Tuesday, November 9
Omaha, Neb.
7:00 PM
Creighton University
1-0,0-0Big East
90
vs
77
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
0-1,0-0SWAC
1
2
F
Ark.-Pine Bluff
47
30
77
Creighton
38
52
90
Arthur Kaluma had 15 points and eight rebounds in his debut
Photo by: Catherine Grosdidier
Second Half Surge Lifts Men's Basketball to 90-77 Victory in Season Opener
11/9/2021 9:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bluejays put up 52 second half points to beat Golden Lions
OMAHA, Neb. -- Powered by a 52-point second half, the Creighton men's basketball team opened the 2021-22 season with a 90-77 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Tuesday, November 9.
The victory lifted the Bluejays to 1-0 on the season, and gave head coach Greg McDermott his 20th consecutive win in a season opening game.
Creighton led 7-2 after three minutes before the visiting Golden Lions embarked on a 17-0 run during the next six minutes. Creighton fell behind by as much as 15 points (26-11) and still trailed 47-38 at the intermission.
Creighton came out blazing in the second half on both ends of the floor. The Bluejays hit their first 10 shots from the field in the second half, and went on to knock down 14 of their first 16 to storm out to a 69-60 lead with 10:47 remaining. Senior Alex O'Connell had three of CU's five dunks in the first 7:15 of the second half to get the crowd of 15,072 roaring as the Jays earned a 61-57 advantage.
Helping to key Creighton's turnaround was a defensive shift by McDermott, moving O'Connell to defend Arkansas-Pine Bluff's Trey Sampson. The Lions' forward had 20 points in the first half, while O'Connell had three points in the opening 20 minutes. The shift slowed down Sampson, limiting him to a nine points in the second half. More importantly the success on the defensive end, energized the Bluejay senior. O'Connell scored 17 points in the second half, making 3-of-4 from long range in the final 20 minutes, while tying his collegiate high with 20 points.
Creighton went on to push its lead to as much as 17 (89-72) late in the game, but the turning point was Creighton's 33-13 run from the final possession of the first half to the 10:47 mark of the second frame.
O'Connell finished with a team-high 20 points on the night, equaling his career-high set against Syracuse on February 23, 2019 as a member of Duke. A pair of Bluejay newcomers delivered double-doubles in their first game for Creighton as Northwest Missouri State transfer Ryan Hawkins finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while freshman Ryan Nembhard finished with 15 points and 10 assists in his debut.
Nembhard wasn't the only Bluejay to star in his debut, as fellow freshman Arthur Kaluma owned 15 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots. McNeese State transfer KeyShawn Feazell added 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and contributed to CU's 58-28 advantage in the paint. Creighton shot 58.5 percent from the field (38-65), including 31-of-40 (77.5 percent) from two-point range. CU dished 22 assists and blocked seven shots in addition to a 46-33 rebound edge.
Sampson made 10-of-18 shots overall and had 29 points, 10 rebounds and four steals, while Shawn Williams finished with 16 points. Brandon Brown owned eight offensive rebounds while grabbing 14 overall caroms and added eight points, though he was blocked four times and shot 2-of-12 from the floor. UAPB shot 37.5 percent for the game but made 13-of-15 free throws and swiped nine steals.
Creighton returns to the floor on Thursday, November 11 as the Bluejays host Kennesaw State at 7:30 pm at CHI Health Center Omaha.
NOTES: Creighton is now 24-1 in its last 25 season openers and 89-15 all-time ... Creighton is now 6-0 all-time against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Greg McDermott is now 11-0 against teams currently in the Southwestern Athletic Conference ... Of Creighton's nine players to appear in the game, seven were making their Bluejay debut as only Ryan Kalkbrenner and Alex O'Connell had previously played for CU .... Creighton started two true freshmen (Nembhard & Kaluma) in the season-opener for the first time since 1991-92 (Eric Dantzler & Mike Amos) after having started just four true freshmen total in a season-opener since 19992-93 ... Arthur Kaluma's eight rebounds were the most by a freshman in their debut since Justin Patton had eight rebounds in 2016 ... Ryan Hawkins had 11 rebounds in his Bluejay debut. Since 1969-70, only Damien Jefferson (12 in 2018-19) and Cyril Baptiste (17 in 1969-70) owned more ... Arthur Kaluma became the first Bluejay freshman with multiple blocked shots in a season-opener since Will Artino in 2011 ... Creighton started three players named Ryan (Kalkbrenner, Nembhard, Hawkins), the first time starting three players with the same first name since at least 1980 and the first time with two players owning the same first name since Nov. 18, 2006 (Nick Porter and Nick Bahe) ... Not counting the 2019-20 campaign when the postseason was canceled, Creighton has made the postseason each of the previous nine times it has made at least 50 percent of its field goal attempts to open the season, including seven NCAA Tournament trips ... Of Creighton's 22 all-time NCAA Tournament teams, 10 have scored 90 or more points in the season-opener. Tonight was the first time scoring 90 or more in a lid-lifter since 2017 vs. Yale ... Creighton has won 42 straight home games against winless teams, a streak that dates to Dec. 3, 1994 that was Dana Altman's home debut with the Bluejays ... Creighton is now 65-1 all-time in regular-season home games that take place on or before Nov. 26 ... Creighton missed its first 14 three-point attempts until Trey Alexander finally drained a triple with 1:49 left in the first half. It extended CU's streak to 285 straight games with a three-pointer before halftime, which dates to January of 2013 ... Creighton has now won 21 straight games with five or more players score in double-figures and 14 straight when winning the rebound battle ... Creighton has won 19 straight non-conference home games and 27 straight home-openers ... Creighton has won 24 games under Greg McDermott after trailing by double-figures. Tonight was just the fifth time under McDermott that CU has won after trailing by 15 points or more, and first time since Jan. 27, 2021 at Seton Hall ... Tonight was the seventh-largest comeback in CHI Health Center Omaha history, three points shy of the record ... Creighton improved to 123-6 all-time at CHI Health Center Omaha when scoring 80 points or more ... Ryan Nembhard's 10 assists were the most by a Bluejay freshman since Marcus Zegarowski had 10 on March 9, 2019 vs. DePaul ... Creighton had multiple players with a double-double for the first time since Christian Bishop and Damien Jefferson did so in a win vs. No. 5 Villanova on Feb. 13, 2021 ... Ryan Hawkins had his 31st career double-double at the collegiate level ... Creighton had eight dunks overall.
The victory lifted the Bluejays to 1-0 on the season, and gave head coach Greg McDermott his 20th consecutive win in a season opening game.
Creighton led 7-2 after three minutes before the visiting Golden Lions embarked on a 17-0 run during the next six minutes. Creighton fell behind by as much as 15 points (26-11) and still trailed 47-38 at the intermission.
Creighton came out blazing in the second half on both ends of the floor. The Bluejays hit their first 10 shots from the field in the second half, and went on to knock down 14 of their first 16 to storm out to a 69-60 lead with 10:47 remaining. Senior Alex O'Connell had three of CU's five dunks in the first 7:15 of the second half to get the crowd of 15,072 roaring as the Jays earned a 61-57 advantage.
Helping to key Creighton's turnaround was a defensive shift by McDermott, moving O'Connell to defend Arkansas-Pine Bluff's Trey Sampson. The Lions' forward had 20 points in the first half, while O'Connell had three points in the opening 20 minutes. The shift slowed down Sampson, limiting him to a nine points in the second half. More importantly the success on the defensive end, energized the Bluejay senior. O'Connell scored 17 points in the second half, making 3-of-4 from long range in the final 20 minutes, while tying his collegiate high with 20 points.
Creighton went on to push its lead to as much as 17 (89-72) late in the game, but the turning point was Creighton's 33-13 run from the final possession of the first half to the 10:47 mark of the second frame.
O'Connell finished with a team-high 20 points on the night, equaling his career-high set against Syracuse on February 23, 2019 as a member of Duke. A pair of Bluejay newcomers delivered double-doubles in their first game for Creighton as Northwest Missouri State transfer Ryan Hawkins finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while freshman Ryan Nembhard finished with 15 points and 10 assists in his debut.
Nembhard wasn't the only Bluejay to star in his debut, as fellow freshman Arthur Kaluma owned 15 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots. McNeese State transfer KeyShawn Feazell added 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and contributed to CU's 58-28 advantage in the paint. Creighton shot 58.5 percent from the field (38-65), including 31-of-40 (77.5 percent) from two-point range. CU dished 22 assists and blocked seven shots in addition to a 46-33 rebound edge.
Sampson made 10-of-18 shots overall and had 29 points, 10 rebounds and four steals, while Shawn Williams finished with 16 points. Brandon Brown owned eight offensive rebounds while grabbing 14 overall caroms and added eight points, though he was blocked four times and shot 2-of-12 from the floor. UAPB shot 37.5 percent for the game but made 13-of-15 free throws and swiped nine steals.
Creighton returns to the floor on Thursday, November 11 as the Bluejays host Kennesaw State at 7:30 pm at CHI Health Center Omaha.
NOTES: Creighton is now 24-1 in its last 25 season openers and 89-15 all-time ... Creighton is now 6-0 all-time against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Greg McDermott is now 11-0 against teams currently in the Southwestern Athletic Conference ... Of Creighton's nine players to appear in the game, seven were making their Bluejay debut as only Ryan Kalkbrenner and Alex O'Connell had previously played for CU .... Creighton started two true freshmen (Nembhard & Kaluma) in the season-opener for the first time since 1991-92 (Eric Dantzler & Mike Amos) after having started just four true freshmen total in a season-opener since 19992-93 ... Arthur Kaluma's eight rebounds were the most by a freshman in their debut since Justin Patton had eight rebounds in 2016 ... Ryan Hawkins had 11 rebounds in his Bluejay debut. Since 1969-70, only Damien Jefferson (12 in 2018-19) and Cyril Baptiste (17 in 1969-70) owned more ... Arthur Kaluma became the first Bluejay freshman with multiple blocked shots in a season-opener since Will Artino in 2011 ... Creighton started three players named Ryan (Kalkbrenner, Nembhard, Hawkins), the first time starting three players with the same first name since at least 1980 and the first time with two players owning the same first name since Nov. 18, 2006 (Nick Porter and Nick Bahe) ... Not counting the 2019-20 campaign when the postseason was canceled, Creighton has made the postseason each of the previous nine times it has made at least 50 percent of its field goal attempts to open the season, including seven NCAA Tournament trips ... Of Creighton's 22 all-time NCAA Tournament teams, 10 have scored 90 or more points in the season-opener. Tonight was the first time scoring 90 or more in a lid-lifter since 2017 vs. Yale ... Creighton has won 42 straight home games against winless teams, a streak that dates to Dec. 3, 1994 that was Dana Altman's home debut with the Bluejays ... Creighton is now 65-1 all-time in regular-season home games that take place on or before Nov. 26 ... Creighton missed its first 14 three-point attempts until Trey Alexander finally drained a triple with 1:49 left in the first half. It extended CU's streak to 285 straight games with a three-pointer before halftime, which dates to January of 2013 ... Creighton has now won 21 straight games with five or more players score in double-figures and 14 straight when winning the rebound battle ... Creighton has won 19 straight non-conference home games and 27 straight home-openers ... Creighton has won 24 games under Greg McDermott after trailing by double-figures. Tonight was just the fifth time under McDermott that CU has won after trailing by 15 points or more, and first time since Jan. 27, 2021 at Seton Hall ... Tonight was the seventh-largest comeback in CHI Health Center Omaha history, three points shy of the record ... Creighton improved to 123-6 all-time at CHI Health Center Omaha when scoring 80 points or more ... Ryan Nembhard's 10 assists were the most by a Bluejay freshman since Marcus Zegarowski had 10 on March 9, 2019 vs. DePaul ... Creighton had multiple players with a double-double for the first time since Christian Bishop and Damien Jefferson did so in a win vs. No. 5 Villanova on Feb. 13, 2021 ... Ryan Hawkins had his 31st career double-double at the collegiate level ... Creighton had eight dunks overall.
Team Stats
UAPB
CU
FG%
.375
.585
3FG%
.286
.280
FT%
.867
.583
RB
33
46
TO
10
19
STL
9
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
8
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
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