MEN’S BASKETBALL: No. 8 Creighton Rolls Past Florida A&M in Season Debut
OMAHA–(CU Athletics Nov. 7)–Ryan Kalkbrenner recorded his 200th career block and Trey Alexander scored a game-high 20 points as the No. 8 Creighton men’s basketball team cruised to a 105-54 season-opener win over Florida A&M on Tuesday night.
With the win the Bluejays improved to 1-0 with their 29th straight home-opener victory, while Florida A&M fell to 0-1.
Trailing 8-6 early, Creighton used a 19-2 run over a four-minute stretch to build a 25-10 lead midway the first half. A three-pointer from senior sharpshooter Steven Ashworth sparked the run while fellow senior Francisco Farabello capped off the flurry with a three-ball of his own.
Moments later the Bluejays opened up a 39-16 lead with a trio of threes from Ashworth and Alexander. The lead grew to as much as 32 at 51-19 with 3:30 left in the first half as CU embarked on another 12-0 run, before taking a 56-27 lead into the break.
Alexander led the Bluejays with 18 first-half points as Creighton shot 56.8 percent from the field, knocking down 10 trifectas in the opening 20 minutes.
Florida A&M made the first two shots of the second half before a 19-2 run by Creighton, including a pair of three’s from Mason Miller and five straight points from Kalkbrenner pushed the Bluejays lead out to 42 at 75-33 with 14:32 remaining in the game.
The lead would grow to 50 at 95-45 with 4:25 left on a layup by Farabello before a three by Isaac Traudt closed out the 51-point victory.
Alexander led all scorers with 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting, while Ashworth added 17 points on five made three-pointers in his Bluejay debut. Baylor Scheierman contributed 15 points and eight rebounds, while all 10 Bluejays scored at least five points and grabbed at least one rebound in the win. The Bluejays closed the game shooting 56.7 percent (38-of-67) from the field, including 47.4 percent (18-of-38) from behind the arc and 68.8 percent (11-of-16) from the free throw line. Creighton outrebounded the Rattlers, 53-21, with Fredrick King grabbing a game-high nine boards.
Florida A&M was paced with 16 by Keith Lamer and 12 points from K’Jei Parker. The Rattlers were just 1-for-7 from three and shot 35.9 percent from field in the loss.
The Bluejays return to action on Saturday, November 11 when they host North Dakota State at 1 p.m. at CHI Health Center Omaha.