Baylor Scheierman scored 27 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner added 21 to lead No. 17 Creighton to a 79-57 victory over Butler on Saturday afternoon in Indianapolis.
Scheierman also grabbed 10 boards, giving him his sixth straight double-double, the longest such streak at Creighton since 1985. Trey Alexander added 15 points and eight rebounds, while Steven Ashworth scored 12 points to go along with eight assists.
Jalen Thomas led Butler (16-10, 7-8 Big East) with 18 points. Posh Alexander added 13 points (all in the first half), and DJ Davis scored 12.
The Bluejays (19-7, 10-5) avenged a 99-98 loss they suffered at the hands of the Bulldogs back on Feb. 2. That game featured a frenetic first half, with Creighton taking a 49-45 edge into the break.
On Saturday, it was Butler that led at halftime, 35-34. The Bulldogs had led by as many as eight before intermission when a layup and a jumper from Alexander made it 21-13 with 9:12 to go, but the Bluejays later used a 10-2 burst to go up 34-33 with 1:03 remaining.
In the second half, Creighton quickly built a sizable lead. It scored 28 of the first 39 points of the period to establish a 62-46 cushion with 10:38 left in the game, getting 12 points from Scheierman during that span.
Butler trailed by at least 13 the rest of the way.
Davis provided the Bulldogs with their final points of the game when he canned a jumper at the 5:39 mark, allowing the Bluejays to close the contest on an 11-2 run.
Creighton made 16 of 28 shots overall (57.1 percent), including 6 of 14 from beyond the arc, (42.9 percent) over the final 20 minutes of action. Butler went 10-for-32 from the field (31.3 percent) in the second half and was ice cold from deep, going 1-for-11 (9.1 percent).
--Field Level Media
Creighton | Butler | |
Baylor Scheierman 27 | Scoring | Jalen Thomas 18 |
Steven Ashworth 8 | Assists | Posh Alexander 4 |
Baylor Scheierman 10 | Rebounds | Jalen Thomas 5 |
Baylor Scheierman 4 | Free Throws Made | Jalen Thomas 2 |
Trey Alexander 3 | Steals | Posh Alexander 1 |
Ryan Kalkbrenner 1 | Blocks | Andre Screen 1 |