Saturday, March 5
Cincinnati, Ohio
1:37 PM
Creighton University
18-13, 9-9
93
at
98
Xavier
26-4, 14-4
1
2
F
Creighton
41
52
93
Xavier
44
54
98
Cole Huff
Photo by: Corey Solotorovsky
Men's Basketball Falls at No. 5 Xavier; Will Open Tourney With Seton Hall
3/5/2016 2:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
17-0 run spanning halftime too much to overcome
CINCINNATI, Ohio -- A 17-0 run spanning halftime was too much to overcome as the Creighton men's basketball team fell at No. 5 Xavier by a 98-93 count on Saturday afternoon in the regular-season finale for both teams. The Musketeers made just 1-of-21 three-point shots on Feb. 9th in Omaha but more than made up for it in the rematch while connecting on 13-of-24 shots from deep on Saturday.
The loss drops Creighton to 18-13 on the season and 9-9 in the BIG EAST Conference. The Bluejays finished sixth in the BIG EAST standings and will open up play at the BIG EAST Tournament presented by the Jeep Brand next Thursday at 8:30 pm Central against third-seeded Seton Hall. Xavier improved to 26-4 and 14-4 in BIG EAST action while salvaging the series split with CU. The Musketeers will be the No. 2 seed in next week's tournament at Madison Square Garden.
Creighton came out of the gates red-hot. James Milliken scored the first five points and Cole Huff the next six as the Bluejays bolted to the 11-3 edge. Huff would showcase his long-range skills with three consecutive three-pointers to put CU ahead 14-5. Creighton would also lead by nine at 29-20 after Ronnie Harrell made a pair of three-pointers in a two-minute span.
Xavier would fight back, with seldom-used reserve Kaiser Gates leading the way. Gates scored five points in succession for the Muskies, which helped get the crowd involved. The Musketeers scored the last six points of the half and would take a 44-41 lead into the break, led by eight points and seven rebounds in 10 minutes by Gates. Milliken had 14 points and a career-high five assists by halftime, while Huff had 11 points, four rebounds and two steals.
Xavier would then go on to score the first 11 points of the second half, getting two three-pointers from Trevon Bluiett and another from Myles Davis to open up a 55-41 lead and force a Bluejay timeout. The lead reached as large as 17 (59-42), though CU quickly rallied to get within six at 65-59. Xavier answered with the next seven points, including backbreaking triples by Remy Abell and Bluiett, to return the lead to double-digits.
Creighton made one last rally, using a five-point trip to get within eight (82-74) with 3:57 left on a Milliken trey and Geoffrey Groselle free throws. After two Xavier free throws, another Milliken trey cut the CU defiicit to seven with 3:28 to go. A Huff three-point shot with 1:32 left trimmed the deficit to six (90-84). Harrell would sink two foul shots with 1:18 left to make it a five-point game, and Albert convert a lay-up after a backcourt steal to make it a three-point game with 58.8 left. Though Xavier pushed the margin back to seven, Creighton didn't let down. A three-pointer by Hegner with 28.9 left made it a five-point game, and Malik Albert's steal and score trimmed it to two with 14.3 left. But Xavier got two free throws from Davis with 10.5 left and another insurance foul shot with 2.8 left as the Musketeers survived.
Milliken led Creighton with 22 points, while Huff added 21 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Watson finished with eight points and 10 assists, becoming the fourth Bluejay in school history to reach 200 career assists. The loss snapped a 75-game win streak that dated to 1988 when scoring 90 or more points. CU played without junior guard Isaiah Zierden, who had started every game this season.
Xavier had five men in double-figures for the game, led by 24 from Davis. Davis also led the Musketeers with seven assists.
Both teams had 30 rebounds.
The loss drops Creighton to 18-13 on the season and 9-9 in the BIG EAST Conference. The Bluejays finished sixth in the BIG EAST standings and will open up play at the BIG EAST Tournament presented by the Jeep Brand next Thursday at 8:30 pm Central against third-seeded Seton Hall. Xavier improved to 26-4 and 14-4 in BIG EAST action while salvaging the series split with CU. The Musketeers will be the No. 2 seed in next week's tournament at Madison Square Garden.
Creighton came out of the gates red-hot. James Milliken scored the first five points and Cole Huff the next six as the Bluejays bolted to the 11-3 edge. Huff would showcase his long-range skills with three consecutive three-pointers to put CU ahead 14-5. Creighton would also lead by nine at 29-20 after Ronnie Harrell made a pair of three-pointers in a two-minute span.
Xavier would fight back, with seldom-used reserve Kaiser Gates leading the way. Gates scored five points in succession for the Muskies, which helped get the crowd involved. The Musketeers scored the last six points of the half and would take a 44-41 lead into the break, led by eight points and seven rebounds in 10 minutes by Gates. Milliken had 14 points and a career-high five assists by halftime, while Huff had 11 points, four rebounds and two steals.
Xavier would then go on to score the first 11 points of the second half, getting two three-pointers from Trevon Bluiett and another from Myles Davis to open up a 55-41 lead and force a Bluejay timeout. The lead reached as large as 17 (59-42), though CU quickly rallied to get within six at 65-59. Xavier answered with the next seven points, including backbreaking triples by Remy Abell and Bluiett, to return the lead to double-digits.
Creighton made one last rally, using a five-point trip to get within eight (82-74) with 3:57 left on a Milliken trey and Geoffrey Groselle free throws. After two Xavier free throws, another Milliken trey cut the CU defiicit to seven with 3:28 to go. A Huff three-point shot with 1:32 left trimmed the deficit to six (90-84). Harrell would sink two foul shots with 1:18 left to make it a five-point game, and Albert convert a lay-up after a backcourt steal to make it a three-point game with 58.8 left. Though Xavier pushed the margin back to seven, Creighton didn't let down. A three-pointer by Hegner with 28.9 left made it a five-point game, and Malik Albert's steal and score trimmed it to two with 14.3 left. But Xavier got two free throws from Davis with 10.5 left and another insurance foul shot with 2.8 left as the Musketeers survived.
Milliken led Creighton with 22 points, while Huff added 21 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Watson finished with eight points and 10 assists, becoming the fourth Bluejay in school history to reach 200 career assists. The loss snapped a 75-game win streak that dated to 1988 when scoring 90 or more points. CU played without junior guard Isaiah Zierden, who had started every game this season.
Xavier had five men in double-figures for the game, led by 24 from Davis. Davis also led the Musketeers with seven assists.
Both teams had 30 rebounds.
Team Stats
CU
XU
FG%
.508
.527
3FG%
.400
.542
FT%
.633
.818
RB
30
30
TO
11
13
STL
7
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
8
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
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