Trey Alexander led Creighton’s long-range shooting attack with 32 points as the Bluejays defeated DePaul 80-65 on Sunday afternoon at Omaha, Neb.
Alexander shot 11-for-16 from the field, including 7-for-12 on 3-pointers. The last of his long balls came in the final minute.
Ryan Nembhard had 16 points and Baylor Scheierman added 14 points and 10 rebounds as Creighton excelled in the first-ever Big East Conference game held on Christmas.
Creighton (8-6, 2-1 Big East) has won two in a row since a six-game losing streak knocked the preseason Top 10 team all the way out of the rankings. It overcame 18 turnovers against DePaul, but had hot shooting hands that made up for those mistakes.
The Bluejays shot 55.2 percent on 3-pointers (16-for-29) compared to DePaul’s 34.2-percent mark overall from the field.
Umoja Gibson’s 14 points, Eral Penn’s 12 points and Javan Johnson’s 11 points paced DePaul (6-7, 0-2), which dropped to 2-6 in games away from home.
Five Creighton players had hit at least one 3-pointer in the first half.
In a two-minute span early in the second half, the Bluejays racked up 11 points, capped by two 3-point baskets from Alexander for a 53-37 edge.
The Blue Demons pulled within 68-58 with less than 4 1/2 minutes to play, but Creighton reserve Francisco Farabello bagged his second 3-pointer, while DePaul scored only two points across the next three minutes.
The Bluejays made 10 of 17 shots from 3-point range in the first half compared to going 3-for-8 on 2-pointers. Creighton’s 39-28 halftime lead was kept it check primarily by its 13 turnovers.
Creighton built a 20-8 lead about eight minutes into the game on Alexander’s first 3-pointer — but it was the team’s fifth 3. His last 3 of the half marked the final points for either team before the break.
DePaul has played twice on Christmas since 1945 and lost both times.
–Field Level Media
