Creighton University
3-2,0-0Big East
Baylor
4-0,0-0Big 12
Men's Basketball Drops Players Era Opener to Baylor
11/24/2025 2:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Creighton dropped to 3-2 on the season, while Baylor is 4-0.
Hudson Greer (16), Josh Dix (15) and Nik Graves (12) scored in double-figures for the Jays. Creighton made a season-high 11 three-pointers in the game, outscored BU 20-10 in transition, and 23-12 off the bench.
Baylor scored on its first three trips and never trailed in the first half. The Bluejays had two spurts, scoring five in a row to get within 15-13 and later six straight to narrow the gap to 28-24, but both times Baylor responded with a three-pointer to keep CU at bay. A deep three-pointer from Graves in the waning seconds of the first half trimmed Baylor's lead to 44-36 at the break.
CU scored the first six points after the intermission, getting a pair of scores from Owen Freeman and two free throws by Jasen Green to get within 44-42. Baylor countered with the next seven points to extend their lead to nine.
Trailing 51-42 with just over 15 minutes to play, CU embarked on a 10-2 run that included three-balls by Isaac Traudt and Greer to close within one and force a Baylor timeout. Three-pointers by Traudt and  Dix tied it at 58 for the first tie of the game. The game was also tied at 60-60 and 62-62 before an 8-0 burst from the Bears turned away CU. The Jays halved that margin on scores inside by Greer and Green with 4:23 to go, and were down 75-72 with 36.9 left after two Green free throws and 77-74 with 18.4 left, but Baylor made their free throws down the stretch.
Baylor outscored Creighton 27-7 in second chance points, including an 16-2 margin after the break, which was ultimately the difference. The Bears were led by 21Â points from Cameron Carr, 14 by Dan Skillings Jr., 13 by Obi Agbim and 10 from Michael Rataj. The Bears won the rebound battle 45-28, including 22 caroms on the offensive glass..
Creighton is back in action on Tuesday at the GEICO Players Era Men's Championship when it takes on No. 15Â Iowa State. That game will tip at 1 p.m. Central and be televised on truTV.
NOTES:Â Creighton has made five or more three-pointers in 76 straight games and six or more triples in 64 consecutive contests ... Nik Graves made a free throw for the 63rd straight game, matching the nation's longest streak since 2005-06 ... Creighton fell to 0-3 all-time inside Michelob ULTRA Arena ... Jasen Green made his first start of the year in place of an injured Jackson McAndrew.
GEICO Players Era Men's Championship
Monday, November 24, 2025
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
MGM Grand Garden Arena
Baylor Bears
Coach Scott Drew
Dan Skillings Jr.
Postgame Press Conference
ÂBaylor - 81, Creighton - 74
SCOTT DREW: First, it's a blessing to play in this tournament. Such great teams, such great competition. Such great opportunity for our players, and God's given us a great group to work with this year.
I'm really proud how far we've come and playing against these teams. We'll see where we have to keep going and what areas we need to improve in.
Really, really proud of our guys' toughness tonight. Did a great job on the glass, and Creighton's a good rebounding team, so we really worked hard for that.
Q. Dan, every time they found momentum, you guys responded. What allowed you guys to do that today?
DAN SKILLINGS JR.: Just staying together, having that joy with each other when we get into the huddles, knowing every huddle is important and just to say a couple good words, a couple positive words.
Just keeping our heads up and keeping our chin up and picking up our teammates, which if they're not feeling well or they get back-doored, they just get out of their game, we just pick them up to bring that joy back into their game. Because that's when we play the best, when we have a joy in our game.
Q. Did you guys have one more of those sequences down the stretch? I think they tied it 62-62, and then you guys had that 8-0 run, they burned a timeout. How big was that sequence?
DAN SKILLINGS JR.: Yeah, we work situational stuff in practice all the time. Coach Drew does a great job and the coaching staff getting us prepared for those moments. So we've been in those moments millions of times, and we just executed it.
Q. I would think after the Tarleton State game, rebounding was a big emphasis in practice last week. Is that accurate?
DAN SKILLINGS JR.: Very, very. I would say yes. It's something we harp on, it's something we think is one of our strong suits, is rebounding. And we just needed to get back to it and everyone knowing like in the Big 12, that's going to -- you're going to win games getting offensive and defensive rebounds and not giving the other team second-chance points. I feel we executed that pretty well today.
Q. Five guys in double figures today. How does it work on offense when, instead of feeding the hot hand, everybody has the hot hand?
DAN SKILLINGS JR.: That's one thing we talk about, when someone's got it going, we make sure we try to find them. And bunch of guys had it going today and feeling hot, and we tried our best to feed them when we could and getting everybody involved still at the same time.
And I feel like we did a great job with that today and just stayed poised and stayed under control and believed in our team.
Q. Coach, you guys have a smaller lineup, and you were able to match that with energy. You mentioned toughness, aggressiveness. How have you leaned on that as your superpower when you're matching it up with bigger teams?
SCOTT DREW: Yeah, we've got guys that are very competitive. They want to win. Our strength coach, Charlie Melton, does a great job, our trainer, Dave Snyder, getting them prepared. And at the end of the day, JJ tweaked his ankle. We'll see how he is. But we've got guys that have played a lot of minutes, upperclassmen playing and battling. We're fine.
Q. Cameron Carr, phenomenal game, first two years of his career, combined 18 games, now he's leading this squad. What do you think people will learn more about him in this season?
SCOTT DREW: He was pacing himself the first couple of years. Cam's an explosive scorer, but what makes him such an asset is he can pass as well. He can rebound. He can defend, and as those areas continue to improve and get better, our team will just be better and better because he's got a lot of God-given ability that you can't teach with his length and athleticism.
Q. This is a team that's just playing with each other for the first time this year with all new guys. How would you say this has either been a big opportunity for you to mesh all those pieces together right away?
SCOTT DREW: I think, again, you work as hard as you can in the portal and trying to put together a team in a short period of time. We're always prayerful. We get who God wants us to have.
We've got a good group that we enjoy going to practice with. They enjoy being together, and life is short. You want to be around people you enjoy, and that's been a blessing.
Coaches, we want to win every game, but it's a joy working with these guys.
Q. Scott, I wanted to ask about Cam. What have you seen from him at Tennessee? He didn't put a ton on film at Tennessee, obviously. What attracted him to you? And when he got to Baylor, what was his mindset? Where was he at mentally, and just kind of talk about his development since arriving?
SCOTT DREW: Well, we've had several players from Link here. It's an outstanding school. And Ja'Kobe Walter, Iggy Iguodala, you got Cam. We've always recruited there. We knew about him. He was highly touted. And Coach Barnes is a great coach. They just had a lot of depth at that guard spot.
And Cam was a heck of a player, but the guys playing were really good as well. So sometimes you sit, you wait, you get better and you improve. And we're the beneficiary of that.
I think Cam's done a great job in allowing himself to be coached, and he leans on Dan and Michael and several other guys, and I think he's done a good job listening to them and buying in as well.
Q. I'd be curious just to hear your quick thoughts on just team chemistry out there, quality opponent, how you guys went about executing the game plan and just how it felt to play an opponent of Creighton's caliber, but you guys were pretty well-rounded overall there. What's your assessment?
DAN SKILLINGS JR.: It's a God-given gift having a new team come together like this. I feel like this year we're entering our second season. The chemistry is beautiful. All the guys get together well, get along great. There's no egos on this team. Everybody simply just wants to win, whatever it takes to win, changing your role, whatever the coaches want us to do, like we want to win because at the end of the day no one's going to get what they want if we're not a winning team in March Madness.
So it's been a God-given blessing. I can't thank him enough. But just seeing this team come together and how we approached it today, all the way in film this morning, taking care of our bodies, getting treatment with Dave, getting extra lifts in, just how we run the board today was how we need to keep being on the boards every single game day, and I'm proud of the guys today.
Q. Coach, your thoughts on the announcement earlier today that the Players Era Festival is forming a $50 million equity partnership with the Big 12. They're going to have a 32-team event next year, and automatic bids are going to be given to the top eight teams from the previous years' Big 12 standings?
SCOTT DREW: I think our commissioner, Brett Yormark, has done a great job in being proactive and putting the Big 12 in the best position possible. We've had a lot of success in basketball. You can look at our KenPom numbers the last 10 years.
But he's done a great job as the game changes. As the rules change, making sure we're in position to keep being successful. So it's a very well-run tournament. It's our first time here. The professionalism and how everything is handled is first-class. So very impressed.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
162194-1-1222 2025-11-24 21:36:00 GMT
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GEICO Players Era Men's Championship
Monday, November 24, 2025
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
MGM Grand Garden Arena
Creighton Bluejays
Greg McDermott
Josh Dix
Postgame Press Conference
ÂBaylor - 81, Creighton - 74
GREG MCDERMOTT: I didn't think defensively we were as hooked up as we needed to be the first half. We fought on the glass, I thought, for the first 15 or 16 minutes of the game. And after the last TV timeout in the first half, I didn't think we were great in that regard either.
In the second half, our first-shot defense was much better. We just couldn't get a rebound. And obviously when you're playing a good team like Baylor and you have that kind of differential and second-chance points, you have to be pretty perfect in every other area to have a chance to win. We just weren't.
Q. Josh, this was obviously your guys' first game without Jackson on the court. Where did you notice that the most in the lineup?
JOSH DIX: He does everything for us. So we felt it kind of in every aspect. And as a team, collectively, we knew we all had to step up to kind of fill that void.
But just the spacing that he brings to the floor, the way that teams have to guard him, we can feel that on the offensive end, and his ability to rebound at 6'10" and guard multiple positions.
Q. Second thing, it seemed like, especially in the second half, every time you guys found momentum, Baylor would respond. How tough were stretches like that, when you find your footing and then they do the same right back?
JOSH DIX: Yeah, it's tough. I think we just gotta keep our foot on the gas pedal a little better, use those runs, extend those runs instead of going run for run.
Q. Defensively, obviously, this group has some room to grow. I know Gonzaga's a really good opponent. And you had to play on the road against them. They were able to put up 90. Where do you see the best room for growth with you and your teammates in the near term, not just tomorrow, but over the next couple of weeks, where you know you're going to need to round into form well in advance of league play?
JOSH DIX: Yeah, I think physicality, on defense and on the glass, I think if we cut their offensive rebounds in half, that gives us a way better chance of winning. So if we can rebound, then that allows us to get out and run for our break.
Q. Greg, Hudson Greer, as of three weeks ago he was kind of scheduled to redshirt and then plays a little bit against North Dakota, and then now he was a key player especially in the second half. Just how much has he grown and developed over the last couple of weeks. How impressed are you by his response to just kind of all the changes over the past couple weeks?
GREG MCDERMOTT: I appreciate the roller coaster ride that he kind of went on with me on this. He brings us a little grit, and he brings us a little toughness. Obviously still learning as a freshman, but he's not afraid. We needed some of that in our lineup. Obviously with Jackson getting hurt, we'd have made the decision then anyway. He's going to be a really good player for us. He can defend. He can rebound. He can make shots. I thought he changed the game when he went in the game the first half.
Q. Coach, due to Jackson's injury and Hudson's breakout, I know you don't have a crystal ball, if he continues this pace, are we going to see him in the starting lineup in the near future, you think?
GREG MCDERMOTT: Yeah, I mean, I have no idea -- who starts the game doesn't make a lot of difference to me. We didn't get off to a good start to start the game, and then we got off to a really good start with the same five guys in the second half. We just need some sort of consistency there. Obviously Owen, he's a long ways from being back to himself. We've got to try to push the envelope there to try to get him back and more ready. And then Kerem's still learning and Jasen gave us some comfort at that position. Certainly not our preference to play that many minutes with him at the 5. But we felt like it gave us the best chance today.
Q. Might seem like an obvious one, but I've got to ask, because I do wonder how it applies. You have the unexpected rematch with Iowa State, because you scheduled obviously that exhibition before you knew for sure you'd play them here. Now that you're on the doorstep of going to play them, who knows what's going to happen right now over the next two hours. Benefits from having faced them. I'm curious just in terms of you and your staff how much that has an impact on your prep tomorrow.
GREG MCDERMOTT: T.J. and I have played each other the last four or five years in scrimmages. We do it because we're kind of the polar opposite of each other. It's great for us to see what they do; it's good for them to play against someone like us.
I don't think any of us showed much when we played each other. I think there is a benefit for us in having played against that pressure and understanding what's going to happen when you drive a baseline, what's going to happen when you throw it in the post. You know how you have to combat that.
Now, would I love to have a couple days to shore some of that up? Absolutely. But the key with Iowa State, you take care of the basketball. You've got to rebound a little, you have to make a few shots, because if you get out of that pressure, there's shots to be had. You know, you just gotta knock them down.
I don't know if that game makes a ton of difference. I mean, it's not a fun game for me. T.J.'s one of my best friends, and, you know, I cheer for him every single game except for tomorrow.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
162195-1-1222 2025-11-24 21:41:00 GMT
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