Monday, December 18
Omaha, Neb.
8:00 PM
Creighton University
9-2
90
vs
81
UT Arlington
8-4
1
2
F
UT Arlington
32
49
81
#25 Creighton
52
38
90
Marcus Foster
Photo by: Brandon McKenna
Foster Leads Men's Hoops Over UT Arlington, 90-81
12/18/2017 11:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Marcus Foster scored a season-high 32 points in the Bluejay win.
OMAHA, Neb. -- Texas native Marcus Foster scored 22 of his season-high 32 points in the first half as No. 25/24 Creighton men's basketball defeated UT Arlington, 90-81, on Monday.
Creighton is now 9-2 on the year and 7-0 at home, while UT Arlington dropped to 8-4.
Kevin Hervey had 24 points, 11 rebounds and four steals to lead UT Arlington, while national assist leader Erick Neal (9.4 apg.) came off the bench to dish eight assists.
Leading 17-16 midway through the first half, the Bluejays broke the game open with a 31-7 burst to open up a 48-23 advantage with 2:23 left in the half. Foster had 13 points during the run to stagger the defending Sun Belt Conference champion. Creighton would lead 52-32 at the intermission, as Foster's 22 points were the most at halftime by any Bluejay since Doug McDermott's 27 vs. DePaul in the quarterfinals of the 2014 BIG EAST Tournament.
The visiting Mavericks made four three-pointers in the opening four minutes of the second half to quickly close within 57-44 with 16:19 to play. UT Arlington trimmed the margin to single-figures at 61-52 with 12:19 left, and got as close as eight on two occasions in the final 90 seconds before CU closed out the win.
Foster had 32 points and six rebounds while tying his season-best with four assists. Khyri Thomas had 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals, and Mitch Ballock added 14 points off the bench. Martin Krampelj led CU with 11 rebounds. The Bluejays shot 44.9 percent for the game, including 13-of-32 (40.6 percent) from three-point range, and also sank 15-of-23 (65.2 percent) free throws. CU dished 20 assists on 31 field goals and also had a season-high nine steals. The Bluejays won the rebound battle, 43-39.
In addition to Hervey's 24, Kaelon Wilson had 15 points and Johnny Hamilton added 11. The Mavericks shot 46.5 percent on the night, including 9-of-25 from three-point range, and also buried 6-of-11 free throws.
Creighton hosts USC Upstate on Wednesday at 8 p.m. in a game that will air on FS1 and 1620 AM (KOZN).
NOTES: Creighton's Marcus Foster has scored in double-figures in 29 straight games, while UT Arlington's Kevin Hervey owns 39 straight games of 10+ points ... The victory was Greg McDermott's 175th at Creighton, and came in his 259th game with the Bluejays. Dana Altman, the only other CU coach with 175+ wins, picked up his 175th victory in his 274th game on the Bluejay sideline ... Creighton has now scored 19,008 points all-time in 246 games at CenturyLink Center Omaha, surpassing the 19,000 milestone on a three-pointer from Marcus Foster with 5:12 left. Creighton is 18-1 in games in which it surpasses a 1,000 point milestone at CenturyLink Center Omaha ... Marcus Foster now owns four career games of 30 or more points, including three as a Bluejay ... Both Kevin Hervey (UTA) and Khyri Thomas (CU) earned technical fouls for hanging on the rim excessively ... Marcus Foster is the first Creighton player to score in double-figures in each of CU's first 11 games since Doug McDermott scored in double-figures during all 35 contests of the 2011-12 campaign ... Creighton has won 21 straight non-conference home games ... Thirteen NBA scouts from 10 franchises attended the game.
Postgame comments from UT Arlington head coach Scott Cross
"Creighton's the best team I've seen in a long, long time. The speed that they play at is absolutely amazing. The way they pass the ball, the way they run in transition. I don't think I've ever played a team that's better in transition than them. They shoot the ball, they execute, they're way tougher defensively probably than I was expecting as well. They're one of the best basketball teams I think I've ever faced. I'd put them up there with Memphis and Derrick Rose, playing that team. I remember Kyle Korver's team here at Creighton that we played when I was an assistant coach. Some of those Texas teams that were really, really good. They're up there. There's no question in my mind that they're a legit Top 25 team. Without a doubt they could make a run in the NCAA Tournament the way they're playing."
(and then later)
"I envy the way they play. That's the way I'd love for our guys to play in transition. It's absolutely amazing and we'll clip out a lot of stuff and show it to our guys. They're a very, very unselfish, connected basketball team. It looks like there's no agendas whatsoever and all they care about is winning. I was highly impressed with them."
Creighton is now 9-2 on the year and 7-0 at home, while UT Arlington dropped to 8-4.
Kevin Hervey had 24 points, 11 rebounds and four steals to lead UT Arlington, while national assist leader Erick Neal (9.4 apg.) came off the bench to dish eight assists.
Leading 17-16 midway through the first half, the Bluejays broke the game open with a 31-7 burst to open up a 48-23 advantage with 2:23 left in the half. Foster had 13 points during the run to stagger the defending Sun Belt Conference champion. Creighton would lead 52-32 at the intermission, as Foster's 22 points were the most at halftime by any Bluejay since Doug McDermott's 27 vs. DePaul in the quarterfinals of the 2014 BIG EAST Tournament.
The visiting Mavericks made four three-pointers in the opening four minutes of the second half to quickly close within 57-44 with 16:19 to play. UT Arlington trimmed the margin to single-figures at 61-52 with 12:19 left, and got as close as eight on two occasions in the final 90 seconds before CU closed out the win.
Foster had 32 points and six rebounds while tying his season-best with four assists. Khyri Thomas had 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals, and Mitch Ballock added 14 points off the bench. Martin Krampelj led CU with 11 rebounds. The Bluejays shot 44.9 percent for the game, including 13-of-32 (40.6 percent) from three-point range, and also sank 15-of-23 (65.2 percent) free throws. CU dished 20 assists on 31 field goals and also had a season-high nine steals. The Bluejays won the rebound battle, 43-39.
In addition to Hervey's 24, Kaelon Wilson had 15 points and Johnny Hamilton added 11. The Mavericks shot 46.5 percent on the night, including 9-of-25 from three-point range, and also buried 6-of-11 free throws.
Creighton hosts USC Upstate on Wednesday at 8 p.m. in a game that will air on FS1 and 1620 AM (KOZN).
NOTES: Creighton's Marcus Foster has scored in double-figures in 29 straight games, while UT Arlington's Kevin Hervey owns 39 straight games of 10+ points ... The victory was Greg McDermott's 175th at Creighton, and came in his 259th game with the Bluejays. Dana Altman, the only other CU coach with 175+ wins, picked up his 175th victory in his 274th game on the Bluejay sideline ... Creighton has now scored 19,008 points all-time in 246 games at CenturyLink Center Omaha, surpassing the 19,000 milestone on a three-pointer from Marcus Foster with 5:12 left. Creighton is 18-1 in games in which it surpasses a 1,000 point milestone at CenturyLink Center Omaha ... Marcus Foster now owns four career games of 30 or more points, including three as a Bluejay ... Both Kevin Hervey (UTA) and Khyri Thomas (CU) earned technical fouls for hanging on the rim excessively ... Marcus Foster is the first Creighton player to score in double-figures in each of CU's first 11 games since Doug McDermott scored in double-figures during all 35 contests of the 2011-12 campaign ... Creighton has won 21 straight non-conference home games ... Thirteen NBA scouts from 10 franchises attended the game.
Postgame comments from UT Arlington head coach Scott Cross
"Creighton's the best team I've seen in a long, long time. The speed that they play at is absolutely amazing. The way they pass the ball, the way they run in transition. I don't think I've ever played a team that's better in transition than them. They shoot the ball, they execute, they're way tougher defensively probably than I was expecting as well. They're one of the best basketball teams I think I've ever faced. I'd put them up there with Memphis and Derrick Rose, playing that team. I remember Kyle Korver's team here at Creighton that we played when I was an assistant coach. Some of those Texas teams that were really, really good. They're up there. There's no question in my mind that they're a legit Top 25 team. Without a doubt they could make a run in the NCAA Tournament the way they're playing."
(and then later)
"I envy the way they play. That's the way I'd love for our guys to play in transition. It's absolutely amazing and we'll clip out a lot of stuff and show it to our guys. They're a very, very unselfish, connected basketball team. It looks like there's no agendas whatsoever and all they care about is winning. I was highly impressed with them."
Team Stats
UTA
CU
FG%
.465
.449
3FG%
.360
.406
FT%
.545
.652
RB
39
43
TO
15
15
STL
12
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
32
FGM
12
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
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