McDermott Becomes Winningest Coach in Victory Over Houston Christian
OMAHA, Neb. -- Greg McDermott became the winningest coach in Creighton men's basketball history as the No. 14 Bluejays defeated Houston Christian, 78-43, on Wednesday night. The victory improved McDermott to 328-160 in his 15th season in Omaha, passing his predecessor Dana Altman who went 327-176 from 1994-2010.
With the victory, the Bluejays improved to 3-0, while the Huskies dropped their second contest of the season to fall to 1-2 overall.
Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year Ryan Kalkbrenner paced all scorers with 16 points (6-6 FG) and five rebounds in 22 minutes and is now shooting 35-for-38 from the field this year. Senior guard Steven Ashworth chipped in 13 points with seven rebounds and six assists. Senior Jamiya Neal added nine points on an efficient 4-5 shooting from the field and perfect 1-1 marksmanship from three-point range.
Pop Isaacs struck first for the Bluejays to open the contest, but a methodical pace by Houston Christian slowed Creighton through the opening moments.
Trailing 7-3 with 14:32 remaining, the Bluejays changed the game on the defensive end. Creighton limited the Huskies to just 2-of-24 from the field throughout the remainder of the half, including of stretch of better than 13 minutes that saw HCU shoot 1-for-21 during CU's game-changing 34-2 run. The defensive dominance allowed the offense to simmer and finally begin to cook. A pull-up three pointer from Ashworth and two layups from Kalkbrenner set Creighton ablaze as the Bluejays connected on 11 of their final 13 shots.
The 12-point output tied the lowest amount allowed in a half under McDermott, also done on Feb. 13, 2018 in the second half vs. Bemidji State.
Ashworth continued the hot streak from the first half, knocking down a trifecta 28 seconds into the second half. Creighton's dominance continued to display on both ends of the floor, with Kalkbrenner swatting away a dunk attempt and hustling down the floor to flush a slam of his own. A driving layup from Neal followed by an Ashworth steal and fast-break layup the next possession forced the Huskies into a timeout with 16:30 left in the game, while also pushing the lead to 50-14.
Right out of the timeout, the Huskies found life on the offensive end of the floor. A three-pointer from Peyton Rodgers and fast-break layup by Bryson Dawkins sparked a quick five points in a row for Houston Christian, before a Bluejay turnover led to a media timeout at the 15:24 mark.
The Jays made sure the run was short-lived and never looked back as King slammed down an alley-oop dunk from Ashworth two minutes later. Creighton tightened up on defense and steadied the pace in the final 10 minutes to shut down the Huskies' late rally attempts to close out the game, 78-43. It was the fewest points allowed by CU since Dec. 15, 2017 when Maryland-Eastern Shore scored 36.
In addition to the 16 points from Kalkbrenner, 13 from Ashworth and nine from Neal, King scored 11 points, while Isaacs recorded eight points, six rebounds and four assists. The Bluejays shot 55.8 percent from the field (29-52) and made 7-of-21 three-point shots as well as 13-20 free throws. The Jays grabbed 42 rebounds and dished 19 assists, while also outscoring the Huskies 44-18 in the paint, 28-18 off the bench and 17-4 in transition.
The Huskies were led by D'Aundre Samuels' eight points and two rebounds, while Pierce Bazil scored seven points and grabbed two rebounds. Houston Christian shot 25.4 percent from the field, 5-of-35 from three-point range and 2-of-3 at the charity-stripe. HCU also grabbed 37 rebounds and dished six assists as a team.
Creighton returns to CHI Health Center Omaha on Saturday at 6 p.m. for a game that will be televised on FS2..
Game Stats - HERE