Saturday, March 8
Omaha, Neb.
5:00 PM
Creighton University
22-9,15-5Big East
87
vs
74
Butler
13-18,6-14Big East
1
2
F
Butler
44
30
74
Creighton
52
35
87
Photo by: Sullivan Lawrence
Senior Day Success! Men's Basketball Beats Butler, Earns No. 2 Seed
3/8/2025 7:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. -- Seniors Ryan Kalkbrenner, Steven Ashworth, Jamiya Neal and Sami Osmani combined for 60 points, 26 rebounds and 21 assists to help Creighton men's basketball to an 87-74 win over Butler on Saturday on Senior Day.
Creighton closes the regular-season 22-9 overall and matched a program-record for conference wins in a season with a 15-5 BIG EAST mark. The win helped Creighton finish second in the BIG EAST for the second straight season. Butler is 13-18 and 6-14 in BIG EAST play and will be the No. 9 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament presented by JEEP, where it will meet No. 8 Providence.
Kalkbrenner had 27 points and tied a career-high with 15 rebounds, while Ashworth had seven three-pointers in the first half and finished with 23 points and tied his career-high with 11 assists in his home finale. Neal made several big baskets down the stretch and collected 10 points, eight assists and five rebounds. CU made 16 three-pointers and shot 52.3 percent for the game. CU also won the rebound battle 43-26 and dished 24 assists on 34 baskets.
Butler was led by 19 points each from Jahmyl Telfort and Patrick McCaffrey. Butler made 7-of-9 three-pointers in the first 8:10 of the game before cooling off to finish 9-for-22 for the game.
The first half was reminiscent of last year's 99-98 Butler win in Omaha. The teams combined for 51 points before the first media timeout as Butler raced to a 29-22 lead after eight minutes. The Bluejays battled back to take a 41-40 lead on a Jackson McAndrew three-pointer in transition. Though Telfort would answer to give Butler one last lead, the Bluejays closed the half on an 11-2 run that featured two of Ashworth's seven triples before the break. His final trey made him the first player in Creighton history with at least 500 points and 200 assists in the same season.
CU's lead grew as large as 15 on five occasions before Butler made a final push and drew within six points at 76-70 with 4:31 remaining. Back-to-back three-pointers by Neal and Mason Miller gave CU a 12-point edge that eventually reached 15 one final time. Neal, Ashworth and Kalkbrenner checked out to a standing ovation in the final minute, with Osmani leaving the floor not long after, as the Bluejays closed out the 87-74 victory.
With the. win, Creighton clinched the No. 2 seed in next week's BIG EAST Tournament presented by JEEP and will play on Thursday night at 6 p.m. Central against the winner of Wednesday's Georgetown/DePaul First Round match-up.
NOTES: Ryan Kalkbrenner finished his BIG EAST career with records in league play for games played (98), minutes (2,930), blocks (248) and field goal percentage (.642) and also owns CHI Health Center Omaha career records for games (77), field goal percentage (.727) and blocked shots (177) ... Steven Ashworth set CHI Health Center Omaha single-season records in three-pointers made (62), three-pointers attempted (145), free throw percentage (.923) and assists (116), while Kalkbrenner established facility records for blocked shots (44) and rebounds per game (9.1) in a season ... This year saw Creighton set program-records for most conference wins in a one-year span (15), two-year span (29), three-year span (43), four-year span (55), five-year span (69), six-year span (82) and seven-year span (91) ... Creighton's nine BIG EAST home wins tie a program record for one season, also done in 2013-14 and 2022-23 ... Creighton has finished first or second in the BIG EAST in four of the last six seasons ... Creighton has now won at least 22 games in six straight seasons. The only schools with longer active streaks are Gonzaga (28) and Houston (8) ... Creighton has won its final regular-season home game in 27 of the past 30 seasons ... Jamiya Neal (502) surpassed 500 career rebounds ... Ryan Kalkbrenner had his 10th double-double of the year, while Ashworth notched his fifth .... Ryan Kalkbrenner extended streaks for double-figure scoring games (23), seven or more rebounds (18) and blocked shots (16) ... Creighton has won 16 straight games when scoring 80 or more points.
Creighton closes the regular-season 22-9 overall and matched a program-record for conference wins in a season with a 15-5 BIG EAST mark. The win helped Creighton finish second in the BIG EAST for the second straight season. Butler is 13-18 and 6-14 in BIG EAST play and will be the No. 9 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament presented by JEEP, where it will meet No. 8 Providence.
Kalkbrenner had 27 points and tied a career-high with 15 rebounds, while Ashworth had seven three-pointers in the first half and finished with 23 points and tied his career-high with 11 assists in his home finale. Neal made several big baskets down the stretch and collected 10 points, eight assists and five rebounds. CU made 16 three-pointers and shot 52.3 percent for the game. CU also won the rebound battle 43-26 and dished 24 assists on 34 baskets.
Butler was led by 19 points each from Jahmyl Telfort and Patrick McCaffrey. Butler made 7-of-9 three-pointers in the first 8:10 of the game before cooling off to finish 9-for-22 for the game.
The first half was reminiscent of last year's 99-98 Butler win in Omaha. The teams combined for 51 points before the first media timeout as Butler raced to a 29-22 lead after eight minutes. The Bluejays battled back to take a 41-40 lead on a Jackson McAndrew three-pointer in transition. Though Telfort would answer to give Butler one last lead, the Bluejays closed the half on an 11-2 run that featured two of Ashworth's seven triples before the break. His final trey made him the first player in Creighton history with at least 500 points and 200 assists in the same season.
CU's lead grew as large as 15 on five occasions before Butler made a final push and drew within six points at 76-70 with 4:31 remaining. Back-to-back three-pointers by Neal and Mason Miller gave CU a 12-point edge that eventually reached 15 one final time. Neal, Ashworth and Kalkbrenner checked out to a standing ovation in the final minute, with Osmani leaving the floor not long after, as the Bluejays closed out the 87-74 victory.
With the. win, Creighton clinched the No. 2 seed in next week's BIG EAST Tournament presented by JEEP and will play on Thursday night at 6 p.m. Central against the winner of Wednesday's Georgetown/DePaul First Round match-up.
NOTES: Ryan Kalkbrenner finished his BIG EAST career with records in league play for games played (98), minutes (2,930), blocks (248) and field goal percentage (.642) and also owns CHI Health Center Omaha career records for games (77), field goal percentage (.727) and blocked shots (177) ... Steven Ashworth set CHI Health Center Omaha single-season records in three-pointers made (62), three-pointers attempted (145), free throw percentage (.923) and assists (116), while Kalkbrenner established facility records for blocked shots (44) and rebounds per game (9.1) in a season ... This year saw Creighton set program-records for most conference wins in a one-year span (15), two-year span (29), three-year span (43), four-year span (55), five-year span (69), six-year span (82) and seven-year span (91) ... Creighton's nine BIG EAST home wins tie a program record for one season, also done in 2013-14 and 2022-23 ... Creighton has finished first or second in the BIG EAST in four of the last six seasons ... Creighton has now won at least 22 games in six straight seasons. The only schools with longer active streaks are Gonzaga (28) and Houston (8) ... Creighton has won its final regular-season home game in 27 of the past 30 seasons ... Jamiya Neal (502) surpassed 500 career rebounds ... Ryan Kalkbrenner had his 10th double-double of the year, while Ashworth notched his fifth .... Ryan Kalkbrenner extended streaks for double-figure scoring games (23), seven or more rebounds (18) and blocked shots (16) ... Creighton has won 16 straight games when scoring 80 or more points.
Team Stats
Butler
CU
FG%
.441
.523
3FG%
.409
.432
FT%
.833
.600
RB
26
43
TO
1
10
STL
9
0
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
27
FGM
13
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
7
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG/F
/ Men's Basketball
G
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