from three-point range, making 10 of them. The Peacocks got four steals and five assists by Jake Hilmer, while Cade Moritz swatted a pair of shots.
Creighton opens the regular-season on Nov. 9 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
NOTES: Creighton lost all five starters from last year's Sweet 16 team while Upper Iowa returned its top 12 players from a team that went 10-7 last season at the Division II level ... Upper Iowa is coached by Brooks McKowen, who was coached by current Creighton coach Greg McDermott at Northern Iowa from 2003-07 ... McDermott improved to 29-0 in fall exhibition games as a Division I head coach, with all but one of those victories coming by double-figures. He is 12-0 as Creighton head coach in those exhibitions ... After starting just two true freshmen in its first exhibition game since 1988 (Khyri Thomas in 2015-16 and Samson Froling in 2018-19), the Bluejays started true freshmen Arthur Kaluma and Ryan Nembhard on Saturday night ... Creighton's freshmen combined for 31 points, 23 rebounds and 13 assists in 115:03 of playing time.
Ryan Hawkins led CU with 15 points and was one of four Bluejays in double-figures. Alex O'Connell had 14 points while Ryan Nembhard and KeyShawn Feazell both added 10.
Upper Iowa's Jareese Williams led all players with 16 points.
Williams made a three-pointer on Upper Iowa's first possession of the game to set the tone early, as the Peacocks led for all but 23 seconds of the game's first 14 minutes. The UIU lead would grow as large as 27-21 after a Williams trey in transition before a Bluejay timeout was called with 8:31 left in the half.
Whatever was said in the timeout must have worked, as Creighton closed the first half on a 23-2 run to deliver a knockout blow to their Division II foes from Fayette, Iowa. Hawkins drilled a pair of triples and was one of seven Bluejays to score during the flurry. As the Bluejays started scoring, the defense picked up, limiting Upper Iowa to 1-of-14 shooting the rest of the first half and the Jays took a 44-29 lead into halftime.
Hawkins, O'Connell, Nembhard then combined to score the first nine points after intermission, growing the lead to 53-29 with 17:54 left. The Bluejay lead remained around 20 most of the second half until Upper Iowa scored the final six points of the evening to trim the final margin to 15.
Nembhard had eight assists in his Bluejay debut and Feazell and Arthur Kaluma each snared nine rebounds. Feazell also blocked two shots and O'Connell and Rati Andronikashvili contributed a pair of steals. Creighton outscored Upper Iowa 40-14 in the paint and won the rebound battle 55-38.
Upper Iowa launched half of its 72 field goal attempts from three-point range, making 10 of them. The Peacocks got four steals and five assists by Jake Hilmer, while Cade Moritz swatted a pair of shots.
Creighton opens the regular-season on Nov. 9 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
NOTES: Creighton lost all five starters from last year's Sweet 16 team while Upper Iowa returned its top 12 players from a team that went 10-7 last season at the Division II level ... Upper Iowa is coached by Brooks McKowen, who was coached by current Creighton coach Greg McDermott at Northern Iowa from 2003-07 ... McDermott improved to 29-0 in fall exhibition games as a Division I head coach, with all but one of those victories coming by double-figures. He is 12-0 as Creighton head coach in those exhibitions ... After starting just two true freshmen in its first exhibition game since 1988 (Khyri Thomas in 2015-16 and Samson Froling in 2018-19), the Bluejays started true freshmen Arthur Kaluma and Ryan Nembhard on Saturday night ... Creighton's freshmen combined for 31 points, 23 rebounds and 13 assists in 115:03 of playing time.
Team Stats
UIU
CU
FG%
.319
.441
3FG%
.278
.346
FT%
.625
.500
RB
38
55
TO
13
17
STL
12
6
Game Leaders
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballF
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