Creighton Men Loses Nailbiter at Marquette

Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA Today Sports

MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- After making just 3-of-20 three-pointers in the first half, No. 10 Marquette made six triples and outrebounded CU 22-9 after the break to post a 72-67 win over No. 22 Creighton in a battle of two teams picked atop the BIG EAST preseason poll. The game was played in front of a Fiserv Forum record for a Marquette contest of 18,086.

Creighton (9-4, 0-2 BIG EAST) suffered its second consecutive BIG EAST loss to open league play, while Marquette improved to 11-3 (2-1 BIG EAST) and tied a BIG EAST record with its 20th straight home win in league play.

The Bluejays got off to an electric start. A Baylor Scheierman three-pointer on the opening possession, followed by a pair of Trey Alexander free throws helped CU move in front 5-2. The lead grew to 14-3 after two more Scheierman three-pointers bookended a Kalkbrenner free throw. The Golden Eagles fed off the energy from its partisan crowd to compile a 12-2 run and knot the score at 26-all. Alexander would score CU's final three baskets of the first half as the Jays took a 30-28 lead into the break.

Scheierman (12) and Alexander (10) led CU in scoring at the break, while Mason Miller led all players with seven rebounds. Creighton led throughout the half despite committing 12 turnovers, which MU turned into 12 points. Marquette shot just 3-of-20 from three-point range before the break and 10-of-36 overall, with eight points from Kam Jones leading the Golden Eagles.

CU maintained its lead until a Tyler Kolek lay-up with 12:45 left game MU its first advantage of the game at 42-41. The teams exchanged the lead seven times before back-to-back triples from reserve Sean Jones just ahead of the shot clock gave MU a 52-48 lead and led to a Bluejay timeout with 8:40 to play.

Marquette would build a lead as large as 58-51 before three-pointers by Scheierman and Mason Miller and a Ryan Kalkbrenner lay-up trimmed the deficit to two (61-59) with just under three minutes left. David Joplin answered with his second three-pointer in as many minutes to return MU's lead to five.

The Bluejays came up empty on back-to-back possessions and Joplin threw down a dunk with 38.3 left to give MU a seven-point edge. Francisco Farabello scored a layup in traffic with 31 seconds left and Alexander converted a three-point play with 16.5 left to get CU within four. But Kolek sank two at the line with 14.1 left to make it a six-point contest. A Miller trifecta with 5.1 seconds left gave CU one last chance, but Kolek iced the win with two foul shots with 2.9 left.

Sean Jones led MU with 15 points in just 12 minutes of action, while Kam Jones had 12 and Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year Tyler Kolek added 15 points and eight assists. Oso Ighodaro finished with 16 rebounds for MU, which won the rebound battle 42-32. The Golden Eagles finished the contest 9-for-31 from three-point range and outscored CU 18-2 in second-chance points.

Creighton was paced by 23 points Scheierman and 18 more from Alexander, as both men played the full 40 minutes. CU made 12-of-32 three-pointers, including 7-of-13 marksmanship from Scheierman. The Bluejays committed a season-high 18 turnovers, which led to 24 points by the Golden Eagles.

Creighton opens the 2024 calendar year on Tuesday, Jan. 2, with a 6 p.m. Central game at Georgetown that will air on CBS Sports Network.