Friday, November 19
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
2:15 PM
Creighton University
4-0,0-0Big East
78
vs
57
Brown
3-2,0-0Ivy League
1
2
F
Brown
29
28
57
Creighton
46
32
78
Ryan Hawkins
Photo by: Creighton Athletics
Men's Basketball Opens Paradise Jam With Win Over Brown
11/19/2021 4:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball
All five starters score in double-figures as Bluejays never trail
ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands -- Ryan Kalkbrenner had a career-high with 19 points as the Creighton men's basketball team improved to 4-0 on the season with a 78-57 win vs. Brown on Friday afternoon at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The win gives Creighton a day off on Saturday before resuming play on Sunday at 4:45 p.m. Central to take on fellow unbeaten Colorado State (4-0). The Rams overcame a six-point halftime deficit to defeat Bradley in the first game of the tournament, 66-60.
Creighton came out red-hot to open the game, making 11-of-16 shots to bolt to a 26-10 lead, and never trailed. Ryan Hawkins had eight points and Ryan Nembhard and Alex O'Connell each had six in the opening eight minutes. The Bluejays maintained a lead of nine or more the remainder of the opening session, and a Hawkins trey in the closing seconds of the half sent Creighton to the locker room with its largest lead of the first half at 46-29.
Hawkins and O'Connell each owned 11 points for CU in the first half as CU shot 19-of-34 (55.9 percent) and won the rebound battle, 20-14. Dan Friday had nine points in the first half to lead Brown.
CU expanded its lead past 20 when Kalkbrenner finished a traditional three-point play to move the CU margin to 55-34 and later that moved to 60-38 after Arthur Kaluma finished off an alley-oop in transition with 12:07 remaining. The Bears got within 14 points (66-52) with 6:40 left but got no closer as CU answered with baskets by Hawkins and Ryan Nembhard to hold off the Ivy League contenders.
All five Bluejay starters scored in the game's first four minutes and each man would finish the game in double-figures. Kalkbrenner made 9-of-13 shots and led CU with 19 points, while Hawkins had 15 points, Kaluma and O'Connell 13 each and Nembhard added 10 points and three steals CU shot 55.9 percent for the game and made a season-high 63.9 percent at the free throw stripe..
Brown (3-2) was led by 12 points from Kino Lilly Jr. The Bears shot 36.7 percent for the game (22-60), making 4-of-22 three-pointers and had five assists against 17 turnovers.
NOTES: Creighton improved to 4-0 under Greg McDermott for the sixth time in 12 seasons ... Teams with Ryan Hawkins improved to 163-8 at the college level, including a 38-0 record on neutral floors ... Creighton is now 1-1 all-time against Brown, having lost to the Bears in 1991 in Tempe, Ariz. ... Creighton is now 33-6 under Greg McDermott in regular-season tournaments ... Creighton improved to 4-0 all-time in the Paradise Jam as it continued its quest to become the first team to win the event twice ... Creighton has won the game after playing Nebraska in nine of the past 10 years by an average of 26.6 points ... Creighton has made a three-pointer in 917 straight games ... Creighton has won 26 straight games when holding opponents to 69 points or less ... Creighton has won 22 straight games when it places five or more players in double-figures and 17 in a row when outrebounding the opposition.
The win gives Creighton a day off on Saturday before resuming play on Sunday at 4:45 p.m. Central to take on fellow unbeaten Colorado State (4-0). The Rams overcame a six-point halftime deficit to defeat Bradley in the first game of the tournament, 66-60.
Creighton came out red-hot to open the game, making 11-of-16 shots to bolt to a 26-10 lead, and never trailed. Ryan Hawkins had eight points and Ryan Nembhard and Alex O'Connell each had six in the opening eight minutes. The Bluejays maintained a lead of nine or more the remainder of the opening session, and a Hawkins trey in the closing seconds of the half sent Creighton to the locker room with its largest lead of the first half at 46-29.
Hawkins and O'Connell each owned 11 points for CU in the first half as CU shot 19-of-34 (55.9 percent) and won the rebound battle, 20-14. Dan Friday had nine points in the first half to lead Brown.
CU expanded its lead past 20 when Kalkbrenner finished a traditional three-point play to move the CU margin to 55-34 and later that moved to 60-38 after Arthur Kaluma finished off an alley-oop in transition with 12:07 remaining. The Bears got within 14 points (66-52) with 6:40 left but got no closer as CU answered with baskets by Hawkins and Ryan Nembhard to hold off the Ivy League contenders.
All five Bluejay starters scored in the game's first four minutes and each man would finish the game in double-figures. Kalkbrenner made 9-of-13 shots and led CU with 19 points, while Hawkins had 15 points, Kaluma and O'Connell 13 each and Nembhard added 10 points and three steals CU shot 55.9 percent for the game and made a season-high 63.9 percent at the free throw stripe..
Brown (3-2) was led by 12 points from Kino Lilly Jr. The Bears shot 36.7 percent for the game (22-60), making 4-of-22 three-pointers and had five assists against 17 turnovers.
NOTES: Creighton improved to 4-0 under Greg McDermott for the sixth time in 12 seasons ... Teams with Ryan Hawkins improved to 163-8 at the college level, including a 38-0 record on neutral floors ... Creighton is now 1-1 all-time against Brown, having lost to the Bears in 1991 in Tempe, Ariz. ... Creighton is now 33-6 under Greg McDermott in regular-season tournaments ... Creighton improved to 4-0 all-time in the Paradise Jam as it continued its quest to become the first team to win the event twice ... Creighton has won the game after playing Nebraska in nine of the past 10 years by an average of 26.6 points ... Creighton has made a three-pointer in 917 straight games ... Creighton has won 26 straight games when holding opponents to 69 points or less ... Creighton has won 22 straight games when it places five or more players in double-figures and 17 in a row when outrebounding the opposition.
Team Stats
BRN
CU
FG%
.367
.559
3FG%
.182
.357
FT%
.643
.636
RB
33
39
TO
17
17
STL
6
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballF
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