Creighton University
9-3
Texas-Pan American
5-6
Men's Hoops Hits The Glass, Downs Texas-Pan American 75-60
12/19/2014 10:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. - Creighton turned 16 offensive rebounds into 20 second chance points as the Bluejays took down Texas Pan-American, 75-60, on Friday, Dec. 19.
The win moved the Bluejays to 9-3 on the season, while the Broncs fell to 5-6.
Creighton jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead as Zach Hanson sandwiched interior buckets around a three-pointer from Toby Hegner. Fueled by the quick start, the Bluejays never trailed.
Up 27-17 with just over six minutes remaining in the opening half, the Bluejays got back-to-back treys from seniors Avery Dingman and Austin Chatman to push their lead to its largest margin so far at 33-16 and force a Broncs timeout.
Creighton took a 41-27 lead into the break, led by 11 first half points by Chatman. The stat that told the story of the game was second chance points. Creighton led the category 14-0 in the first half as the Bluejays collected eight offensive boards in the opening stanza.
Early in the second half the Bluejays pushed their lead to 17 on a trey from Hegner, 46-29 with 17:59 remaining.
Texas Pan-American, however, clawed its way back into the game. The Broncs closed within 11 just outside the 12-minute mark and pulled within 10 at 61-51 with 5:10 remaining. Creighton responded with 12 straight points, all by seniors, to pull away and went on to claim the 75-60 win.
Chatman led the way with 20 points, while Hegner finished with 16. In addition, Dingman posted a season-high 11 points as well as season-bests with six rebounds and six assists. Isaiah Zierden added a career-high six assists as well, part of a Bluejay passing attack that dished a season-best 20 helpers.
Creighton won the rebound battle 46-24 for the night, outscoring UTPA 20-3 in second chance points.
The Broncs were led by 16 points by Shaquille Hines, while Everett Osborne added 15. Dan Kimasa was held to three rebounds in 23 minutes, snapping a streak of three straight games with 10 or more boards.
The Bluejays go right back to work as Creighton heads to Denton, Texas for a battle with North Texas on Sunday, Dec. 21 at 1:03 p.m.
Conference action will start on Dec. 31 as Creighton travels to Providence for a 6:31 pm Central tip. The game between Creighton and Providence is part of the BIG EAST and FOX Sports New Year's Eve Tip-Off Marathon. From noon (ET) until midnight, the BIG EAST Conference will ring in the new year with the opening day of league play airing live on FOX Sports 1.
NOTES: Creighton improved to 25-1 in its last 26 home games while avoiding consecutive non-conference home losses for the first time in 10 years ... Creighton has won 50 straight games when scoring 40 or more points in the first half, and is a perfect 60-0 all-time at CenturyLink Center Omaha when doing so ... Creighton has won 85 straight home games against teams that enter with a record of .500 or worse. UTPA entered the night with a 5-5 record ... Creighton has now led wire-to-wire four times this season at home, and in 52 of 194 all-time games at CenturyLink Center Omaha ... Creighton has not lost a Friday night home game since Dec. 12, 1975, and has won every Friday home game since Dec. 2, 1989 by double-digits ...Geoffrey Groselle hauled down a career-best six rebounds in 11 first half minutes, but did not play in the second half due to illness ... Creighton improved to 84-1 all-time at CenturyLink Center Omaha in games decided by 15 or more points.
