Creighton Keeps Dancing - Downs Baylor 85-76

Photo Credit: Creighton Athletics

DENVER, Colo. – For the second time in the last three seasons, the sixth-seeded Creighton men's basketball team is headed to the Sweet 16! Sophomore Ryan Nembhard guided the Bluejays with a career-high 30 points to lead Creighton to an 85-76 win over third-seeded Baylor on Sunday night at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo.
 
With the win, Creighton (23-12) advances to face 15th-seeded Princeton (24-5) in Louisville, Ky., in the South Regional semifinals on Friday, March 24 at a time to be determined. Creighton is 1-0 all-time against the Tigers, claiming a 63-54 win back in 1961. The third-seeded and 11th-ranked Baylor Bears finished the  season with a 23-11 record. 

Hot shooting from both squads kept the contest close early, the Bluejays took a slim 15-12 advantage on a three from Nembhard before surging on a 9-2 run, highlighted by a pair of treys from senior Francisco Farabello to open up a 24-14 lead.
 
Baylor mustered up a response with seven of the next 10 points to cut the deficit to six at 27-21 before a pair of free throws from Ryan Kalkbrenner, a jumper from Nembhard and a three from Arthur Kaluma pushed the Bluejays advantage out to 34-23 with 3:34 remaining in the first half. 
 
A three late by senior Baylor Scheierman gave Creighton a 39-29 lead at intermission as Creighton shot 12-of-24 (50 percent) from the field and 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) from three in the opening frame. CU was paced by 11 points from Nembhard and eight points from Scheierman, while the Bluejays held a slim 19-15 edge on the boards in the first half. 
 
Baylor was led by LJ Cryer with 12 points as the Bears shot 13-of-36 from the field, including a 2-for-15 mark from behind the arc in the opening 20 minuets. 

Coming out of the locker room both teams traded blows as Creighton made five of their first seven shots and Baylor hit seven of their first eight shot to cut the deficit down to five at 50-45 with 14:41 remaining in the game. 

A pull-up jumper by sophomore Trey Alexander sparked a 15-5 run by the Bluejays that gave Creighton a 65-50 lead with 9:43 left. Four different Bluejays contributed to the run as Nembhard dialed up midrange jumper and Kalkbrenner finished a lob at the rim before a 15-footer by Kaluma capped off the surge. 

Baylor showed no quit cutting the lead down to 12 at 71-59, before back-to-back triples by Farabello and Nembhard gave Creighton its largest lead of the game at 77-59 with 5:54 remaining in the game. 

Creighton converted eight free throws down the stretch to secure the 85-76 win for the Bluejays, part of a school-record 22-for-22 marksmanship showing at the line.
 
Nembhard led four Bluejays in double-figures with a career-high 30 points. Creighton got a combined 76 points from its starting five, getting 17 from Alexander, 11 from Kaluma, 10 from Kalkbrenner and eight from Scheierman. As a team, the Bluejays shot 26-of-55 (47.3 percent) from the field, including an 11-of-24 (45.8 percent) marksmanship from three and a perfect 22-of-22 from the line, while out rebounding the Bears 34-29 on the boards. 
 
Cryer led the way for the Bears with 30 points, as Baylor shot 29-of-63 (46 percent) from the field and 5-of-22 (22.7 percent) from three while converting 13-of-19 (68.4 percent) of their free throws.

NOTES: Baylor Scheierman has made a three-pointer in 45 straight games, and a school-record 35 straight games since joining Creighton …  It was his second straight game with a three-pointer on the opening possession of the game … Creighton has made a three-pointer in 983 straight games, and Baylor in 1,030 contests in a row. Both contests rank in the top-15 nationally among active streaks … Francisco Farabello made multiple three-pointers for the first time since Jan. 17th, and three treys for the second time this year. … Creighton's nine neutral site games tie a school-record done last year …  Creighton has made over 300 three-pointers for the seventh time in program history, and first time since 2019-20 … Creighton improved to 17-24 all-time in 24 NCAA Tournament appearances, and is in the Sweet 16 for the second time in the past three seasons after no such appearances from 1975-2020 … Greg McDermott improved to 9-7 in eight NCAA Tournament trips with Creighton … Creighton improved to 4-2 all-time against Baylor, picking up its first win over the Bears since a 77-76 overtime victory in Waco in 1999 …  The BIG EAST has now had a Sweet 16 team in 27 of the past 29 tournaments, and multiple Sweet 16 teams in 16 of the past 21 tournaments … Creighton improved to 23-3 this year when tied or leading at halftime … Creighton's six top-25 wins this season tie a program record also done in 2019-20 … Creighton played its school-record 13thgame of the season against a top-25 program, which leads the nation among non-Big 12 schools … The BIG EAST has multiple Sweet 16 teams (Xavier, UConn, Creighton) for the 16th time in the last 21 years … Ryan Kalkbrenner has scored 10 or more points in each of his last 19 games … Creighton has made 69-of-75 free throws (92 percent) in BIG EAST and NCAA Tournament play ... Creighton's sophomores scored 39 of the Bluejays 46 points in start the second half ... Ryan Kalkbrenner and Ryan Nembhard are the second pair of same-named teammates with a 30-point game in a single NCAA Tournament, joining Memphis State's Larrry Finch and Larry Kenon from 1973.