Wednesday, November 5
Omaha, Neb.
7:00 PM
Creighton University
1-0,0-0Big East
92
vs
76
South Dakota
0-2,0-0Summit League
1
2
F
South Dakota
35
41
76
Creighton
48
44
92
Photo by: Sullivan Lawrence
McDermott Earns 500th Division I Victory as Men's Basketball Tops South Dakota
11/5/2025 9:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. – The No.23 Creighton men's basketball team started the regular season with a 92-76 victory over South Dakota on Wednesday night at CHI Health Center Omaha to deliver head coach Greg McDermott his 500th career Division I victory.
Iowa transfer Owen Freeman led the way in scoring for the Bluejays with 19 in his Creighton debut as he made 9-of-11 shots from the field. He was followed by four other Bluejays in double figures as Nik Graves had 15, Jackson McAndrew 13, Josh Dix 11 and Isaac Traudt scored 10 points.
South Dakota was led by Isaac Bruns with 16 points and Vince Buzelis with 12 points to lead the Coyotes in scoring.  Creighton goes to 1-0 on the season while South Dakota falls to 0-2 on the season.
Howard transfer, Blake Harper put up the first two buckets of the season, and a McAndrew jumper, and Graves layup and free throws put the Jays up 10-4 going into the first media timeout.
The Coyotes came storming back on a 10-0 run before a 7-0 Jays run featuring a Fedor Zugic putback, Traudt free throws, and a McAndrew three put the Bluejays back up 17-14. Going back and forth, the Coyotes were leading 21-19 with under 10 minutes left until the Jays went on another 7-0 run by Dix's jumper, Traudt's putback, and Graves' three-pointer to push the lead back up to 26-21 with nine minutes left in the first half
Creighton continued to pick up the pace in the game after the Coyotes pushed it back down to a 29-25 lead for the Jays. Creighton compiled a 15-6 run featuring six points from Freeman and three-pointers by Miami transfer Austin Swartz and Dix, and a dunk by Graves to force a USD timeout with 2:17 left on the clock in the first half for Creighton to lead 44-31. Creighton closed out the first half leading 48-35 at halftime. Graves leads the Jays in scoring with 11 points, and eight of the 10 players for the Bluejays dented the scoring chart.
Creighton continued how it ended in the first half by starting on a 14-6 run with an eight-point stretch by Freeman, and buckets by Dix, Graves, to push the lead to 21 points with 16:50 remaining in the second half.
The Bluejays put on a dunk contest, including a 8-2 run with back-to-back dunks by Josh Townley Thomas and a slam by Zugic pushed the Creighton lead to 73-50 at the under-12-minute timeout. CU had eight dunks in total throughout the whole game, including four by Freeman.
The Coyotes cut the Bluejays' lead to 16, but that was as close as they would get in the end, as Creighton's firepower was too much for South Dakota to get back into the game.
Creighton ended the game shooting 50 percent from the field, with 11 of 12 Bluejays to play ended the game with points on the board. CU dished 20 assists on 37 field goals.
The Bluejays head to the west coast to face No. 21 Gonzaga on Tuesday, November 11th at 9 p.m. on ESPN.
NOTES:Creighton improved to 50-11 all-time against South Dakota, including a 34-1 mark in Omaha ... Greg McDermott is now 500-302 in 25 career Division I campaigns ... Greg McDermott is now 24-1 as a Division I head coach in season-openers, and 16-0 at Creighton ... McDermott's 24 straight season-opening wins is the longest Division I streak since Mike Brey had 24 straight from 1995-2018 ... Greg McDermott is now 18-0 against Summit League teams as Creighton's head coach ... Creighton is now 93-15 all-time in season-openers, and 28-1 in its past 29 lid-lifters ... Creighton has won 31 straight home openers ... The Nov. 5 date matched the 2019-20 season for the earliest season-opener (by calendar) in program history ... Creighton's newcomers combined for 55 points ... Of Creighton's first 20 teams to score 90+ points in as season-opener, 13 went on to reach the NCAA Tournament ... Creighton has scored 75+ points in each of its last 14 meetings vs. USD ... South Dakota extended its nation-leading streak to 13 straight games scoring 75 points or more with a basket in the final minute ... Creighton has made six or more three-pointers in 60 straight games ... Nik Graves attempted a free throw in his 60th straight game and made a three-pointer in his 16th game in a row ... Owen Freeman has scored 10+ points in each of his last 23 games played ... Josh Dix has made a three-pointer in 13 games in a row ... Except 2019-20 (when there was no postseason) Creighton has made the postseason each of the 12 most recent times it has shot 50 percent or better in the season-opener, including 10 NCAA Tournament trips ... Creighton had 29 second-chance points, 12 more than any game last season and its most since also contributing 29 second-chance points in its 2023-24 season-opener vs. Florida A&M ... Liam McChesney had a blocked shot in his first regular-season game in 979 days (since March 2, 2023) ... Josh Townley-Thomas had a career-high six points after scoring four points all of last season.
MORE DETAILS TO COME
Iowa transfer Owen Freeman led the way in scoring for the Bluejays with 19 in his Creighton debut as he made 9-of-11 shots from the field. He was followed by four other Bluejays in double figures as Nik Graves had 15, Jackson McAndrew 13, Josh Dix 11 and Isaac Traudt scored 10 points.
South Dakota was led by Isaac Bruns with 16 points and Vince Buzelis with 12 points to lead the Coyotes in scoring.  Creighton goes to 1-0 on the season while South Dakota falls to 0-2 on the season.
Howard transfer, Blake Harper put up the first two buckets of the season, and a McAndrew jumper, and Graves layup and free throws put the Jays up 10-4 going into the first media timeout.
The Coyotes came storming back on a 10-0 run before a 7-0 Jays run featuring a Fedor Zugic putback, Traudt free throws, and a McAndrew three put the Bluejays back up 17-14. Going back and forth, the Coyotes were leading 21-19 with under 10 minutes left until the Jays went on another 7-0 run by Dix's jumper, Traudt's putback, and Graves' three-pointer to push the lead back up to 26-21 with nine minutes left in the first half
Creighton continued to pick up the pace in the game after the Coyotes pushed it back down to a 29-25 lead for the Jays. Creighton compiled a 15-6 run featuring six points from Freeman and three-pointers by Miami transfer Austin Swartz and Dix, and a dunk by Graves to force a USD timeout with 2:17 left on the clock in the first half for Creighton to lead 44-31. Creighton closed out the first half leading 48-35 at halftime. Graves leads the Jays in scoring with 11 points, and eight of the 10 players for the Bluejays dented the scoring chart.
Creighton continued how it ended in the first half by starting on a 14-6 run with an eight-point stretch by Freeman, and buckets by Dix, Graves, to push the lead to 21 points with 16:50 remaining in the second half.
The Bluejays put on a dunk contest, including a 8-2 run with back-to-back dunks by Josh Townley Thomas and a slam by Zugic pushed the Creighton lead to 73-50 at the under-12-minute timeout. CU had eight dunks in total throughout the whole game, including four by Freeman.
The Coyotes cut the Bluejays' lead to 16, but that was as close as they would get in the end, as Creighton's firepower was too much for South Dakota to get back into the game.
Creighton ended the game shooting 50 percent from the field, with 11 of 12 Bluejays to play ended the game with points on the board. CU dished 20 assists on 37 field goals.
The Bluejays head to the west coast to face No. 21 Gonzaga on Tuesday, November 11th at 9 p.m. on ESPN.
NOTES:Creighton improved to 50-11 all-time against South Dakota, including a 34-1 mark in Omaha ... Greg McDermott is now 500-302 in 25 career Division I campaigns ... Greg McDermott is now 24-1 as a Division I head coach in season-openers, and 16-0 at Creighton ... McDermott's 24 straight season-opening wins is the longest Division I streak since Mike Brey had 24 straight from 1995-2018 ... Greg McDermott is now 18-0 against Summit League teams as Creighton's head coach ... Creighton is now 93-15 all-time in season-openers, and 28-1 in its past 29 lid-lifters ... Creighton has won 31 straight home openers ... The Nov. 5 date matched the 2019-20 season for the earliest season-opener (by calendar) in program history ... Creighton's newcomers combined for 55 points ... Of Creighton's first 20 teams to score 90+ points in as season-opener, 13 went on to reach the NCAA Tournament ... Creighton has scored 75+ points in each of its last 14 meetings vs. USD ... South Dakota extended its nation-leading streak to 13 straight games scoring 75 points or more with a basket in the final minute ... Creighton has made six or more three-pointers in 60 straight games ... Nik Graves attempted a free throw in his 60th straight game and made a three-pointer in his 16th game in a row ... Owen Freeman has scored 10+ points in each of his last 23 games played ... Josh Dix has made a three-pointer in 13 games in a row ... Except 2019-20 (when there was no postseason) Creighton has made the postseason each of the 12 most recent times it has shot 50 percent or better in the season-opener, including 10 NCAA Tournament trips ... Creighton had 29 second-chance points, 12 more than any game last season and its most since also contributing 29 second-chance points in its 2023-24 season-opener vs. Florida A&M ... Liam McChesney had a blocked shot in his first regular-season game in 979 days (since March 2, 2023) ... Josh Townley-Thomas had a career-high six points after scoring four points all of last season.
MORE DETAILS TO COME
Team Stats
SD
CU
FG%
.419
.500
3FG%
.333
.308
FT%
.643
.909
RB
37
44
TO
13
13
STL
7
7
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
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