Wednesday, December 20
Omaha, Neb.
8:00 PM
Creighton University
10-2
116
vs
62
USC Upstate
4-11
1
2
F
USC Upstate
24
38
62
#25 Creighton
58
58
116
Kaleb Joseph
Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann
No. 25 Men's Basketball Breezes By USC Upstate, 116-62
12/20/2017 8:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Jays set a school-record with 32 assists
OMAHA, NEB. --- Six different Bluejays finished with double figures, led by 16 from senior Marcus Foster, as the No. 25 Creighton men's basketball team defeated USC Upstate 116-62 on Thursday, Dec. 20. CU dished a school-record 32 assists in its most prolific scoring game since 1964, and third-highest mark in school history.
The victory lifted Creighton to 10-2 on the season, while USC Upstate fell to 4-11.
Holding an early 7-6 edge (17:40), the Bluejays surged ahead with a 17-2 run over the next five minutes to run out to a 24-8 lead. Five different Bluejays contributed a bucket during the run, including treys from Foster and freshmen Mitch Ballock and Ty-Shon Alexander.
No sooner did the Spartans stop Creighton's first run with a bucket, than the Bluejays started another as a 26-13 contest (11:24) was stretched out to a 30-point contest with a 19-2 spurt to take a 45-15 edge with 6:20 left in the half. Foster once again led the charge with nine points in that run. The Bluejays pushed their lead out to 34 points by halftime at 58-24, the second-biggest halftime margin in CenturyLink Center Omaha history.
USC Upstate found some rhythm in the opening moments of the second half, getting six points in the pain from Avery Diggs, but the Bluejays countered with nine straight from long range as Khyri Thomas, Toby Hegner and Martin Krampelj all connected for treys to put the Bluejays up 73-34 (15:56). Creighton extended its lead as much as 56 in the final minute (116-60) coasting to the fifth-largest win in school history.
Foster's 16 points led all scorers, while Hegner and Ballock each finished with 13. Rounding out the Bluejays in double figures was Alexander with 11, Thomas (10) and a career-best 10 points by Tyler Clement. Kaleb Joseph had eight assists and six points, as well. Creighton shot a season-best 64.6 percent from the field and sank 19 three-pointers, two shy of the school record while sinking 55.9 percent from beyond the arc. Creighton won the rebound battle 43-30, outscored Upstate 59-29 off the bench, and had 20 fast break points in the first half alone.
USC Upstate got 15 points from Malik Moore in the loss as well as 10 from Diggs. The Spartans entered the game 19th nationally with 10.8 three-pointers per game, but shot just 5-of-28 treys on the day.
The Bluejays return to action on Thursday, Dec. 28 as Creighton opens BIG EAST play in New Jersey at Seton Hall with the tip set for 5:30 pm (CT).
NOTES: Creighton's 32 assists were one more than the previous school record, last set on Jan. 30, 1990 vs. Siena ... Creighton's 116 points trail only the 124 at Miami Fla. (2/10/1964) and 120 vs. Nevada (12/21/1962) ... Creighton's 54-point win was tied for the fifth-largest in school history, three shy of the school record (63-6 over Midland on 12/12/1925) and one shy of the arena record (113-58 over Longwood on 12/9/2016) ... Kaleb Joseph's eight assists were his high as a Bluejay, and his most since he had 10 against Villanova exactly three years to the date, when he played at Syracuse ... Creighton has now scored 100 or more points five times this season, including four of eight home games ... Creighton has won 34 straight games when scoring 100+ points ... Creighton has scored 100+ points five times this season, the most since it did it five times in 1971-72 ... Creighton has won 10 games before Christmas for the sixth time ever, and fourth time in the past seven years ... Creighton has won 104 straight home games against teams that enter with a record of .500 or worse ... Marcus Foster has scored in double-figures in 30 straight games ... Creighton has won a season-high five straight games, the 20th time in 22 seasons it's had a win streak of five or longer ... Tyler Clement became the 11th different Bluejay to score 10 or more points in a game this season ... All 12 Bluejays that suited up had at least two field goals made ... Creighton's 19 three-pointers were one shy of the arena record, and two shy of the program record ... Ten different Bluejays drained at least one trifecta ... Creighton averaged 1.547 points per possession, scoring on 48-of-75 trips.
The victory lifted Creighton to 10-2 on the season, while USC Upstate fell to 4-11.
Holding an early 7-6 edge (17:40), the Bluejays surged ahead with a 17-2 run over the next five minutes to run out to a 24-8 lead. Five different Bluejays contributed a bucket during the run, including treys from Foster and freshmen Mitch Ballock and Ty-Shon Alexander.
No sooner did the Spartans stop Creighton's first run with a bucket, than the Bluejays started another as a 26-13 contest (11:24) was stretched out to a 30-point contest with a 19-2 spurt to take a 45-15 edge with 6:20 left in the half. Foster once again led the charge with nine points in that run. The Bluejays pushed their lead out to 34 points by halftime at 58-24, the second-biggest halftime margin in CenturyLink Center Omaha history.
USC Upstate found some rhythm in the opening moments of the second half, getting six points in the pain from Avery Diggs, but the Bluejays countered with nine straight from long range as Khyri Thomas, Toby Hegner and Martin Krampelj all connected for treys to put the Bluejays up 73-34 (15:56). Creighton extended its lead as much as 56 in the final minute (116-60) coasting to the fifth-largest win in school history.
Foster's 16 points led all scorers, while Hegner and Ballock each finished with 13. Rounding out the Bluejays in double figures was Alexander with 11, Thomas (10) and a career-best 10 points by Tyler Clement. Kaleb Joseph had eight assists and six points, as well. Creighton shot a season-best 64.6 percent from the field and sank 19 three-pointers, two shy of the school record while sinking 55.9 percent from beyond the arc. Creighton won the rebound battle 43-30, outscored Upstate 59-29 off the bench, and had 20 fast break points in the first half alone.
USC Upstate got 15 points from Malik Moore in the loss as well as 10 from Diggs. The Spartans entered the game 19th nationally with 10.8 three-pointers per game, but shot just 5-of-28 treys on the day.
The Bluejays return to action on Thursday, Dec. 28 as Creighton opens BIG EAST play in New Jersey at Seton Hall with the tip set for 5:30 pm (CT).
NOTES: Creighton's 32 assists were one more than the previous school record, last set on Jan. 30, 1990 vs. Siena ... Creighton's 116 points trail only the 124 at Miami Fla. (2/10/1964) and 120 vs. Nevada (12/21/1962) ... Creighton's 54-point win was tied for the fifth-largest in school history, three shy of the school record (63-6 over Midland on 12/12/1925) and one shy of the arena record (113-58 over Longwood on 12/9/2016) ... Kaleb Joseph's eight assists were his high as a Bluejay, and his most since he had 10 against Villanova exactly three years to the date, when he played at Syracuse ... Creighton has now scored 100 or more points five times this season, including four of eight home games ... Creighton has won 34 straight games when scoring 100+ points ... Creighton has scored 100+ points five times this season, the most since it did it five times in 1971-72 ... Creighton has won 10 games before Christmas for the sixth time ever, and fourth time in the past seven years ... Creighton has won 104 straight home games against teams that enter with a record of .500 or worse ... Marcus Foster has scored in double-figures in 30 straight games ... Creighton has won a season-high five straight games, the 20th time in 22 seasons it's had a win streak of five or longer ... Tyler Clement became the 11th different Bluejay to score 10 or more points in a game this season ... All 12 Bluejays that suited up had at least two field goals made ... Creighton's 19 three-pointers were one shy of the arena record, and two shy of the program record ... Ten different Bluejays drained at least one trifecta ... Creighton averaged 1.547 points per possession, scoring on 48-of-75 trips.
Team Stats
UPST
CU
FG%
.347
.646
3FG%
.179
.559
FT%
.833
.867
RB
30
43
TO
9
7
STL
4
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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