Creighton University
25-11,15-5Big East
Auburn
30-5,15-3SEC
Men's Basketball Season Ends in NCAA Tourney vs. Top-Seeded Auburn
3/22/2025 8:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bluejays finish 25-11
The game marked the final contest for Creighton seniors Ryan Kalkbrenner, Steven Ashworth, Jamiya Neal and Sami Osmani, who combined for 5,453 points, 2,214 rebounds, 1,203 assists and 447 blocked shots at the collegiate level.
The teams exchanged leads seven times in the first 13 minutes as the Bluejays torched the nets from three-point land. CU's first 18 points came via the three-point shot, including three treys from Steven Ashworth. The senior's third trifecta of the first half with eight minutes left gave Creighton a 25-23 lead. McAndrew his fourth three-ball of the half with 28 seconds left to give Creighton a 37-35 lead on the 13th lead change of the half. It was McAndrew's 69th three-pointer of the season, setting a Creighton single-season record for a freshman.
McAndrew led all players with 12 points while Ashworth had 11 points and five assists. Reserve Chaney Johnson had eight points for AU, while National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome had four points but did grab a game-high seven boards in the first half for the Tigers.
The Tigers turned the tide in the second half with a 10-0 run in a span of 97 seconds to go in front 58-50. Chad Baker-Mazara had the first five points in the run, followed by a step-back three-pointer from Denver Jones and a dunk by Dylan Cardwell to prompt a Bluejay timeout with 12:27 remaining. CU went inside to get a pair of Kalkbrenner baskets, only to have Auburn counter with a second 10-0 run to extend the lead to 68-54 with six minutes remaining.
CU had one last spurt. Fedor Zugic buried a three-pointer, Kalkbrenner made a lay-up and Neal a dunk to help Creighton close within 68-61 with 4:12 to go, 72-65 with 2:30 left and 74-67 with 2:11 to play. A defensive stop and Kalkbrenner foul shot brought the Jays within 74-68 with 1:39 left, but a three--point play by Denver Jones with two seconds on the shot clock stopped CU's last gasp.
Kalkbrenner had 18 points and seven rebounds in his final collegiate game to lead CU, while Neal (13), Ashworth (13), McAndrew (12), and Fedor Zugic (10) also scored in double-figures. Ashworth dished eight assists.
Auburn got 17 points from Baker-Mazara and 23 by Tahaad Pettiford. Broome came in averaging 18.7 points per game but the SEC Player of the Year and Sporting News National Player of the Year was held to eight on 4-for-13 shooting, though he did grab 12 rebounds. Auburn will face fifth-seeded Michigan next Friday in Atlanta in the Regional Semifinals.
NOTES: Creighton was playing a third straight Top 10 opponent for the first time in school history ... Ryan Kalkbrenner made his program-record 10th NCAA Tournament start ... Steven Ashworth made a three-pointer in his 11th straight game and Creighton made a triple in its 1,056 consecutive game ... Jackson McAndrew (69) passed Ethan Wragge's (68) school-record for most three-pointers by a Creighton freshman ... Jackson McAndrew joined Trey Alexander (2022) and Arthur Kaluma (2022) as the only Creighton freshmen to score 10 or more points in back-to-back NCAA Tournament games ... Jamiya Neal finished his career with 998 career points while Ryan Kalkbrenner finished with 399 career blocks and Steven Ashworth finished with 1,994 career points ... Kalkbrenner had his 28th game in a row with 10 or more points ... Auburn improved to 2-1 all-time against Creighton, a series that includes a CU win in 1976 and an Auburn victory in the 2000 NCAA Tournament. All three meetings have taken place on neutral floors ... Creighton fell to 21-27 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, and 12-10 under Greg McDermott ... Creighton is 0-7 all-time against top-two seeds ... Auburn clinched its sixth Sweet 16 appearance (1985, 1986, 1999, 2003, 2019, 2025) ... Auburn improved to 3-0 inside Rupp Arena this year after being 3-36 in the venue all-time prior to this season ... Auburn's 30 wins ties a program-record first done in 2018-19 ... No. 1 seeds improved to 74-6 all-time against No. 9 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - CREIGHTON VS AUBURN
March 22, 2025
Greg McDermott
Steven Ashworth
Jamiya Neal
Ryan Kalkbrenner
Sami Osmani
Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Rupp Arena
Creighton Bluejays
Media Conference
Auburn 82, Creighton 70
THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Creighton Head Coach Greg McDermott, student-athletes Steven Ashworth, Jamiya Neal, Ryan Kalkbrenner and Sami Osmani.
Coach?
GREG McDERMOTT: We lost to an outstanding team. We recognized we were going to have to play a pretty perfect game if we expected to win. While we weren't perfect, I certainly applaud our effort. We game into the game trying to make it tough for Broome and I think we did that. We didn't want Kelly to get a lot of clean looks, and we were able to accomplish that.
Baker-Mazara, Denver Jones and Pettiford absolutely got us, got us in space. If you had told me before the game that Kelly was going to have 5 and Broome was going to have 8 and we were going to shoot almost 50% from the field and 45% from the three-point line, I would have probably told you that we would have won, especially the fact that we assisted on 17 out of 25 baskets and held them to only 11 assists on 30 baskets.
But their ability to do things off the dribble was very, very effective and really proud of this group. Proud of these four seniors. They've been selfless. They've done so much for this program in their own ways, and it's absolutely been a pleasure to coach this team. This has been a great ride that they've taken us on. I couldn't be more proud of them.
Q. Steven, the defensive adjustments by Auburn in the second half, what kind of things between switching guys off of you, how was it affecting the perimeter game? It appeared to be pushing it out. Was it just making sure you all just didn't get set?
STEVEN ASHWORTH: I think a lot of it, especially in that second half, was more switching on their ball screens, keeping the bigs up high as opposed to maybe the bigs showing and then trying to get back to Kalk, as great of a rim threat as he is for us. So in the first half a few more open looks around the perimeter off of ball screens.
In that second half definitely they were trying to meet those ball screens higher and any dribble hand-off or other action switching it, and if we tried to get it to Kalk up high and run some of our motion, denying any of those cuts and forcing us to back cut toward the basket and push our catches out for sure, which limited our three-point efficiency I think in that second half.
Q. Ryan, are you in a different state of mind right now, compared to the way some other seasons have ended? Are you just trying to appreciate the last few moments of your Creighton career?
RYAN KALKBRENNER: I would say definitely a little bit. This year in particular has been a really, really fun and rewarding year. This team has been such a joy to be around. When I made the decision to come back all the way in the summer you think you're making the right decision when you make it but you don't know for sure.
Sitting up here today, obviously the season ended a little bit sooner than we wanted it to but it was definitely the right decision.
Mainly for all the things that happened off the court with this team and how we bonded together and how, family for life with them. Definitely taking it all in and enjoying the last moments with each other, like this. We're obviously still going to stay in contact with each other, still be friends the rest of our lives but trying to take these moments in.
Q. Steven, on that same note what's going through your mind now that your Creighton career has come to a close?
STEVEN ASHWORTH: I think the first word would have to be gratitude for the experience and the opportunity to put on this uniform and represent a brand and a tradition like this and play for Coach Mac. Can't do any of this without my teammates and the incredible brothers that they've become and the uncles that they've become to my son Tommy, and all the joy, like Kalk said, off the court. It's sad that it's over but at the same time we can be happy that it happened.
Q. Jamiya, yesterday you told us that in some way it caught you off guard, the bond that you ended up having with this team. It wasn't something that you necessarily expected to happen. As you were out there battling tonight and the seconds were ticking away, what are you going to remember about what this year represented and how it fulfilled your last year of college basketball?
JAMIYA NEAL: I definitely cherish the time I had at Creighton a lot, especially as I get older, just thinking about it. Obviously only being there one year, I feel like I just got here and now it's already over. That's what I was thinking when the seconds were going down I thought, damn -- sorry, just meeting Coach Mac, I was like, I didn't know he was that tall. Now he's been a father figure to me. Somebody that I'll always call on, not just on basketball but advice on being a man. When I become a dad, I will probably call Steven and ask him how he started.
Just little things like that. The bonds I've built here, they're going to last forever. So that's where I'm at with it.
Q. Sami, what have your five years meant and what has it meant to have this run with this team in your farewell tour?
SAMI OSMANI: Five years have been extremely special. Being around these dudes, especially this year, I think this team has been the most special team I've been a part of. It's been a joy to be around these guys every single day in practice. I felt like I think I did a great job of staying in the moment. I knew it was going to be my last year taking it all in, but there is definitely more reflecting to do. There is so many more memories I could pick out.
But overall it was a pleasure to be around these guys. Unfortunately, we ended short today but we played with class throughout the year and did the right things and just ended short.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, gentlemen. Questions for Coach.
Q. What's it mean to you to hear those guys each in different ways, Ryan has been here forever, Sami forever, Jamiya just one year, and Steven for two, they all have common themes on what this place has meant to them. What's going through your mind when you hear that?
GREG McDERMOTT: A lot of pride. A lot of teams throw the word family around. Some of it's B.S., it's not here. These guys have just been selfless, from Sami for five years knowing you're not going to play to show up every day with the right attitude and get that scout team ready to go, and Jamiya, just the growth in one year. You don't see one-year players make the strides that he's made from when we watched him play in those first few games in November to how he's played in March. It's been very rewarding to see that.
And Steven, everybody is worried about what are we going to do without Ryan Nembhard and I think the best compliment I can give Steven is, what are we going to do without Steven Ashworth? His fingerprints are all over the last two years. His positive leadership, he has a way of talking to his teammates and helping correct them that makes them feel good and that's quite a trait to have.
He shows up at practice with his -- the glass is half full every day. Even when us as coaches are maybe a little bit down about the last game, it's hard not to be fired up and ready to go when you see Steven's approach in practice. And then, you know, Ryan. We live if an era of self-promotion, and that dude has no agenda for himself, zero.
You hear guys talk about building their brand. The only brand he cares about is that name on the front of his jersey. That's all he's ever cared about. As I told him in the locker room, I remember watching him in that gym in St. Louis, tripping over himself, and wondering, can we make a player out of this guy?
Just to see what he's done and how he's done it, and how his leadership evolved and his confidence has evolved, you know, for two years he wouldn't even ask a girl out on a date, let alone thinking about marrying somebody. Now he has a wonderful wife in Rachel.
It's been an absolute pleasure. The journey has been incredible with this group and especially where we started in December. Our margin for error was gone because of a lot of things that transpired in November and December, and we played really well in a good league, and in the tournament.
To take that decision, there was no decision on whether Creighton was going to be in the NCAA Tournament. Then we fought a great team for 30-some minutes before we kinda got away from us.
Q. Mac, you've talked extensively throughout the season, how much Ryan has meant to you guys the last five years and this ever-changing landscape, that he's become somewhat of a son to you. What was it like to have that last embrace with him now that it's over?
GREG McDERMOTT: It's hard. Hard on one hand, sad on one hand, but so prideful on the other. Just to see where he's -- how far he's come, and the way he's carried himself. And, you know, he's won more games than anybody that's ever worn a Creighton uniform, he's won more NCAA Tournament games than anybody who has worn that Creighton uniform. His jersey will hang in the rafters someday, and he cares nothing about that, zero. That's what makes him so special.
His leadership this year, with this team, when we were struggling, like, he just was an every day guy. All you can ask for your leaders is -- everybody else in your organization needs to know what to expect from you every day, and that never changed with Ryan, and it never changed with Steven. But, you know, he's become like a son to me, because we've been through a lot, together. He's always had my back; I've always had his, and I'm obviously going to really miss him, not just on the court, but our relationship off the floor.
Q. Coach, these players played their hearts out all the way up to the last second of the game, and it's been that way the whole season. What does that show about their attitudes and the way they have played up to the last minute of their season and career?
GREG McDERMOTT: They really care about this program, and they really care about this university, and they're very grateful for the support that we receive.
17,000 people every single night, and the way our booster base has stepped up to support our program in so many ways, in this ever-changing landscape. You can't have a successful program without tremendous support. We've got some of the best. Some of the people that have been with us through thick and thin, it's been incredible.
That's why it's easy for these guys to go out there and lay it all on the line, like I said, in this world that we're living in now, where things are becoming so transactional, and everybody is looking for the best deal. Ryan Kalkbrenner could have left a couple times. He never even thought about that. He had to make a decision whether to go in the draft, but in terms of chasing a higher number somewhere, he never thought of that.
All these guys, it's never become an issue. Their teammates are the only thick that's important to them and representing this university in a first-class manner. Those days are harder to duplicate in the world we're living in, and that's why these four are so special. I hope in a few years I'm still saying the same thing about our leadership, that it's been selfless and about the name on the front of the jersey, but that's becoming increasingly difficult.
THE MODERATOR: Coach, we appreciate your time, thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - CREIGHTON VS AUBURN
March 22, 2025
Bruce Pearl
Tahaad Pettiford
Denver Jones
Johni Broome
Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Rupp Arena
Auburn Tigers
Media Conference
Auburn 82, Creighton 70
THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Auburn Head Coach Bruce Pearl, Tahaad Pettiford, Denver Jones and Johni Broome. Questions for our student-athletes after Coach's opening statement.
BRUCE PEARL: I get asked a lot how this basketball program has become so competitive over the last eight years. Well, you're looking at the reasons right here. But for me, I believe it was God's plan to give us this success, success beyond what we deserve. To give us this platform. To give us an opportunity to start this conference briefly and remind the world that Edan Alexander is still held hostage in Gaza right now. An American held hostage and not enough people in this country know his name.
I asked the players if I started out this press conference and called out the name of an American, brings the hostages home.
Very proud of my team. We played Auburn basketball. We played like the number 1 team in the country. We acted like the number 1 team in the country. We prepared like the number 1 team in the country.
We talked a little bit about game one and not giving the kind of effort and energy that was required and, you know, not really trusting one another, sharing it, and the sacrifices that need to be made. Tonight we put all that behind us and the guys did a phenomenal job on both ends of the floor.
My congratulations to Creighton on an incredible year. They have a wonderful coach. They've got some tremendous seniors, Steven Ashworth and the big fella. Just had great, great careers.
But this guy sitting right there in the middle, Denver Jones, I've been telling everybody he is one of the best defensive guards in all of college basketball and he proved it tonight with the effort and energy that he put forth and obviously making it really hard for their best player to get any kind of open looks, and this guy right here to my right is fearless. Seniors on this team trust him. So does his coach.
That guy down at the other end, you saw -- you continue to see night after night why he's the National College Player of the Year, in my opinion.
Q. Denver, yesterday Creighton coach Greg McDermott said whoever guards their point guard is going to be tired. Are you tired?
DENVER JONES: Not going to lie, I was pretty tired after the game. It was a lot of work chasing him around those screens.
Q. But you got it done and slowed down their offense in the second half. Talk about that and how it got done.
DENVER JONES: Honestly putting forth effort and energy. We talked about the type of team we were going to play and what we need to work on. And coming into this game you could feel in the air that today was a lot different than the other day.
We came out here and proved it second half especially.
Q. Tahaad, another big game. You led Auburn in scoring today. Talk about what was working for you so well on the court today?
TAHAAD PETTIFORD: Just playing the offense. We knew the shots that we were going to get, just getting in the gym and working on those types of shots and being ready for the situation. My guys helped me get the ball, get me open and helped me find the shots that I wanted to get.
Q. Tahaad, I guess Chad Baker-Mazara was the table setter in that second half. When he went out with the hip injury, was that when you kinda thought I need to pick up the slack? I mean, everybody kinda picked up the slack on the bench for you guys.
TAHAAD PETTIFORD: Definitely losing a guy like Chad, he's playing so well, he's a big part of this team. Seeing him go down, everybody knew they had to step up and do what they had to do to get the win.
Q. Denver, you came to Auburn mostly considered a scorer and now your coach says you're the best defensive guard in the country. I don't want to call it a transformation but talk about that journey and what it takes for you to say, I might not score as much but I'm going to help my team win this way?
DENVER JONES: Honestly, that was the main reason why I came here. I came because I wanted to win and I knew the system. I knew the type of players that they were going to have here at Auburn.
Coming here obviously defense. The way we play defense is challenging already, just coming from another school but I wanted to be one of the best two-way guards in the league, and that was one of the main things I focused on, especially this off-season.
Q. You guys were able to control the boards, only 4 offensive rebounds for them. How important was it to limit the second-chance opportunities for Creighton?
JOHNI BROOME: It was very important. I think that was everybody being bought in to wanting to win. Obviously you have to contribute to be on the court. So if that's what we have to do to rebound the basketball while our guards are having great games, Denver, Tahaad, Miles, Chad, those guys, we have to rebound the basketball in order to impact the game.
Q. Johni, it's not often that you don't hit double figures in scoring. Your teammates really stepped in to help fill that void. Talk about the trust that you had in them to carry the load offensively tonight.
JOHNI BROOME: For sure, I didn't have a good offensive game. I shot 4 for 13 but that's okay. I came here to win. This season is about winning. I know my teammates got my back and they know I have theirs.
My shots weren't falling, so I just had to do whatever I can to impact winning and I let everybody else do the scoring.
Q. Johni, what does it mean to have someone step up like Tahaad the last two games, 16 and 23 down the stretch to send you to the Sweet 16?
JOHNI BROOME: He's a special freshman, you know? He understands the game. He's learned a lot from kind of the older guys and he knows when the time that we need him to step up. He steps up to the challenge, you know, a lot of the times for us. That's what you expect out of a guy like him.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks for your time, guys.
TAHAAD PETTIFORD: Happy birthday, mom!
THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach.
Q. Bruce, I know the job is not done yet but we talked about getting to the second week. What does it mean to you to get to the Atlanta Regional?
BRUCE PEARL: As I said yesterday, Thursday was the first NCAA win for a lot of our guys. We haven't been past the first weekend since 2019, when we got to the Final Four. Being the number 1 overall seed it would have been disappointing if we didn't do it again. We got upset by Miami as a number 2 seed a few years ago with Walker Kessler and Jabari Smith.
But we played a team in Creighton tonight that is as good as the teams we will see in Atlanta, whether it was Michigan or Texas A&M or I'm not sure who the other two are -- Michigan State, who does Michigan State play? New Mexico? Okay, but we knew Creighton was going to be as good as anybody we would see on the road to the Final Four. I feel that way. Hopefully this is something we could build on.
Q. Coach, he got hurt early into the second half, but Chad Baker-Mazara scored 12 points in six and a half minutes to get you started. Talk about the effort that he gave you in the game that you won ultimately by 12 points.
BRUCE PEARL: Yeah, Chad was being guarded by a freshman, Jackson McAndrew, who had a great, great offensive game but Chad had the advantage. We were able to get him in a ball screen action where he was able to turn corners and get downhill and score the basketball. I thought in the first half when we weren't shooting a very good percentage, the guys were going downhill and I don't want to say they were trying to draw fouls but we were winding up on the floor and the fouls weren't called and that was not good. I thought in the second half we stopped that and we just went down there and tried to get buckets.
And Chad, you know, obviously he's a buck seventy-five soaking wet and he has a bony ass. So when he lands on the ground, bam, it's wood on bone. So he probably got a pretty good bruise. Hopefully that's all it is.
Q. Bruce, especially Tahaad and Denver got downhill and got in the lane and scored, how important was that to take the ball to the basket?
BRUCE PEARL: When you go up against drop coverage you're going to be able to get a ball screen and you're going to be able to turn corners. Creighton does a great job of funneling everyone to the rim, to the shot blocker. We tried to put a body on the shot blocker on the backside, so he couldn't rotate over. And when he did rotate over, those guys particularly, Tahaad, Chad, Denver had a big bucket late, were able to get in the lane and make buckets and then we had some backside rebounding there to take advantage of the shot blocking. So it was a very simple game plan.
Steven Pearl had the scout tonight and he had an absolutely masterful game plan. Particularly Steven was focused on the defensive end, just really, really good. I know it didn't look like it when they were banging all those threes but to hold a really good offensive team to 70 points and hold them, the shooting percentage of 42%, 23% from three was huge.
Then my offensive coordinator, Mike Burgomaster, we had a good feel for who depending upon where the big fella, who he was guarding and the actions we wanted to run to be able to open shots and get downhill.
Q. Coach, how does having a core group of seniors give you an advantage in a win like this?
BRUCE PEARL: I think it's always an advantage when you have older guys, but my older guys haven't been here before. Creighton's been to the Sweet 16 four out of last five years. Those guys on that team have been to the Sweet 16 for three or four of the last five years. I don't have anybody on our team. One of the best performers in the second half was a freshman.
So some of that experience thing, it's important, but it wasn't the factor tonight.
Q. Bruce, what changed in the second half, keeping the point guard and McAndrew went off the first half y'all seemed to limit him second half, what do you do defensively to make sure the ball got out of their hands?
BRUCE PEARL: We really worked harder at getting our bigs up to the level. In the first half our bigs were playing too far back from their men and were not able to get out there and impact those ball screens and keep Creighton on the perimeter.
I would say fatigue could have been a factor in the sense that the way we guard makes Creighton work really hard to get open and get looks. It does take its toll a little bit. I thought our physicality on the rebounding and physicality being bodies on bodies, I think they were a little fatigued in the second half.
Q. Following up on that, what was the one thing that you saw in the first half that I guess in the absence of your shooting you were getting rebounds and stuff. Did you just tell them just go to the boards harder and good things will happen on the other end?
BRUCE PEARL: The halftime talk was easy: Guys, they've banged nine threes, we've missed a couple of inside shots, we're shooting 30% and we're down a bucket, are you kidding me?
Creighton has got to go into the halftime thinking how are we only up by 2 points? We shot well, executed well, made nine threes, we should be up by double digits. But we made some offense out of our defense, and we were more dominant on the boards, particularly got some offensive rebounding baskets. We found a way to manufacture enough points to still be in the game.
I thought we were in great shape at halftime considering how well Creighton played and the margin was what it was.
Q. Bruce, they wanted to know about the hostages, forgive me for not doing my homework on this. What made you say that and got you to? Do you have friends or is it anything that you --
BRUCE PEARL: What made me say it is, again, it starts with my faith, and it starts with us answering the question, why has God blessed Auburn and this basketball team the way he has all season long. Honestly, it's I think to put us on a platform, in this case right now myself as a Jewish American who loves his country more than anything else in the world.
My grandfather came over here at 11 years old in 1929. He became a citizen when he was 32 years old, said it was the greatest day of his life. This Jewish American loves his country more than anything else. At the same time Israel that is our ancestral homeland and it's under attack. It's under siege. All it wants to do is live in peace with its neighbors, and there are Arab countries that are wanting peace with Israel right now, but there is a segment of the population that is there in the Middle East doing nothing but attacking Israel for 85 years.
October 7th was the worst day since the Holocaust for the Jewish people, and they say they want to do it again and again and again. We have American held hostages in Gaza right now, and it's unacceptable. And President Trump called it out, and said if they just free the hostages, the killing would stop. Free the hostages, and the killing will stop, and that's up to Hamas.
Q. Coach, this was the first game this season that Creighton lost when they shot better than 36%. They were 11-0 in shooting 36% or better from three. They shot 44% tonight. Talk about the efforts to try to run them off the three-point line and continuing to play Auburn basketball when they were shooting so well from the perimeter.
BRUCE PEARL: I thought they banged some shots -- they got some 50/50 balls and some inside-out things. Two or three of them were not necessarily offensive sets, they got some stuff in transition, and we recognize that they're making 12 threes and they got their 17 assist average.
But obviously for us to be able to score 82 and shoot 60% in the second half, I thought we controlled the game in the second half with our offense. Again, played like we've been playing all year long, just sharing it. Coach Greg McDermott told me after the game he recognized we had a really, really good team and so do they. Our guys played up to their ability today, very proud of them.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
