Creighton University
Evansville
Basketball Deals Evansville 79-57 Setback
1/20/2009 9:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Creighton would score on 18 of 19 possessions, including 14 straight over an eight-minute stretch, as it routed host Evansville, 79-57, on Tuesday night in men's basketball action at Roberts Stadium. Kenny Lawson Jr. (16), Justin Carter (14) and Casey Harriman (11) all scored career-high point totals for the Jays.
Creighton is now 15-5 on the season and 5-3 in the MVC, including a 3-2 mark in conference play on the road. The Purple Aces fell to 12-6 (4-4 MVC), while losing for just the second time in 13 home games this season.
Creighton broke out to a 20-12 lead early, scoring seven straight points in a 39-second span. Lawson had the first two, while Antoine Young scored a three-pointer and then lay-up in transition. UE would get within two points at 22-20, before Lawson took over. He would score three more baskets in a span of 3:06 as the Jays took its first double-digit lead at 34-24.
Lawson would cap Creighton's highest scoring first half of the year with a tip-in of a Young miss, sending the Jays up the Roberts Stadium tunnel with a 46-29 halftime advantage. Creighton would score on its final eight possessions of the first half, closing on a 17-5 run heading to the locker room.
The Jays shot 57.6 percent in the first half, including 5-of-7 from three-point range. Lawson scored 14 points in 15 minutes on 7-of-10 shooting. The 17-point halftime lead was CU's largest since a 45-26 intermission lead over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Nov. 20th.
Creighton scored seven points in the first 80 seconds of the second half to eventually push its lead to 54-29. Carter scored a jumper, then followed with a three-pointer from the corner, before a 3-on-0 lay-up by Booker Woodfox. Lawson would also hit a free-throw with 17:56 left to close out the 9-0 run. The Jays would score on five straight second-half possesions before an offensive foul snapped its streak of 13 straight trips with a score. CU would shake off the turnover by scoring eight points in its next three possessions, including three-pointers from Woodfox and Cavel Witter, as the lead grew as large as 63-33.
Lawson led Creighton with 16 points, one more than his previous high, while Harriman's 11 points were also one more than his previous best. Harriman also added five assists and a pair of blocked shots in 22 productive minutes. Also with a new career-high was Carter, who scored 14 points to surpass his best by one. The Jays shot a season-best 57 percent in the win (30-57), including 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) from downtown. Creighton's bench outscored the Aces 34-11 and the Bluejay squad outrebounded the Purple Aces 39-27. CU also dished 21 assists on 30 baskets.
Shy Ely, who scored a career-best 28 last year against the Jays, scored 26 points on the night to lead all players. The Aces were just 1-of-12 from three-point territory (8.3 percent). He was the only UE player to score more than seven points.
Creighton opens a three-game homestand on Saturday with a 1:05 pm game against Drake. The game can be heard on KXSP (Big Sports 590 AM) and will be televised on KMTV.
NOTES: The game was televised nationally by ESPNU ...Creighton has been 13-7 or better after 20 games in 12 straight seasons ...Creighton is 23-9 this decade on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU, and 22-2 when scoring 62 points or more on the network ...Creighton is the only team in the MVC to play five conference road games this season thus far ...Three days after its worst rebound differential in 17 years (47-22 at Wichita State), Creighton won the battle of the boards 39-27 against Evansville ...Creighton is now 20-9 all-time vs. Evansville, including an 8-7 mark at Roberts Stadium ...Booker Woodfox extended his streak of games with a three-pointer to 16 in a row, but had his double-figure scoring streak snapped at 13 straight ...Creighton has won 54 straight games when scoring 72 points or more ...Creighton's last MVC road win by 22 or more points came Jan. 29, 2003 against Indiana State (74-46) ...Kenny Lawson has a blocked shot in 13 consecutive games ...The win was Dana Altman's 163rd in MVC play, tied for second-most in MVC history.
