Friday, February 2
Omaha, Neb.
8:00 PM
Creighton University
16-6,7-4Big East
98
vs
99
Butler
15-7,6-5Big East
1
2
F
Butler
45
54
99
Creighton
49
49
98
Photo by: Sullivan Lawrence
No. 13 Men's Basketball Drops Slugfest to Butler, 99-98
2/2/2024 10:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Four Bluejays score 20+ points
OMAHA, Neb. -- Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 17,874, No. 13 Creighton dropped a back-and-forth offensive battle to Butler 99-98 on February 2.
Following Friday's result the Bluejays moved to 16-6 on the season and 7-4 in BIG EAST contests, while Butler climbed to 15-7 overall and 6-5 in conference play after its fourth straight victory.
The Bluejays came out blistering in the first half, shooting 61.3% from the field (19-of-31). In spite of Creighton's offensive attack, the Bulldogs kept in stride with eight treys in the opening frame. Holding a 40-37 edge with 3:37 left in the first stanza the Bluejays created the first substantial separation of the game with a 7-0 surge, capped by a three-pointer from Trey Alexander to take a 47-37 advantage (2:17). Leading 49-39 with under a minute left Butler clawed back in contention with a pair of three-pointers in the final 40 seconds to trim its halftime deficit to four, including a buzzer-beating trey from 40 feet by Finley Bizjack.
The shooting fortunes turned in the second half as Butler connected on 62.5 percent of its shots (20-of-32), while Creighton converted 15-of-31 (48.4%). The result was a battle that saw neither team lead by more than five in the second half as the squads seemed to match one another shot for shot. Butler would score on 25-of-35 second half possessions, becoming just the second CU conference opponent to score more than 95 points in regulation in Omaha since 1989.
Down the stretch the Bluejays climbed within one point four different times in the final 2:11, but were unable to get over the hump. The Bulldogs committed two turnovers in the final 35 seconds and missed a free throw, but CU missed its final four shots from the floor, all of which would have tied the game.
Steven Ashworth and Baylor Scheierman led Creighton with 26 points, while Alexander finished with 22 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner delivered 20 points. Scheierman had a game-leading 11 rebounds and joined Alexander in playing all 40 minutes. Creighton shot 54.8 percent from the field, including 9-of-25 from downtown, and drained 21-of-24 free throws. The Jays owned a 35-26 rebound advantage and outscored BU 8-3 in second-chance points.
Butler got 26 points from Jahmyl Telfort, while DJ Davis delivered 22 points. Rounding out the Bulldogs in double figures was Pierre Brooks with 14 points and 11 points from Finley Bizjack. The Bulldogs made 13-of-22 three-pointers, shot 55.1 percent overall, and had just five turnovers.
The Bluejays return to action on Wednesday, February 7 in a road contest at Providence. Airing on FS2, the game is scheduled to tip at 7:30 p.m. Central.
NOTES: Creighton's 33 game home win streak on Friday's was snapped as CU suffered its first such loss since Dec. 12, 1975 ... Creighton fell to 288-62 in its first 350 games inside CHI Health Center Omaha ... Creighton had four players score 20 or more points in the same game (Ashworth 26, Scheierman 26, Alexander 22, Kalkbrenner 20) for the first time since at least 2005-06 ... Ashworth's and Scheierman's 26 points were a season-high for each player ... Creighton fell to 76-5 under Greg McDermott in games scoring 90+ points ... Creighton has scored 85 points or more in four consecutive conference games for the first time ever ... Butler played without starting guard Posh Alexander (foot), as Landon Moore made his first career start ... Pierre Brooks has scored 10 or more points in every game this season he's played in ... Butler picked up its first win in Omaha since the 2014-15 campaign ... Jahmyl Telfort's 26 points tied a season-high, also done on Nov. 30 vs. Texas Tech ... Finley Bizjack made 3-of-3 three-pointers after entering the game 9-for-44 from deep ... Baylor Scheierman had his eighth double-double of the season, and 46th of his career ... Ryan Kalkbrenner had his ninth straight game of eight or more rebounds, tying Doug McDermott for CU's longest such streak in the past 20 seasons ... Creighton entered the game leading the BIG EAST while holding teams to 30.2 percent three-point shooting in league play before the Bulldogs shot 13-of-22 from deep ... The sellout crowd of 17,874 helped Creighton exceed 200,000 home fans for the 18th time in the last 19 seasons, with the COVID-affected 2020-21 season being the only exception ... Baylor Scheierman has made a three-pointer in 10 straight games and Ryan Kalkbrenner has had at least 10 points and eight rebounds in nine straight contests ... Among Creighton's streaks snapped on Friday included 16 straight wins when scoring more than 40 points before halftime, 16 straight wins when Trey Alexander scores 20 points or more and 11 straight wins when scoring 30 or more paint points ... Butler's two wins inside CHI Health Center Omaha have come by a combined three points, while Creighton's nine wins inside CHI Health Center Omaha over the Bulldogs have come by a combined 138 points (15.3 ppg.) ... Ryan Kalkbrenner (1,535) moved past John C. Johnson (1,526) for 12th place on Creighton's all-time scoring list.
Following Friday's result the Bluejays moved to 16-6 on the season and 7-4 in BIG EAST contests, while Butler climbed to 15-7 overall and 6-5 in conference play after its fourth straight victory.
The Bluejays came out blistering in the first half, shooting 61.3% from the field (19-of-31). In spite of Creighton's offensive attack, the Bulldogs kept in stride with eight treys in the opening frame. Holding a 40-37 edge with 3:37 left in the first stanza the Bluejays created the first substantial separation of the game with a 7-0 surge, capped by a three-pointer from Trey Alexander to take a 47-37 advantage (2:17). Leading 49-39 with under a minute left Butler clawed back in contention with a pair of three-pointers in the final 40 seconds to trim its halftime deficit to four, including a buzzer-beating trey from 40 feet by Finley Bizjack.
The shooting fortunes turned in the second half as Butler connected on 62.5 percent of its shots (20-of-32), while Creighton converted 15-of-31 (48.4%). The result was a battle that saw neither team lead by more than five in the second half as the squads seemed to match one another shot for shot. Butler would score on 25-of-35 second half possessions, becoming just the second CU conference opponent to score more than 95 points in regulation in Omaha since 1989.
Down the stretch the Bluejays climbed within one point four different times in the final 2:11, but were unable to get over the hump. The Bulldogs committed two turnovers in the final 35 seconds and missed a free throw, but CU missed its final four shots from the floor, all of which would have tied the game.
Steven Ashworth and Baylor Scheierman led Creighton with 26 points, while Alexander finished with 22 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner delivered 20 points. Scheierman had a game-leading 11 rebounds and joined Alexander in playing all 40 minutes. Creighton shot 54.8 percent from the field, including 9-of-25 from downtown, and drained 21-of-24 free throws. The Jays owned a 35-26 rebound advantage and outscored BU 8-3 in second-chance points.
Butler got 26 points from Jahmyl Telfort, while DJ Davis delivered 22 points. Rounding out the Bulldogs in double figures was Pierre Brooks with 14 points and 11 points from Finley Bizjack. The Bulldogs made 13-of-22 three-pointers, shot 55.1 percent overall, and had just five turnovers.
The Bluejays return to action on Wednesday, February 7 in a road contest at Providence. Airing on FS2, the game is scheduled to tip at 7:30 p.m. Central.
NOTES: Creighton's 33 game home win streak on Friday's was snapped as CU suffered its first such loss since Dec. 12, 1975 ... Creighton fell to 288-62 in its first 350 games inside CHI Health Center Omaha ... Creighton had four players score 20 or more points in the same game (Ashworth 26, Scheierman 26, Alexander 22, Kalkbrenner 20) for the first time since at least 2005-06 ... Ashworth's and Scheierman's 26 points were a season-high for each player ... Creighton fell to 76-5 under Greg McDermott in games scoring 90+ points ... Creighton has scored 85 points or more in four consecutive conference games for the first time ever ... Butler played without starting guard Posh Alexander (foot), as Landon Moore made his first career start ... Pierre Brooks has scored 10 or more points in every game this season he's played in ... Butler picked up its first win in Omaha since the 2014-15 campaign ... Jahmyl Telfort's 26 points tied a season-high, also done on Nov. 30 vs. Texas Tech ... Finley Bizjack made 3-of-3 three-pointers after entering the game 9-for-44 from deep ... Baylor Scheierman had his eighth double-double of the season, and 46th of his career ... Ryan Kalkbrenner had his ninth straight game of eight or more rebounds, tying Doug McDermott for CU's longest such streak in the past 20 seasons ... Creighton entered the game leading the BIG EAST while holding teams to 30.2 percent three-point shooting in league play before the Bulldogs shot 13-of-22 from deep ... The sellout crowd of 17,874 helped Creighton exceed 200,000 home fans for the 18th time in the last 19 seasons, with the COVID-affected 2020-21 season being the only exception ... Baylor Scheierman has made a three-pointer in 10 straight games and Ryan Kalkbrenner has had at least 10 points and eight rebounds in nine straight contests ... Among Creighton's streaks snapped on Friday included 16 straight wins when scoring more than 40 points before halftime, 16 straight wins when Trey Alexander scores 20 points or more and 11 straight wins when scoring 30 or more paint points ... Butler's two wins inside CHI Health Center Omaha have come by a combined three points, while Creighton's nine wins inside CHI Health Center Omaha over the Bulldogs have come by a combined 138 points (15.3 ppg.) ... Ryan Kalkbrenner (1,535) moved past John C. Johnson (1,526) for 12th place on Creighton's all-time scoring list.
Team Stats
Butler
CU
FG%
.551
.548
3FG%
.591
.360
FT%
.769
.875
RB
26
36
TO
5
9
STL
3
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
26
FGM
9
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
26
FGM
9
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
22
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
20
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
7
Players Mentioned
G
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