Ryan Kalkbrenner amassed 29 points and nine rebounds and Jamiya Neal added 16 points as Creighton extended its winning streak to six games with a 86-77 victory over Xavier on Wednesday at Omaha, Neb.
Steven Ashworth produced 15 points with eight assists and Isaac Traudt put up 12 points as Creighton (15-6, 8-2 Big East) kept pace with conference leaders Marquette and St. John’s to remain one game back in the league standings.
Kalkbrenner moved up two spots on the Bluejays’ all-time scoring list and into second place with 2137 points, behind leader Doug McDermott (3,150). The 7-foot-1 center also took part in a program-best 108th victory.
Ryan Conwell scored 20 points Zach Freemantle added 16 as Xavier (13-9, 5-6) was unable to build off a victory Saturday over two-time defending national champion UConn. John Hugley IV finished with a season-high 13 for the Musketeers.
Creighton led by as many as nine points in the second half, holding a 51-42 advantage with 15:02 remaining. Xavier immediately went on a 10-2 run to pull within 53-52 with 13:04 to go after a 3-pointer from Freemantle.
Freemantle committed his fourth foul and went to the bench with 11:27 left. The Musketeers still were able to tie the score 61-61 with 9:48 remaining on a layup from Hugley.
The Bluejays then took over the game from long distance. Neal capped an 8-2 run with consecutive 3-pointers for a 75-67 lead with 5:59 remaining before Traudt made consecutive shots from deep for an 81-71 lead with 4:04 left.
Ashworth sealed the victory on a 3-pointer with 1:14 remaining for an 84-73 advantage. The Bluejays shot 8 of 10 from 3-point range in the second half.
Creighton held a 10-point lead with two minutes remaining in the first half before Xavier closed on a 5-0 run to pull within 40-35 at the break. Kalkbrenner had 13 points in the opening 20 minutes.
–Field Level Media
