Men's Basketball Meets #4 Auburn on Saturday

Game #36: Creighton Bluejays (25-10) vs. #4 Auburn Tigers (29-5)
Saturday, March 22, 2025 • 6:10 p.m. Central • Lexington, Ky. • Rupp Arena
| LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES | AU NOTES |

• Creighton (25-10) seeks its fourth Sweet 16 in the past five seasons on Saturday, March 22nd, when it faces top-seeded and fourth-ranked Auburn (29-5). Tip-off inside Rupp Arena (20,545) in Lexington, Ky., is set for 6:10 p.m. Central (7:10 p.m. Eastern).
    The game will be televised on TBS and truTV, with Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson and Allie LaForce. announcing.      Streaming video of all NCAA Tourney games is at http://www.ncaa.com/marchmadnesslive.
    The game can be heard on KOZN (1620 The Zone), with John Bishop and Ross Ferrarini on the call.
    Westwood One will also air the game, with John Sadak and LaPhonso Ellis on the broadcast. The game can be heard on SiriusXM (channel 208 or 201), and on the SiriusXM App. The Westwood One feed will be available over the internet and other mobile devices at http://westwoodonesports.com/madness. The Westwood One feed is also on the Varsity Network app mentioned above and also available via the free Westwood One Sports skill on Alexa ("Alexa, Open Westwood One Sports").

• Creighton is 1-1 all-time against Auburn. Creighton won Dec. 28, 1976 against the No. 20 Tigers in Louisville, one day before losing to the host Cardinals. The other meeting came in the 2000 NCAA Tournament in Minneapolis, where Auburn escaped with a 72-69 victory.
    Greg McDermott has never coached against Auburn but is 3-2 against SEC teams from the Yellowhammer State (3-1 as CU coach).
    And incredibly, though McDermott has been a head coach for 31 years and Auburn's Bruce Pearl for 30, they've never faced each other.

• As mentioned above, Auburn won 72-69 in the 2000 NCAA Tournament game, but that game stands out because of its bizarre ending. Auburn led by nine points with 12.7 seconds left and inserted manager Jimbo Tolbert into the game. Creighton would drain two three-pointers and force two Auburn turnovers and incredibly have a shot to tie the game at the buzzer, only to have it blocked. The fourth-to-last page of this packet has the AP write-up of that contest.
    That Creighton team was coached by Dana Altman (now head coach at Oregon), and new Indiana head coach Darian DeVries was on staff as a graduate assistant. The roster featured Kyle Korver (17-year NBA vet, now with the Atlanta Hawks front office), Michael Lindeman (NBA agent to Nikola Jokic and Khris Middleton, among others) and Alan Huss (High Point head coach), Dan Kolder (doctor), Matt West (doctor) and John Klein (doctor), among others.

With A Win...
• Creighton would advance to next Friday's Regional Semifinal in Atlanta against the winner of Saturday's Texas A&M vs. Michigan game in Denver.
• Creighton would improve to 22-26 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
• Creighton would improve to 5-10 in its second NCAA Tournament game of an appearance.
• Improve to 3-1 as a No. 9 seed and 1-3 against a No. 1 seed.
• Greg McDermott would improve to 13-9 as Creighton's head coach in the NCAA Tournament, and 21-13 in the postseason. All other CU coaches are 8-17 in the NCAA Tournament and 17-29 in the postseason.
• Creighton would win multiple games in the postseason for the fifth time in its last six trips, which includes the 2019 NIT.
• Creighton would win its 26th game this season, its most in one year since going 27-8 in 2013-14, and just the sixth time in program history with 26 or more victories.
• Ryan Kalkbrenner would play in his 10th career NCAA Tournament win, extending his own program record. No one else has played in more than six.
• Creighton would own three Top 10 wins in the same season for the second time in program history, having also done so in 2019-20 (No. 8 Villanova, No. 10 Seton Hall, No. 8 Seton Hall).

Upcoming Milestones
    Steven Ashworth owns 1,981 career points (1,031 at Utah State, 950 at Creighton) and is 19 shy of 2,000. Ashworth is also 50 points shy of 1,000 at Creighton and nine three-pointers shy of 400 treys overall.
    Ryan Kalkbrenner owns 399 career blocked shots and can become the 29th player in NCAA history to get to 400. He's just 12 swats shy of Benoit Benjamin's school-record 411.
    Ryan Kalkbrenner owns 93 blocks this season and is seven shy of 100. He's also four rebounds short of 300 for the year.
    Ryan Kalkbrenner moved from 117th to 114th on the NCAA's all-time scoring list on Thursday and has now scored 2,425 career points. Among those on the horizon that he can pass on Saturday may be Steve Alford (2,438), Omaha native Mike McGee (2,439), Chris Mullin (2,440), Glen Rice (2,442), Christian Laettner (2,460) and Tom Gola (2,461). Gola is 100th in NCAA history.
    Jackson McAndrew has made 65 three-pointers this season, as he passed Kyle Korver and Ryan Sears on Creighton's all-time list for three-pointers by a freshman on Thursday. He's three behind Ethan Wragge's freshman school-record of 68.
    Jamiya Neal owns 985 career points (565 at Arizona State, 420 at Creighton) and is 15 shy of 1,000.
    Greg McDermott owns 499 career Division I wins (90 at Northern Iowa, 59 at Iowa State, 350 at Creighton). Thursday was McDermott's 350th victory on the Bluejay sideline, which includes 175 non-conference wins and 175 conference victories.

• Creighton has won at least one NCAA Tournament game in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Through games of Thursday, the only other teams that can say that were Creighton and Gonzaga, with Baylor and Houston both eligible to join that group with a victory on Friday.
    This is the first time that Creighton has won an NCAA Tournament game in five straight years.

• Entering this season, Creighton is one of just five teams to have reached at least three of the last four Sweet 16s, and will try to add to that figure on Saturday with a win. Gonzaga and Houston have done it each of the last four seasons, while Alabama, Creighton, and UCLA have done it three of the past four years.

• Creighton's 49 first half points on Thursday the most it has ever had in the first half of an NCAA Tournament game. The previous high was 48 vs. DePaul on March 12, 1978.
    Creighton's 89 points tied a program record for an NCAA Tournament game, as CU also scored 89 on March 9, 1964 against Oklahoma City.

• Creighton's 89-75 win vs. Louisville was not a Bluejay Scorigami. It was actually the fourth 89-75 win in program history. CU beat No. 5 Marquette in 2024, Seton Hall in 2016 and Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 1966 by that count.

• Creighton has never beaten a top-two seed in the NCAA Tournament, going 0-3 against No. 1 seeds and 0-3 against No. 2 seeds. The only top four seed Creighton has ever topped in NCAA Tourney play was third-seeded Baylor in 2023, which came in the Round of 32..
    Creighton is 6-14 all-time in the NCAA Tournament when playing a better-seeded opponent.

• Creighton is one of five BIG EAST teams to make the NCAA Tournament this season, joining St. John's, Marquette, Connecticut and Xavier.
    The BIG EAST has had a Sweet 16 squad in 28 of the past 30 tournaments, and multiple Sweet 16 teams in 17 of the last 22 tournaments.
    Even when you remove Louisville's vacated 2013 men's title, the BIG EAST Conference has won a combined 16 NCAA men's and women's basketball titles in the previous 24 tournaments.
    The BIG EAST is responsible for four of the last eight NCAA titles (2016 & 2018 Villanova; 2023 & 2024 Connecticut).

• Through games of Thursday, thanks to wins by Xavier (Wednesday vs. Texas), Creighton (Thursday vs. Louisville) and St. John's (Thursday vs. Omaha), the BIG EAST started 3-0 in this year's NCAA Tournament.
    The BIG EAST went 12-4 with three Sweet 16 teams and the NCAA champ in 2023 and 10-2 with three Sweet 16 teams and the NCAA champ in 2024. The 25 wins and .806 win percentage in the past three NCAA Tournaments lead all conferences.

• Creighton went 14,588 days from Feb. 10, 1974 to Jan. 19, 2014 without a win over a Top 10 team.
    Since Jan. 20, 2014, it has 16, such wins, including at least one Top 10 win in each of the last 10 seasons.
    A win on Saturday would give Creighton three Top 10 wins in the same season for the second time in program history, having also done so in 2019-20 (No. 8 Villanova, No. 10 Seton Hall, No. 8 Seton Hall).
    Here's a list of all 21 Top 10 wins in program history.
Creighton's Top 10 Wins All-Time
Date    Opponent    Score    Head Coach
12/13/1963    #4 Arizona State    W 84-83    McManus
12/01/1965    #10 Kansas State    W 83-75    McManus
01/29/1970    #5 New Mexico State    W 72-68    Sutton
02/17/1973    #7 Houston    W 78-77    Sutton
02/09/1974    at #6 Marquette    W 75-69    Sutton
01/20/2014    at #4 Villanova    W 96-68    McDermott
02/16/2014    #6 Villanova    W 101-80    McDermott
02/09/2016    #5 Xavier    W 70-56    McDermott
11/15/2016    #9 Wisconsin    W 79-67    McDermott
02/24/2018    #3 Villanova    W 89-83 (OT)    McDermott
03/03/2019    at #10 Marquette    W 66-60    McDermott
02/01/2020    at #8 Villanova    W 76-61    McDermott
02/12/2020    at #10 Seton Hall    W 87-82    McDermott
03/07/2020    #8 Seton Hall    W 77-60    McDermott
02/13/2021    #5 Villanova    W 86-70    McDermott
12/17/2021    #9 Villanova    W 79-59    McDermott
11/22/2022    vs. #9 Arkansas    W 90-87    McDermott
02/20/2024    #1 Connecticut    W 85-66    McDermott
03/02/2024    #5 Marquette    W 89-75    McDermott
12/04/2024    #1 Kansas    W 76-63    McDermott
03/20/2025    vs. #10 Louisville    W 89-75    McDermott

• Saturday's contest against No. 4 Auburn will be Creighton's third straight game against a Top 10 team (No. 6 St. John's, No. 10 Louisville, No. 4 Auburn), the first time it has ever played three Top 10 teams in a row.
    Prior to the games against St. John's and Louisville within the past week, the only other time Creighton had played back-to-back Top 10 opponents came in March of 1975, when it lost to No. 5 Marquette and No. 4 Maryland consecutively.
    Saturday is Creighton's seventh game of the year against a Top 10 team, two more than the previous high of five done last season.

• Creighton heads into Saturday's showdown against No. 4 Auburn having won each of its last three games against Top 5 opponents, having defeated No. 1 Connecticut (85-66), No. 5 Marquette (89-75) and No. 1 Kansas (76-63).
    Creighton's three-game win streak over Top 5 opponents is tied for the third-longest active streak, trailing only Clemson (5) and CCNY (also 5, though it hasn't played a Top 5 foe since 1950 and is now Division III). Among the other teams tied at three are West Virginia, Florida and...Auburn.
    Creighton's three straight wins by 13+ points over Top 5 teams is tied for the second-longest streak in college basketball history, trailing only a five-game streak by UCLA from 1968-1970.

• Ryan Kalkbrenner owns 2,425 points and 399 blocks in his career.
    Per Basketball-Reference.com, he is the seventh player in Division I men's basketball history with at least 2,100 points and 350 blocked shots in a career.
    Each of the first five men to do it were picked No. 1 in the NBA Draft. The other, Auburn star Johni Broome, is currently active.
2,100 Points & 350 Career Blocks, NCAA History
    PTS    BLK    DRAFT    Name, School
    2,669    516    1    David Robinson, Navy
    2,184    493    1    Patrick Ewing, Georgetown
    2,117    481    1    Tim Duncan, Wake Forest
    2,228    462    1    Ralph Sampson, Virginia
    2,628    414    Active    Johni Broome, Morehead St./Auburn
    2,425    399    Active    Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
    2,143    374    1    Pervis Ellison, Louisville

• Ryan Kalkbrenner extended his NCAA Tournament program records with...
    168 points (next -most is 137)
    68 field goals made (next is 45)
    22 Blocked shots (next is 7)
    12 games played (next is 9)
    9 wins played in (next is 6)
    5 different years played (next is 4)

    Additionally, Kalkbrenner has tied Trey Alexander (2022-24) with nine career starts and can break that mark on Saturday with his 10th start.

• Ryan Kalkbrenner owns at least 10 points and a blocked shot in each of the last 20 games. He's the only Bluejay in the past 20 seasons to have done it in 10 or more consecutive games in his career, and owns three such streaks.
    The nation's only player with a longer streak than Kalkbrenner since 2005-06 is Johni Broome's 22 in a row during the 2021-22 campaign while at Morehead State.
    Since 2005-06, the only player with more than Kalkbrenner's 119 career games with 10+ points and a block is Broome's 127, which includes his current run starring at Auburn after transferring.

• Jackson McAndrew had 11 points in his NCAA Tournament debut on Thursday. He's just the sixth Bluejay freshman with 11 or more points in a Round of 64 game, joining Tony Pruitt (1981), Terrell Taylor (2000), Mitch Ballock (2018), Arthur Kaluma (2022) and Trey Alexander (2022).

• Jamiya Neal's 29 points against Louisville were the fourth-most by a Creighton player ever in an NCAA Tournament game, and the most ever by a Bluejay in their NCAA debut (it's worth noting Neal played in the NCAA Tournament for Arizona State). The only players with more points in an NCAA Tourney game for Creighton are Ryan Kalkbrenner (31), Doug McDermott (30) and Ryan Nembhard (30).
    Neal's 11 field goals trail only McDermott's 13 baskets vs. Louisiana in 2014 for second-most in CU's NCAA Tournament history.

• Jamiya Neal scored a career-high 29 points in Creighton's win on Thursday, five more than his previous high done earlier this year in a road win at No. 14 Connecticut.
    Neal also tied a career-high with 12 rebounds (also Feb. 23 vs. Georgetown), and his six assists were the 10th time this season he's had six or more dimes after doing it exactly zero times in 93 games the previous three years at Arizona State.
    Neal is just the second Creighton player in the last 20 seasons to have at least 29 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in the same game, joining Ryan Hawkins at Georgetown (30/12/6) in 2022.
    Neal is the first player with 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists on 65 percent shooting from the field in an NCAA Tournament game since Marquette's Dwyane Wade in the 2003 Elite Eight vs. Kentucky.
    Neal became the first Creighton player to lead the team in points, rebounds and assists in an NCAA Tournament game since assists became an official stat in the early 1980s. The only others in that time to lead CU in points and rebounds (without assists) had been Arthur Kaluma vs. Kansas (24 & 12 in 2022) and Mitch Ballock vs. Kansas State (16 & 8 in 2018).

• Jamiya Neal (29 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists ) and Steven Ashworth (22 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) are the second pair of teammates in the past 20 years to each post a 20/5/5 line in the same NCAA Tournament game, joining Colorado's KJ Simpson and Eddie Lampkin.
    The only other BIG EAST team to do it was UConn in 1996, when Ray Allen (25/10/7) and Doron Sheffer (27/7/5) did it vs. Eastern Michigan.

• Jamiya Neal and Steven Ashworth are the fourth and fifth Creighton players with 20+ pts/5+ reb/5+ ast in a NCAA Tourney game
Year    Round    Player Name    Team    PTS    REB    AST
1973-74    QT2    Gene Harmon    Creighton    22    8    5
2002-03    R64    Kyle Korver    Creighton    21    9    5
2023-24    R32    Trey Alexander    Creighton    20    7    5
2024-25    R64    Steven Ashworth    Creighton    22    5    5
2024-25    R64    Jamiya Neal    Creighton    29    12    6

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Players Mentioned

Trey Alexander

Steven Ashworth

Ryan Kalkbrenner

Jackson McAndrew

Jamiya Neal