Tuesday, February 27
Omaha, Neb.
8:00 PM
Creighton University
21-9, 10-7BE
82
vs
57
DePaul
11-18, 4-13BE
1
2
F
DePaul
33
24
57
Creighton
43
39
82
Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann
Men's Basketball Rolls on Senior Night, 82-57
2/27/2018 10:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Seniors finish their home campaign strong with a 82-57 win over DePaul
Omaha, Neb. --- Marcus Foster scored a game-high 20 points in his last game in Omaha, helping the Creighton men's basketball team close out Senior Night with an 82-57 victory over DePaul on Tuesday night before a sellout crowd of 18,191.
Creighton improved to 21-9, while jumping to 10-7 in league play. The victory also secures a top-six seed in next week's BIG EAST Tournament, presented by Jeep. DePaul falls to 11-19 in their campaign, while dropping to 4-13 in the BIG EAST, with its eighth straight loss against the Bluejays.
With neither team able to separate in the early stages of the contest, the Bluejays were able to take a slight 13-12 advantage at the 14:56 mark before connecting for a 9-0 burst capped by a monstrous slam from Foster (12:51) to send the crowd at CenturyLink Center Omaha into a frenzy. Creighton would not trail again.
The Blue Demons mustered up a response with five points of their own before Ty-Shon Alexander drained back-to-back treys to push the lead back to double-digits. Two Khyri Thomas free-throws with 9:37 to go in the first half extended the lead to 30-17.
Creighton's defense and ability to get transition buckets saw the Bluejay lead get pushed all the way up to 41-24 after a Mitch Ballock trey (5:59) and two charity shots from Davion Mintz (5:31). DePaul found some success, scoring seven straight points before a Foster alley-oop to an awaiting Jacob Epperson broke a string of seven straight misses for the Jays.
Creighton took a 43-33 lead into the locker room to end the half behind their 50 percent (15-30) shooting. Alexander (11) and Foster (11) led the way for the Bluejays offensively, while Thomas added seven points of his own along with three rebounds and four assists.
The Bluejays came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders, connecting on the first five shots, including treys from Toby Hegner (17:49) and Foster (14:55) to extend their breathing room to a 59-38 lead.
Creighton led by at least 19 points the rest of the way, extending their lead to all the way as much as 30 points following a 7-0 run. Seniors Tyler Clement (trey at 2:50) and Manny Suarez (jumper at 2:02) ignited the spark before hearing a standing ovation as all seniors were subbed out to one last roar of applause in CenturyLink Center Omaha.
Foster had a game-high 20 points, connecting on 8-of-15 shots and also collecting a career-high four steals. Thomas fell just shy of a triple-double on his way to 16 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and five steals. Alexander also provided 13 points in the victory. The Bluejays shot 51.7 percent on the night and held the Blue Demons to just 35 percent shooting from the field.
Max Strus had 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists for DePaul but was 4-for-15 from the field.
Creighton will finish off their regular season on the road against Marquette on Saturday, March 3, with scheduled tip-off at 1:30 pm (CT).
NOTES: Marcus Foster has joined Doug McDermott (3x) and Bob Portman (2x) as the only Bluejays in history with more than one season of 600+ points ... Khyri Thomas tied his career-high with eight assists and five steals. The junior is projected as a potential first round pick and left to fans chanting "one more year" ... Creighton is now alone in third place with a 10-7 league mark, one-half game ahead of Seton Hall, Butler and Providence. The Pirates, Bulldogs and Friars all play on Wednesday ... Creighton is 21-2 in its last 23 Senior Day's ... Creighton has won 10 or more league games in 19 of the last 21 seasons ... Creighton is 16-2 at home this season ... Creighton has won 106 straight home games against teams that enter with a .500 record or worse ... Creighton set a single-season record for home attendance with 306,000 fans in 2017-18, eclipsing the mark of 302,887 in 2015-16 in 19 games ... Creighton drained 12 three-pointers and has now made a trey in 813 straight contests ... Creighton also honored five senior managers, Andrew Birkeland, Tom Digenan, Kevin Jewell, Joe Popovich and Peyton Stagemeyer ... Khyri Thomas has shot 50 percent or better in each of his last 12 games, shooting 60 percent or better in nine of those contests ... Marcus Foster has scored 20 points or more in nine of his last 11 league games ... Marcus Foster went 3-for-7 from three-point range and has now made exactly 300 career three-pointers ... Marcus Foster ended the night 24th in Creighton history with 1,239 career points, one more than Ben Walker ... Khyri Thomas had 16 points and now owns 1,099 points to move past Tim Powers for 33rd in school history ... Creighton has trailed for 19 seconds total in its last three Senior Day's ... Creighton was ranked No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches poll but is receiving votes in the AP poll.
Creighton improved to 21-9, while jumping to 10-7 in league play. The victory also secures a top-six seed in next week's BIG EAST Tournament, presented by Jeep. DePaul falls to 11-19 in their campaign, while dropping to 4-13 in the BIG EAST, with its eighth straight loss against the Bluejays.
With neither team able to separate in the early stages of the contest, the Bluejays were able to take a slight 13-12 advantage at the 14:56 mark before connecting for a 9-0 burst capped by a monstrous slam from Foster (12:51) to send the crowd at CenturyLink Center Omaha into a frenzy. Creighton would not trail again.
The Blue Demons mustered up a response with five points of their own before Ty-Shon Alexander drained back-to-back treys to push the lead back to double-digits. Two Khyri Thomas free-throws with 9:37 to go in the first half extended the lead to 30-17.
Creighton's defense and ability to get transition buckets saw the Bluejay lead get pushed all the way up to 41-24 after a Mitch Ballock trey (5:59) and two charity shots from Davion Mintz (5:31). DePaul found some success, scoring seven straight points before a Foster alley-oop to an awaiting Jacob Epperson broke a string of seven straight misses for the Jays.
Creighton took a 43-33 lead into the locker room to end the half behind their 50 percent (15-30) shooting. Alexander (11) and Foster (11) led the way for the Bluejays offensively, while Thomas added seven points of his own along with three rebounds and four assists.
The Bluejays came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders, connecting on the first five shots, including treys from Toby Hegner (17:49) and Foster (14:55) to extend their breathing room to a 59-38 lead.
Creighton led by at least 19 points the rest of the way, extending their lead to all the way as much as 30 points following a 7-0 run. Seniors Tyler Clement (trey at 2:50) and Manny Suarez (jumper at 2:02) ignited the spark before hearing a standing ovation as all seniors were subbed out to one last roar of applause in CenturyLink Center Omaha.
Foster had a game-high 20 points, connecting on 8-of-15 shots and also collecting a career-high four steals. Thomas fell just shy of a triple-double on his way to 16 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and five steals. Alexander also provided 13 points in the victory. The Bluejays shot 51.7 percent on the night and held the Blue Demons to just 35 percent shooting from the field.
Max Strus had 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists for DePaul but was 4-for-15 from the field.
Creighton will finish off their regular season on the road against Marquette on Saturday, March 3, with scheduled tip-off at 1:30 pm (CT).
NOTES: Marcus Foster has joined Doug McDermott (3x) and Bob Portman (2x) as the only Bluejays in history with more than one season of 600+ points ... Khyri Thomas tied his career-high with eight assists and five steals. The junior is projected as a potential first round pick and left to fans chanting "one more year" ... Creighton is now alone in third place with a 10-7 league mark, one-half game ahead of Seton Hall, Butler and Providence. The Pirates, Bulldogs and Friars all play on Wednesday ... Creighton is 21-2 in its last 23 Senior Day's ... Creighton has won 10 or more league games in 19 of the last 21 seasons ... Creighton is 16-2 at home this season ... Creighton has won 106 straight home games against teams that enter with a .500 record or worse ... Creighton set a single-season record for home attendance with 306,000 fans in 2017-18, eclipsing the mark of 302,887 in 2015-16 in 19 games ... Creighton drained 12 three-pointers and has now made a trey in 813 straight contests ... Creighton also honored five senior managers, Andrew Birkeland, Tom Digenan, Kevin Jewell, Joe Popovich and Peyton Stagemeyer ... Khyri Thomas has shot 50 percent or better in each of his last 12 games, shooting 60 percent or better in nine of those contests ... Marcus Foster has scored 20 points or more in nine of his last 11 league games ... Marcus Foster went 3-for-7 from three-point range and has now made exactly 300 career three-pointers ... Marcus Foster ended the night 24th in Creighton history with 1,239 career points, one more than Ben Walker ... Khyri Thomas had 16 points and now owns 1,099 points to move past Tim Powers for 33rd in school history ... Creighton has trailed for 19 seconds total in its last three Senior Day's ... Creighton was ranked No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches poll but is receiving votes in the AP poll.
Team Stats
DPU
CU
FG%
.355
.517
3FG%
.217
.400
FT%
.667
.667
RB
38
35
TO
15
10
STL
5
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
8
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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