Top 10 Battle vs. #9 Arkansas Up Next in Maui For Men's Hoops

Game #6: #9 Arkansas (4-0) vs. #10 Creighton Bluejays (5-0)
Tuesday, Nov. 22 • 7:00 p.m. CT • Maui, Hawaii • Lahaina Civic Center
| LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF) | ARK NOTES (PDF) |

• No. 10 Creighton (5-0) meets No. 9 Arkansas (4-0) in a top-10 battle at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. Central (3 p.m. Hawaiian). The Lahaina Civic Center will host the action.

• The game can be watched on ESPN and WatchESPN.com, with Jay Bilas and Dan Shulman on the call. The game can be heard on 1620 The Zone and 101.9 The Keg, with John Bishop on the call. Live stats for the game can be found at http://Maui.StatBroadcast.com.

• Due to the BIG EAST's partnership with Fox Sports, Creighton doesn't play a ton of games on the ESPN family of networks. Creighton has played on the original ESPN (not ESPN2/ESPNU/ESPNNEWS) just five times since 2008-09, with both wins coming in the 2016 NIT (vs. Alabama and Wagner).
   Creighton's last regular-season win on ESPN came all the back on Feb. 18, 2006, a 67-62 victory over Fresno State in a BracketBusters game that tipped at 11:02 p.m. Central.
   By comparison, Creighton has appeared on FS1 162 times (winning 113) since the network started in 2013 and 24 times on 'big' FOX (winning 9) since 2015-16.
   Thought not on the Worldwide Leader, of Creighton's last 201 games, all but six have been televised (3 games each in the Cayman Islands Classic and the 2021 Paradise Jam).

• Creighton and Arkansas have split two previous meetings, but it's been nearly 60 years since the clubs have met on the hardwood.
   Arkansas defeated CU 73-61 on Dec. 29, 1962 at the All-College Tournament in Oklahoma City.
   The first meeting came way back on Dec. 17, 1932 when Creighton won a 29-28 decision in Omaha.

• There's not much in common between the Creighton and Arkansas programs.
   Both teams were formerly coached by Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Eddie Sutton. Sutton got his start at Creighton from 1969-74 before leaving to the the Arkansas job through 1985. One of Eddie's sons, Sean Sutton, was born in 1968 and is currently on the staff of the Texas Tech team that Creighton beat Monday.
   In 2007 Arkansas lured Dana Altman away from Creighton, only to have Altman return to CU less than 48 hours later.
   Arkansas big man Trevon Brazile attended the same Kickapoo High School in Springfield, Mo., as longtime NBA veteran and Creighton grad Anthony Tolliver.

• Creighton has won all five of its games to date by double-figures. The last time Creighton opened the season with five straight double-digit wins that was the 2012-13 campaign, when CU opened the year with six straight double-digit triumphs.
   Through games of Monday, fewer than 18 teams nationally have won every game it has played this season by double-figures, a list that also includes Arkansas.
   That list is composed of Creighton, Houston, Kent State, Maryland, Samford, UConn, Alabama, Seattle, ST. JOHN'S, West Virginia, ARIZONA, Arkansas, Iowa, Iowa State, OHIO STATE, SAN DIEGO STATE, Texas and Wisconsin. (teams in ALL CAPS were still playing as of 11 p.m. ET on Monday night).

• Creighton is making its first Maui Jim Maui Invitational appearance in program history and seeking its sixth MTE title in 12 events under Greg McDermott. CU has won the 2010 Hy-Vee Challenge, the 2011 Dale Howard Classic, the 2012 Las Vegas Invite, the 2015 MGM Grand Main Event, the 2015 Paradise Jam and the 2018 Cayman Islands Classic.
   Creighton is now 35-7 under McDermott in MTE's after Monday's victory vs. Texas Tech.

• Legendary Marquette coach Al McGuire once said that the best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores. The Bluejay trio of Arthur Kaluma, Trey Alexander and Ryan Nembhard were all part of the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team last season, and all three are off to fantastic starts as sophomores.
   The trio combined for 51 points in Monday's win vs. Texas Tech on 16-of-27 shooting from the floor, including 6-of-9 marksmanship from deep, and 11-of-13 shooting at the line.
   The group had 33 of CU's 45 second half points.

• Monday's win vs. No. 21 Texas Tech marked the ninth straight season the Jays have recorded at least one top-25 win. Creighton is now 48-157 all-time against top-25 clubs, and 11-31 on neutral floors.
   Creighton is 14-15 all-time when both teams are ranked in the top-25, but 0-2 when both teams are in the top-10.
   Greg McDermott is 30-42 as Creighton's coach against top-25 teams, compared to a 18-115 mark by all other Creighton coaches. McDermott is 11-19 as CU's coach against top-10 foes.
   With a win on Tuesday, Creighton will have beaten multiple ranked foes for the eighth straight season.

• Creighton has never beaten ranked teams in back-to-back days, something it can accomplish on Tuesday with a win vs. No. 10 Arkansas. On Monday, Creighton defeated No. 21 Texas Tech.

• Tuesday's tilt will be just the third top-10 showdown in Creighton history.
   On Dec. 31, 2016 No. 10 Creighton lost 80-70 to No. 1 Villanova in Omaha, while on Dec. 8, 2020 No. 8 Creighton fell to No. 5 Kansas 73-72 at Allen Fieldhouse.

• Creighton is shooting 51.0 percent from the field this season after shooting 55.1 percent yesterday vs. Texas Tech. Since Greg McDermott's hiring in 2010, Creighton's 47.7 percent marksmanship is the nation's fourth-best figure, trailing only Gonzaga (50.6), Belmont (48.4) and Kansas (47.9).
   Likewise, Creighton's 176 games shooting 50 percent or better since 2010 trails only Gonzaga (247), Belmont (183) and Kansas (182). Yesterday marked Creighton's fourth straight game in which the Jays have shot 50 percent or better.

• Creighton had three dunks on Monday and now owns 21 on the season. Arkansas had 11 dunks on Monday and owns 25 slams on the season.

• Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner shot 4-for-6 as part of a solid game with 10 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots on Monday. His shooting percentage dropped from 80.6 percent to 78.6 percent.

• Ryan Kalkbrenner missed the final minutes of the first half due to injury before returning to play the second half.
   Last season Creighton rallied to win four different games in which it had a key player leave due to injury. The Jays overcame injuries to Ryan Nembhard (at St. John's), Kalkbrenner (at UConn and vs. San Diego State) and Alex O'Connell (vs. Marquette).

• Arthur Kaluma led Creighton with 18 points on Monday and has now scored in double-figures in each of his last seven games dating to last season. Kaluma has also made at least one three-pointer in each of those seven competitions.
   In that span, Kaluma is averaging 15.4 points per contest, and Creighton is 6-1 with only a loss to No. 3 Kansas.

• All five Creighton starters scored in double-figures on Monday vs. Texas Tech. Creighton has won 26 games in a row when five or more players score in double-figures, a streak that dates to January of 2019.

• With 11 points and 12 rebounds vs. Texas Tech on Monday, Baylor Scheierman notched his second double-double of the season and 27th of his collegiate career.
   Scheierman leads Creighton with 9.40 rebounds per game this season. No Bluejay has averaged that many for an entire season since Benoit Benjamin averaged a whopping 14.1 caroms per contest in 1984-85.
   Scheierman, you'll recall, led the Summit League in both rebounds AND assists last season when he was named Conference Player of the Year.

• Sophomore Trey Alexander had 17 points and four assists in Monday's victory vs. Texas Tech while also drawing a game-high six fouls.
   Alexander's 17 points were one shy of his career-high set in last year's NCAA Tournament in a win vs. San Diego State.

• Monday's win was Greg McDermott's 561st of his head coaching career. That ranks 20th-most among active coaches, and more than any other coach at the 2022 Maui Jim Maui Invitational.

• If Creighton wins on Tuesday, it would play in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational title game at 4 p.m. Central on Wednesday on ESPN.
   If Creighton loses on Tuesday, it would play in the third-place game at 9 p.m. Central on Wednesday on ESPN2.

Top 10 Battle vs. #9 Arkansas Up Next in Maui For Men's Hoops

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Players Mentioned

Trey Alexander

Ryan Kalkbrenner

Arthur Kaluma

Ryan Nembhard

Baylor Scheierman