Career Nights Lift Men's Hoops Past Red Storm, 87-64

OMAHA, Neb. -- Career nights from Alex O'Connell (28), Arthur Kaluma (20) and Trey Alexander (11) helped the Creighton men's basketball team to an 87-64 victory over visiting St. John's on Wednesday, Jan. 19th.

The Bluejays improved to 11-5 overall and 3-2 in BIG EAST play in their first home game in 33 days, while St. John's dropped to 10-6 (2-3 BIG EAST).

St. John's scored on its opening possession and led for all of nine seconds before Ryan Hawkins scored five straight points to open a 7-0 run. The Bluejays would not trail again. CU led 14-7 at the first media timeout after back-to-back hoops from Kaluma and stretched the margin to 20-7 following a dunk from Ryan Kalkbrenner. The Red Storm countered with nine straight points to get within five at 21-16, but would get no closer.

O'Connell scored 10 points in a span of 52 seconds during a 12-3 run as the Jays lead ballooned to 42-28 with four minutes left before half. The senior drained a trey to put CU up 35-25 and 29 seconds later he converted his second four-point play of the season. O'Connell sank another triple on the ensuing trip to cap a 17 point first half.

CU led 49-34 at the break, shooting 56.3 percent from the field, including 7-of-11 three-pointers, and the Bluejays also owned up a 25-12 rebounding edge. O'Connell also helped shut down the league's leading scorer, Julian Champagnie, who was 1-for-10 in the first half and scored just three points.

Reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Week Ryan Nembhard picked up his third foul at the 17:47 mark with the Bluejays holding a 52-37 lead. Creighton immediately embarked on a 15-5 lead featuring six points each from O'Connell and Alexander as the Jays built a 69-42 lead with 12:21 left.

Champagnie answered with SJU's next eight points but the Creighton lead remained 20 or higher for the final 14:24 of the game.

O'Connell's 28 points were six more points than his previous career-high set on Saturday at Xavier. He made 6-of-9 three-pointers and 9-of-14 shots overall. O'Connell also added seven rebounds. Kaluma drained 4-of-5 three-pointers and finished with 20 points, while Alexander had 11 points on 4-of-6 marksmanship. Hawkins added 13 points while Kalkbrenner had nine points, 11 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. The Bluejays made a season-high 14 three-pointers in 27 attempts (51.9 percent) and shot an even 50 percent for the game on 31-of-62 shooting. CU won the rebound battle 50-31.

Champagnie led SJU with 17 points but shot 7-of-21 for the evening. Reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Posh Alexander was held to season-lows of nine points and one steal, and the league's second-leading offensive rebounder was held without one. The Red Storm shot 38.6 percent for the game, including 25 percent from downtown, despite outscoring CU 34-24 in the paint.

Creighton is back in action on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. when it hosts DePaul.

NOTES: Creighton improved to 8-1 at CHI Health Center Omaha against St. John's ... Creighton has been .500 or better in league play following each of its 24 BIG EAST contests, easily the longest streak in the conference ... Teams with Ryan Hawkins improved to 170-13 at the collegiate level, and 12-1 following a loss ... Creighton's 33 day break between home games was the program's longest since 1987-88 ... Creighton has made a three-pointer before halftime in 300 games in a row ... Creighton had 19 turnovers, but St. John's converted those into only 17 points. The Red Storm have forced 16 turnovers or more in every game but one this season ... Alex O'Connell has scored 11 points or more in seven straight games and has taken over the team's scoring lead with 13.5 points per game ... Creighton improved to 8-0 this season when grabbing 10 or more offensive rebounds and has won its last 13 games when doing so ... Ryan Kalkbrenner's two blocked shots give him 84 in his career, moving him past former teammate Christian Bishop's 82 ... Creighton improved to 125-6 all-time at CHI Health Center Omaha when scoring 80 points or more.

Career Nights Lift Men's Hoops Past Red Storm, 87-64

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Team Stats

Alex O'Connell

Arthur Kaluma

Ryan Hawkins

Trey Alexander

Players Mentioned

Trey Alexander

Christian Bishop

Ryan Hawkins

Ryan Kalkbrenner

Arthur Kaluma

Ryan Nembhard

Alex O'Connell

Players Mentioned

Trey Alexander

Christian Bishop

Ryan Hawkins

Ryan Kalkbrenner

Arthur Kaluma

Ryan Nembhard

Alex O'Connell