Photo by: Creighton Athletics
Men's Basketball Meets #18 San Diego State With Trip To Final Four On The Line
3/25/2023 5:42:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Bluejays and Aztecs played an overtime game in last year's NCAA Tournament
Game #37:Â Creighton Bluejays (24-12) vs. #18 San Diego State (30-6)
Sunday, March 26, 2023 •. 1:20 p.m. CST • Louisville, Ky. • KFC Yum! Center
| LIVE VIDEO | CU AUDIO (via Varsity App) | LIVE WESTWOOD ONE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF) | SDSU NOTES (PDF) |
- Sixth-seeded Creighton (24-12) plays in the Elite Eight for the first time since 1941 when it meets 18th ranked and fifth-seeded San Diego State (30-6) on Sunday, March 26th. Both teams are seeking their first Final Four trip.
   Tip-off at KFC Yum! Center (22,090) in Louisville, Ky., is set for 1:20 p.m. Central (2:20 p.m. Eastern).
   Creighton will have a closed practice at KFC Yum! Center on Saturday, but the Bluejays will meet the media from 1:50 - 2:30 p.m. Central, with its probable starting line-up leaving the dais to head to breakout rooms for the final 15 minutes of that window.
- John Bishop and former Bluejay Nick Bahe will call the action on 1620 The Zone in Omaha. While KOZN is prevented from streaming the game on its app and website, fans can listen to Bishop & Bahe on The Varsity Network app, which is available for free in your app store on your mobile device.
   Westwood One Sports will also air the game nationwide on more than 500 terrestrial radio stations outside the Omaha market, with Tom McCarthy and Jordan Cornette on the call. The game can be heard on Sirius satellite radio as well, which can be heard on SiriusXM channel 133 or 201, or SXM app channel 964.
   Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel and Evan Washburn will handle the telecast on CBS.
   Creighton's is 4-3 under Greg McDermott on CBS, including a 84-67 win over No. 13 Xavier earlier this season on Jan. 28th.
   Streaming video of all NCAA Tournament games is online at http://www.ncaa.com/marchmadnesslive.
- There's numerous story lines as it relates to Creighton's game on Sunday vs. San Diego State.
   Creighton sophomore Arthur Kaluma is the brother of San Diego State senior Adam Seiko. The two were teammates on the Ugandan National Team in the summer of 2021 when they competed at AfroBasket in Rwanda. Both men started, with Kaluma averaging 13.2 ppg. and Seiko averaging 13.0 ppg.
   San Diego State's Aguek Arop is from Omaha.
   Creighton and San Diego State shared a plane to the Maui Jim Maui Invitational earlier this season in November. CU flew to San Diego on a half-empty plane, then picked up SDSU en route to Maui. The teams reversed course on the way home, dropping off SDSU on the return flight to Omaha. Head coaches Greg McDermott and Brian Dutcher sat across the aisle from each other on the 5+ hour flight to paradise.
   Creighton defeated the Aztecs, 72-69 in overtime, in the First Round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament in Fort Worth. The Bluejays used a 9-0 run in the final 2:30 of regulation to force overtime. Then-freshman Trey Alexander scored a season-high 18 points to lead CU to victory.
- Creighton is 5-3 all-time against San Diego State, but just 1-2 on a neutral floor.
   Greg McDermott is 2-3 against San Diego State (2-2 as Creighton coach) and 1-1 vs. Brian Dutcher.
- Since the bracket expanded to 64 or more teams in 1985, No. 6 seeds are 0-1 all-time against No. 5 seeds, with the lone meeting coming in 2010 when Michigan State edged Tennessee, 70-69. Creighton is the first No. 6 seed to reach the Elite Eight since USC in 2021. There hasn't been a No. 6 seed to reach the Final Four since Michigan in 1992, and the only No. 6 seed to ever win the national title was Kansas in 1988.
   Friday's win over Princeton marked the first time ever that a No. 6 seed faced a No. 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
   Creighton is 1-0 all-time against No. 5 seeds, defeating fifth-seeded Florida 83-82 in double-overtime in the First Round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament in Chicago.
With a win on Sunday, Creighton would...
- Improve Creighton to 19-24 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
- Advance Creighton to next Saturday's Final Four against either Kansas State or Florida Atlantic in Houston, Texas.
- Greg McDermott would improve to 10-7 in eight appearances as Creighton's head coach in the NCAA Tournament, building on his victory total that already stands as the most NCAA Tournament wins in program history.
- Improve to 4-2Â all-time as a No. 6 seed, with all four wins coming this March.
- Improve to 2-0 all-time against No. 5 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
- Improve to 6-3 all-time against San Diego State, and 2-0 in the NCAA Tournament, knocking out the Aztecs in back-to-back years.
- Improve to 5-3 all-time against teams ranked exactly 18th, which would include five straight victories.
- Set a school-record with its seventh top-25 win of the season.
- Set a school-record with its seventh neutral-site win of the season.
- Earn its 25th victory of the season, its most since 2016-17 (25-10).
- The only other time that Creighton has played among the final eight teams in the NCAA Tournament came in 1941, when the field only featured eight teams, and way before Elite Eight was used by the NCAA. That Bluejay team lost its first game to Washington State, then defeated a Wyoming team that included Curt Gowdy in a consolation round contest.
- The BIG EAST is 8-3 thus far in the NCAA Tournament, with Marquette, Xavier, UConn and Creighton all wining at least one game. The BIG EAST has had at least one Sweet 16 team in 26 of the past 28 tournaments, and multiple Sweet 16 teams in 15 of the last 20 tournaments. Now, for the first time since BIG EAST's 2013 reconfiguration, the conference is sending two teams to the Elite Eight.
   Creighton's 69 wins in all games during the last three seasons lead all BIG EAST teams, just ahead of Villanova (65) and Connecticut (65).
   Two of the last three occasions a BIG EAST team made the Final Four, it won the NCAA title (Villanova in 2016 and 2018).
   The only other league with multiple teams still alive in the NCAA Tournament is the Big 12, which also has two teams left (Texas and Kansas State).
- With a win on Sunday, Creighton will improve to 2-0 all-time against San Diego State in the NCAA Tournament. The only school that Creighton has beaten multiple times in the NCAA Tournament is Louisville (1974 and 1999). Fittingly, it's Louisville that is hosting this week's South Regional.
-Â Â Â In Friday's win over Princeton, Ryan Kalkbrenner (22) and Baylor Scheierman (21) became the first Creighton duo to each score 20+ points in the same NCAA Tournament game since Paul Silas (22) and Chuck Officer (21) each scored over 20 points against #5 Wichita State in the second round of the 1964 NCAA Tournament.
-   Baylor Scheierman hit five three-pointers vs. Princeton on Friday, becoming the first Bluejay with five trifectas in an NCAA Tournament game since Kyle Korver hit five against Central Michigan in the first round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament. Now an assistant General Manager of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, Korver was in the crowd on Friday and delivered a pre-game pep talk to the Bluejay team.
   Only Terrell Taylor (8 vs. Florida in 2002) has made more in an NCAA Tournament game for Creighton.
- Baylor Scheierman has made a three-pointer in 46 straight games (the nation's fourth-longest active streak), and a school-record 36 in a row in a Bluejay uniform.
   Creighton's team has made at least one three-pointer in 984 games in a row, the nation's 13th-longest active streak.
-Â Â Â Baylor Scheierman's nine three-pointers made in the tournament are one shy of Creighton's NCAA tournament record set by Terrell Taylor (2002) and Marcus Zegarowski (2021).
-Â Â Â Ryan Kalkbrenner's 63 total points so far in this year's NCAA Tournament are the most by any Bluejay in an NCAA Tournament, breaking the mark of 60 set by Gene Harmon in three games in 1974.
   Kalkbrenner's 24 made field goals are one shy of Creighton's single NCAA Tournament record set by Harmon in 1974.
   Kalkbrenner's five blocked shots are one shy of Creighton's single NCAA Tournament record, set by Chad Gallagher in two games in 1991.
   Kalkbrenner's six career NCAA Tournament blocks is one shy of Creighton career NCAA Tournament record set by Gallagher over three games in 1989 and 1991.
   Kalkbrenner is the first Bluejay with multiple 20-point games in the same NCAA Tournament since Doug McDermott had two in 2013. It was also done in 1974 (Gene Harmon). No Creighton player has ever produced three games of 20+ points in the same postseason.
- Ryan Kalkbrenner has become the first player in Creighton basketball history to appear in six NCAA Tournament victories. Earlier this month he became the first Bluejay to appear in five BIG EAST Tournament wins.
   Kalkbrenner has also scored in double-figures in each of Creighton's last 20 games, CU's longest streak since Marcus Foster's stretch of 33 games in a row in 2017-18.
- Creighton has already broken a number of team records for a single NCAA Tournament.
   The 243 total points in the NCAA Tournament are the most by a Bluejay team ever, way more than the 211 scored in 1974.
   The 23 three-pointers made in the 2023 NCAA Tournament are a Creighton NCAA Tournament record, passing the 22 treys made in 2002.
   Creighton's 12 blocked shots in the NCAA Tournament are three more than the previous high in 1991.
   In addition, Creighton is one attempted three-pointer (currently 69 in 2021) and two free throws made (currently 54 in 1962) away from setting even more single NCAA Tournament program records.
   Creighton currently holds a 91.2 free throw percentage, its highest single NCAA Tournament mark ever, and ahead of the program record of 88.4 percent in 2013 (38-43). No team from any school has shot better than 90 percent in two games or more of NCAA Tournament play since UConn in 2016, which shot 91.2 percent (31-34) in two contests. No school since at least 2011-12 has made 90 percent or better of its free throws for a tournament run of three games or longer.
- Creighton won at least one NCAA Tournament game in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The only other time that Creighton has won an NCAA Tournament game in consecutive seasons came in 2012, 2013 and 2014, also under Greg McDermott.
   That makes CU one of six teams in the country to have a win in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments, joining Arkansas, Baylor, Gonzaga, Houston and UCLA.
   Creighton is one of five teams to post 20 or more wins in 23 of the last 25 seasons, joining Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky and Duke.
   Creighton is one of seven teams to post 22 or more wins in each of the last four seasons, joining Baylor, Gonzaga, Houston, Liberty, San Diego State and Southern California.
- Creighton's 47 points in the first half vs. Princeton were its first time scoring 40 points or more in the first half of any NCAA Tournament game since taking a 48-34 lead into the locker room vs. DePaul in 1978.
- Friday marked Greg McDermott's 300th victory as Creighton head coach, moving the 13th-year leader to 300-149 on the Bluejay sideline. Only Dana Altman (327 win in 16 years from 1994-2010) has more victories at Creighton.
- Greg McDermott owns nine of Creighton's all-time NCAA Tournament victories and 17 of CU's 34 all-time postseason victories. A win on Sunday would be his 36th against a top-25 team (all other CU coaches own 18 combined).
- BIG EAST teams have now won eight straight NCAA Tournament games played in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
- Baylor Scheierman has grabbed 297 rebounds this season, good for 8.3 rebounds per game. The 297 rebounds are the most by any Bluejay since Benoit Benjamin grabbed 451 rebounds in 1984-85, while Scheierman's 8.3 caroms per contest are the most by a Bluejay since Nate King's 9.0 in 1993-94.
   Per Basketball-Reference.com, Scheierman is one of five players since 1992-93 with at least 295 rebounds and 85 three-pointers in a season, joining South Dakota State's Mike Daum (359/96 in 2017-18), Belmont's Dylan Windler (357/100 in 2018-19), Valparaiso's Alec Peters (312/91 in 2015-16) and Alabama's Brandon Miller (305/106 in 2022-23).
   Of those men, Scheierman's 118 assists are 34 more than any other player on the list.
- Creighton enters the weekend as one of 11 teams nationally with 11 or more top-25 wins since the start of last season. Only six teams have more than 11, Kansas (15), Iowa State (14), Marquette (13), Tennessee (13), Texas (13) and Alabama (12).
   San Diego State was ranked 18th in the final AP poll of the season.
- Sunday will be Creighton's school-record 14th game of the season against a top-25 foe when it takes on No. 18 San Diego State. The previous high had been 12, done last season.
   By the end of Sunday, Creighton's 14 games played against top-25 teams will be tied for second-most nationally and top the country among non-Big 12 schools. That list will be (by end of Sunday) composed of Texas (17) and tied with Kansas, Iowa State, TCU and Oklahoma (all 14).
- Creighton's six top-25 victories this year are tied for seventh-most nationally. The leaders are Texas (10), Iowa State (9), Kansas (7), Kansas State (7), Alabama (7) and Marquette (7). Others with six besides Creighton include TCU, Xavier, Gonzaga, Tennessee, Missouri and Arizona.
   Creighton's six top-25 wins this season are tied for its most ever, something also done in 2019-20.
   The last time Creighton faced a team ranked exactly 18th was a 64-62 win over then-No.18 Connecticut on March 2, 2022.
   Creighton has won its past four games against teams ranked No. 18 and are 4-3 all-time in such contests.
- Ryan Nembhard (15.2 ppg.), Ryan Kalkbrenner (15.1), Baylor Scheierman (14.5), Trey Alexander (13.8) and Arthur Kaluma (10.7) all are averaging in double-figures this season against top-25 competition.
- Creighton is 53-164 all-time against top-25 foes, including a 35-49 record under Greg McDermott.
   Creighton is 4-17 all-time against top-25 teams in the postseason, and has never beaten multiple top-25 teams in the same postseason. Last Sunday, CU knocked off No. 11 Baylor in Denver.
- Friday's win over Princeton marked the 18th sellout that Creighton has played in front of in 36 games this season, including six home games, four road games and eight neutral contests.
   Creighton ranks sixth nationally with 17,163 home fans per game.
- Creighton has made 82-of-91 free throws in BIG EAST Tournament and NCAA Tournament play (90.1 percent) and is now shooting 78.1 percent on the season at the stripe.
   Creighton's records for free throw percentage go back to 1951-52, and CU has never had a team finish better than the 75.9 percent that the 2012-13 squad converted.
   In the NCAA Tournament alone, Creighton is shooting 91.2 percent (52-57), including a streak of 30 makes in a row from late in its First Round win vs. NC State, all 22 tries vs. Baylor in the Second Round,and its first seven tries vs. Princeton on Friday.
   Creighton's 78.1 marksmanship at the line is 10th-best nationally (through Friday) and makes CU the only team still alive in the NCAA Tournament that's over 76.0 percent.
-Â Â Â Creighton's 58.2 field goal percentage on Friday was the Bluejays second-highest NCAA Tournament field goal percentage ever. It only trails Creighton's First Round 64.3 percent shooting performance against #4 DePaul in the 1978 NCAA Tournament.
-Â Â Â Creighton is now 24-3 this season when leading or tied at the half this season, including a 6-0 record at neutral sites.
- Only four of the eight teams still alive were ranked in the preseason AP poll, and Sunday's South Regional is the only match-up featuring two such squads, as preseason No. 9 Creighton will face preseason No. 19 San Diego State. Â
   The West Regional features preseason No. 2 Gonzaga against RV UConn and the Midwest Regional pairs RV Miami against No. 12 Texas. Meanwhile, the East Regional features two teams that didn't receive a single vote in the preseason AP poll, Kansas State and FAU.
- The winner of Sunday's Creighton/San Diego State game will advance to the Final Four next Saturday in Houston, Texas and face the winner of Saturday's game between Kansas State and Florida Atlantic.
   CU is 8-8 all-time against K-State, last meeting in the First Round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament (a 69-59 Wildcat win in Charlotte.
   Creighton is 1-0 all-time against FAU, winning 66-46 at the Nike Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Sunday, March 26, 2023 •. 1:20 p.m. CST • Louisville, Ky. • KFC Yum! Center
| LIVE VIDEO | CU AUDIO (via Varsity App) | LIVE WESTWOOD ONE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF) | SDSU NOTES (PDF) |
- Sixth-seeded Creighton (24-12) plays in the Elite Eight for the first time since 1941 when it meets 18th ranked and fifth-seeded San Diego State (30-6) on Sunday, March 26th. Both teams are seeking their first Final Four trip.
   Tip-off at KFC Yum! Center (22,090) in Louisville, Ky., is set for 1:20 p.m. Central (2:20 p.m. Eastern).
   Creighton will have a closed practice at KFC Yum! Center on Saturday, but the Bluejays will meet the media from 1:50 - 2:30 p.m. Central, with its probable starting line-up leaving the dais to head to breakout rooms for the final 15 minutes of that window.
- John Bishop and former Bluejay Nick Bahe will call the action on 1620 The Zone in Omaha. While KOZN is prevented from streaming the game on its app and website, fans can listen to Bishop & Bahe on The Varsity Network app, which is available for free in your app store on your mobile device.
   Westwood One Sports will also air the game nationwide on more than 500 terrestrial radio stations outside the Omaha market, with Tom McCarthy and Jordan Cornette on the call. The game can be heard on Sirius satellite radio as well, which can be heard on SiriusXM channel 133 or 201, or SXM app channel 964.
   Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel and Evan Washburn will handle the telecast on CBS.
   Creighton's is 4-3 under Greg McDermott on CBS, including a 84-67 win over No. 13 Xavier earlier this season on Jan. 28th.
   Streaming video of all NCAA Tournament games is online at http://www.ncaa.com/marchmadnesslive.
- There's numerous story lines as it relates to Creighton's game on Sunday vs. San Diego State.
   Creighton sophomore Arthur Kaluma is the brother of San Diego State senior Adam Seiko. The two were teammates on the Ugandan National Team in the summer of 2021 when they competed at AfroBasket in Rwanda. Both men started, with Kaluma averaging 13.2 ppg. and Seiko averaging 13.0 ppg.
   San Diego State's Aguek Arop is from Omaha.
   Creighton and San Diego State shared a plane to the Maui Jim Maui Invitational earlier this season in November. CU flew to San Diego on a half-empty plane, then picked up SDSU en route to Maui. The teams reversed course on the way home, dropping off SDSU on the return flight to Omaha. Head coaches Greg McDermott and Brian Dutcher sat across the aisle from each other on the 5+ hour flight to paradise.
   Creighton defeated the Aztecs, 72-69 in overtime, in the First Round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament in Fort Worth. The Bluejays used a 9-0 run in the final 2:30 of regulation to force overtime. Then-freshman Trey Alexander scored a season-high 18 points to lead CU to victory.
- Creighton is 5-3 all-time against San Diego State, but just 1-2 on a neutral floor.
   Greg McDermott is 2-3 against San Diego State (2-2 as Creighton coach) and 1-1 vs. Brian Dutcher.
- Since the bracket expanded to 64 or more teams in 1985, No. 6 seeds are 0-1 all-time against No. 5 seeds, with the lone meeting coming in 2010 when Michigan State edged Tennessee, 70-69. Creighton is the first No. 6 seed to reach the Elite Eight since USC in 2021. There hasn't been a No. 6 seed to reach the Final Four since Michigan in 1992, and the only No. 6 seed to ever win the national title was Kansas in 1988.
   Friday's win over Princeton marked the first time ever that a No. 6 seed faced a No. 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
   Creighton is 1-0 all-time against No. 5 seeds, defeating fifth-seeded Florida 83-82 in double-overtime in the First Round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament in Chicago.
With a win on Sunday, Creighton would...
- Improve Creighton to 19-24 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
- Advance Creighton to next Saturday's Final Four against either Kansas State or Florida Atlantic in Houston, Texas.
- Greg McDermott would improve to 10-7 in eight appearances as Creighton's head coach in the NCAA Tournament, building on his victory total that already stands as the most NCAA Tournament wins in program history.
- Improve to 4-2Â all-time as a No. 6 seed, with all four wins coming this March.
- Improve to 2-0 all-time against No. 5 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
- Improve to 6-3 all-time against San Diego State, and 2-0 in the NCAA Tournament, knocking out the Aztecs in back-to-back years.
- Improve to 5-3 all-time against teams ranked exactly 18th, which would include five straight victories.
- Set a school-record with its seventh top-25 win of the season.
- Set a school-record with its seventh neutral-site win of the season.
- Earn its 25th victory of the season, its most since 2016-17 (25-10).
- The only other time that Creighton has played among the final eight teams in the NCAA Tournament came in 1941, when the field only featured eight teams, and way before Elite Eight was used by the NCAA. That Bluejay team lost its first game to Washington State, then defeated a Wyoming team that included Curt Gowdy in a consolation round contest.
- The BIG EAST is 8-3 thus far in the NCAA Tournament, with Marquette, Xavier, UConn and Creighton all wining at least one game. The BIG EAST has had at least one Sweet 16 team in 26 of the past 28 tournaments, and multiple Sweet 16 teams in 15 of the last 20 tournaments. Now, for the first time since BIG EAST's 2013 reconfiguration, the conference is sending two teams to the Elite Eight.
   Creighton's 69 wins in all games during the last three seasons lead all BIG EAST teams, just ahead of Villanova (65) and Connecticut (65).
   Two of the last three occasions a BIG EAST team made the Final Four, it won the NCAA title (Villanova in 2016 and 2018).
   The only other league with multiple teams still alive in the NCAA Tournament is the Big 12, which also has two teams left (Texas and Kansas State).
- With a win on Sunday, Creighton will improve to 2-0 all-time against San Diego State in the NCAA Tournament. The only school that Creighton has beaten multiple times in the NCAA Tournament is Louisville (1974 and 1999). Fittingly, it's Louisville that is hosting this week's South Regional.
-Â Â Â In Friday's win over Princeton, Ryan Kalkbrenner (22) and Baylor Scheierman (21) became the first Creighton duo to each score 20+ points in the same NCAA Tournament game since Paul Silas (22) and Chuck Officer (21) each scored over 20 points against #5 Wichita State in the second round of the 1964 NCAA Tournament.
-   Baylor Scheierman hit five three-pointers vs. Princeton on Friday, becoming the first Bluejay with five trifectas in an NCAA Tournament game since Kyle Korver hit five against Central Michigan in the first round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament. Now an assistant General Manager of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, Korver was in the crowd on Friday and delivered a pre-game pep talk to the Bluejay team.
   Only Terrell Taylor (8 vs. Florida in 2002) has made more in an NCAA Tournament game for Creighton.
- Baylor Scheierman has made a three-pointer in 46 straight games (the nation's fourth-longest active streak), and a school-record 36 in a row in a Bluejay uniform.
   Creighton's team has made at least one three-pointer in 984 games in a row, the nation's 13th-longest active streak.
-Â Â Â Baylor Scheierman's nine three-pointers made in the tournament are one shy of Creighton's NCAA tournament record set by Terrell Taylor (2002) and Marcus Zegarowski (2021).
-Â Â Â Ryan Kalkbrenner's 63 total points so far in this year's NCAA Tournament are the most by any Bluejay in an NCAA Tournament, breaking the mark of 60 set by Gene Harmon in three games in 1974.
   Kalkbrenner's 24 made field goals are one shy of Creighton's single NCAA Tournament record set by Harmon in 1974.
   Kalkbrenner's five blocked shots are one shy of Creighton's single NCAA Tournament record, set by Chad Gallagher in two games in 1991.
   Kalkbrenner's six career NCAA Tournament blocks is one shy of Creighton career NCAA Tournament record set by Gallagher over three games in 1989 and 1991.
   Kalkbrenner is the first Bluejay with multiple 20-point games in the same NCAA Tournament since Doug McDermott had two in 2013. It was also done in 1974 (Gene Harmon). No Creighton player has ever produced three games of 20+ points in the same postseason.
- Ryan Kalkbrenner has become the first player in Creighton basketball history to appear in six NCAA Tournament victories. Earlier this month he became the first Bluejay to appear in five BIG EAST Tournament wins.
   Kalkbrenner has also scored in double-figures in each of Creighton's last 20 games, CU's longest streak since Marcus Foster's stretch of 33 games in a row in 2017-18.
- Creighton has already broken a number of team records for a single NCAA Tournament.
   The 243 total points in the NCAA Tournament are the most by a Bluejay team ever, way more than the 211 scored in 1974.
   The 23 three-pointers made in the 2023 NCAA Tournament are a Creighton NCAA Tournament record, passing the 22 treys made in 2002.
   Creighton's 12 blocked shots in the NCAA Tournament are three more than the previous high in 1991.
   In addition, Creighton is one attempted three-pointer (currently 69 in 2021) and two free throws made (currently 54 in 1962) away from setting even more single NCAA Tournament program records.
   Creighton currently holds a 91.2 free throw percentage, its highest single NCAA Tournament mark ever, and ahead of the program record of 88.4 percent in 2013 (38-43). No team from any school has shot better than 90 percent in two games or more of NCAA Tournament play since UConn in 2016, which shot 91.2 percent (31-34) in two contests. No school since at least 2011-12 has made 90 percent or better of its free throws for a tournament run of three games or longer.
- Creighton won at least one NCAA Tournament game in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The only other time that Creighton has won an NCAA Tournament game in consecutive seasons came in 2012, 2013 and 2014, also under Greg McDermott.
   That makes CU one of six teams in the country to have a win in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments, joining Arkansas, Baylor, Gonzaga, Houston and UCLA.
   Creighton is one of five teams to post 20 or more wins in 23 of the last 25 seasons, joining Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky and Duke.
   Creighton is one of seven teams to post 22 or more wins in each of the last four seasons, joining Baylor, Gonzaga, Houston, Liberty, San Diego State and Southern California.
- Creighton's 47 points in the first half vs. Princeton were its first time scoring 40 points or more in the first half of any NCAA Tournament game since taking a 48-34 lead into the locker room vs. DePaul in 1978.
- Friday marked Greg McDermott's 300th victory as Creighton head coach, moving the 13th-year leader to 300-149 on the Bluejay sideline. Only Dana Altman (327 win in 16 years from 1994-2010) has more victories at Creighton.
- Greg McDermott owns nine of Creighton's all-time NCAA Tournament victories and 17 of CU's 34 all-time postseason victories. A win on Sunday would be his 36th against a top-25 team (all other CU coaches own 18 combined).
- BIG EAST teams have now won eight straight NCAA Tournament games played in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
- Baylor Scheierman has grabbed 297 rebounds this season, good for 8.3 rebounds per game. The 297 rebounds are the most by any Bluejay since Benoit Benjamin grabbed 451 rebounds in 1984-85, while Scheierman's 8.3 caroms per contest are the most by a Bluejay since Nate King's 9.0 in 1993-94.
   Per Basketball-Reference.com, Scheierman is one of five players since 1992-93 with at least 295 rebounds and 85 three-pointers in a season, joining South Dakota State's Mike Daum (359/96 in 2017-18), Belmont's Dylan Windler (357/100 in 2018-19), Valparaiso's Alec Peters (312/91 in 2015-16) and Alabama's Brandon Miller (305/106 in 2022-23).
   Of those men, Scheierman's 118 assists are 34 more than any other player on the list.
- Creighton enters the weekend as one of 11 teams nationally with 11 or more top-25 wins since the start of last season. Only six teams have more than 11, Kansas (15), Iowa State (14), Marquette (13), Tennessee (13), Texas (13) and Alabama (12).
   San Diego State was ranked 18th in the final AP poll of the season.
- Sunday will be Creighton's school-record 14th game of the season against a top-25 foe when it takes on No. 18 San Diego State. The previous high had been 12, done last season.
   By the end of Sunday, Creighton's 14 games played against top-25 teams will be tied for second-most nationally and top the country among non-Big 12 schools. That list will be (by end of Sunday) composed of Texas (17) and tied with Kansas, Iowa State, TCU and Oklahoma (all 14).
- Creighton's six top-25 victories this year are tied for seventh-most nationally. The leaders are Texas (10), Iowa State (9), Kansas (7), Kansas State (7), Alabama (7) and Marquette (7). Others with six besides Creighton include TCU, Xavier, Gonzaga, Tennessee, Missouri and Arizona.
   Creighton's six top-25 wins this season are tied for its most ever, something also done in 2019-20.
   The last time Creighton faced a team ranked exactly 18th was a 64-62 win over then-No.18 Connecticut on March 2, 2022.
   Creighton has won its past four games against teams ranked No. 18 and are 4-3 all-time in such contests.
- Ryan Nembhard (15.2 ppg.), Ryan Kalkbrenner (15.1), Baylor Scheierman (14.5), Trey Alexander (13.8) and Arthur Kaluma (10.7) all are averaging in double-figures this season against top-25 competition.
- Creighton is 53-164 all-time against top-25 foes, including a 35-49 record under Greg McDermott.
   Creighton is 4-17 all-time against top-25 teams in the postseason, and has never beaten multiple top-25 teams in the same postseason. Last Sunday, CU knocked off No. 11 Baylor in Denver.
- Friday's win over Princeton marked the 18th sellout that Creighton has played in front of in 36 games this season, including six home games, four road games and eight neutral contests.
   Creighton ranks sixth nationally with 17,163 home fans per game.
- Creighton has made 82-of-91 free throws in BIG EAST Tournament and NCAA Tournament play (90.1 percent) and is now shooting 78.1 percent on the season at the stripe.
   Creighton's records for free throw percentage go back to 1951-52, and CU has never had a team finish better than the 75.9 percent that the 2012-13 squad converted.
   In the NCAA Tournament alone, Creighton is shooting 91.2 percent (52-57), including a streak of 30 makes in a row from late in its First Round win vs. NC State, all 22 tries vs. Baylor in the Second Round,and its first seven tries vs. Princeton on Friday.
   Creighton's 78.1 marksmanship at the line is 10th-best nationally (through Friday) and makes CU the only team still alive in the NCAA Tournament that's over 76.0 percent.
-Â Â Â Creighton's 58.2 field goal percentage on Friday was the Bluejays second-highest NCAA Tournament field goal percentage ever. It only trails Creighton's First Round 64.3 percent shooting performance against #4 DePaul in the 1978 NCAA Tournament.
-Â Â Â Creighton is now 24-3 this season when leading or tied at the half this season, including a 6-0 record at neutral sites.
- Only four of the eight teams still alive were ranked in the preseason AP poll, and Sunday's South Regional is the only match-up featuring two such squads, as preseason No. 9 Creighton will face preseason No. 19 San Diego State. Â
   The West Regional features preseason No. 2 Gonzaga against RV UConn and the Midwest Regional pairs RV Miami against No. 12 Texas. Meanwhile, the East Regional features two teams that didn't receive a single vote in the preseason AP poll, Kansas State and FAU.
- The winner of Sunday's Creighton/San Diego State game will advance to the Final Four next Saturday in Houston, Texas and face the winner of Saturday's game between Kansas State and Florida Atlantic.
   CU is 8-8 all-time against K-State, last meeting in the First Round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament (a 69-59 Wildcat win in Charlotte.
   Creighton is 1-0 all-time against FAU, winning 66-46 at the Nike Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii.
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/ Men's BasketballCreighton Men's Basketball vs. South Dakota Press Conference - 11/5/25
Tuesday, November 04
Creighton Men's Basketball Availability - 11/3/25
Monday, November 03
MBB: Creighton vs. Colorado State Exhibition
Saturday, October 25
Creighton Men's Basketball vs. Colorado State Press Conference - 10/25/25
Saturday, October 25
