Trey Alexander recorded 23 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists to lead No. 8 Creighton to a 92-84 win over Iowa on Tuesday night in Omaha, Neb.
Baylor Scheierman added 17 points and Francisco Farabello had 14 points for the Bluejays (3-0). Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 13 points and Fredrick King added 12 for Creighton in the Gavitt Tipoff Game featuring Big Ten and Big East teams.
Ben Krikke scored 24 and Tony Perkins added 16 points and three steals for the Big Ten’s Hawkeyes (2-1). Patrick McCaffery scored 13 points and Payton Sandfort added 11.
The contest marked just the second meeting in more than 22 years between schools located roughly 250 miles apart. The Bluejays won the previous matchup 82-59 on Nov. 20, 2011, in Des Moines, Iowa. In all, the teams have played 25 times with the Hawkeyes holding a 13-12 advantage.
Creighton shot 51.6 percent from the field, including 10 of 29 (34.5 percent) from 3-point range.
Iowa made 50 percent of its shots and was 6 of 14 (42.9 percent) from behind the arc.
The Bluejays broke the game open with a 16-4 run to take a 12-point second-half lead. With the game tied at 45-45, Scheierman and Alexander buried 3-pointers to start the burst and Mason Miller and Isaac Traudt added treys later in the run as Creighton took a 61-49 advantage with 15:14 remaining.
The Hawkeyes pulled within six on a basket by Perkins with 13:53 left before the Bluejays scored 14 of the next 18 points. Alexander’s basket made it 77-61 with 10:14 remaining.
Miller made two free throws to give Creighton an 87-74 lead with 5:25 left. But Iowa rallied to within 89-84 on McCaffery’s basket with 1:26 left before the Bluejays sealed it with three late free throws.
Krikke scored 16 first-half points on 7-of-9 shooting for Iowa in a game that was tied at 43 at the break. Scheierman had 11 in the half for the Bluejays.
Krikke’s jumper gave the Hawkeyes a 22-15 lead with 12:19 left in the first half.
Creighton answered with a 12-3 burst. Kalkbrenner had a three-point play and Farabello followed with a four-point play to give the Bluejays a 27-25 lead with 9:55 left.
Iowa later led 37-34 on McCaffery’s basket before Creighton scored nine of the final 15 points of the half.
–Field Level Media
