Creighton 57, Middle Tennessee 47: Austin Chatman and Isaiah Zierden scored 10 points apiece, and the Bluejays survived a 16-minute second-half field-goal drought to beat the Blue Raiders in the Emerald Coast Classic third-place game in Niceville, Fla.
Will Artino added nine points and Toby Hegner had eight for Creighton (5-1), which snapped a seven-game Sunshine State losing streak that dated to a 1999 NCAA Tournament win over Louisville in Orlando. The Bluejays hit 18-of-21 free throws to enjoy an 11-point advantage at the line and weathered a 21-point second half in which they hit only 3-of-14 shots from the field.
Jaqawn Raymond scored nine points, and DeVante Jones had eight for Middle Tennessee (3-3), which scored only 15 first-half points and finished with a season-low 47 points. Reggie Upshaw Jr. added seven points for the Blue Raiders while Jacquez Rozier had six and a team-high six rebounds.
Creighton, which led 36-15 at halftime, scored on Artino’s layup 15 seconds into the second half but didn’t hit another field goal until Zierden connected on a 3-pointer as part of a four-point play with 3:45 remaining. And even with the Bluejays subsisting on free throws, the Blue Raiders could get no closer than eight over the final 20 minutes.
Middle Tennessee’s only lead of the game came at 4-3, but Creighton immediately answered with a 7-0 run, including five points from Hegner, and the Blue Raiders never got closer than four points again. The Bluejays connected on 14 of their 23 first-half shots (60.9 percent) while Middle Tennessee struggled through a 6-of-23 (26.1 percent) period and only hit 1-of-4 attempts from the free-throw line.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Creighton has not lost on consecutive days since the 2009 Old Spice Classic in Orlando. … Bluejays coach Greg McDermott is now 6-0 all-time against current Conference USA schools. … Middle Tennessee's Darnell Harris, who came off the bench to score a career-high 15 points on 5-of-7 3-point shooting in Friday’s semifinal loss, finished with three points on 1-of-3 shooting.
Middle Tennessee St. | Creighton | |
Jaqawn Raymond 9 | Scoring | Isaiah Zierden 10 |
DeVante Jones 3 | Assists | Devin Brooks 5 |
Jacquez Rozier 6 | Rebounds | Will Artino 4 |
DeVante Jones 3 | Free Throws Made | Devin Brooks 4 |
Darnell Harris 1 | Steals | Isaiah Zierden 2 |
Joshua Phillips 1 | Blocks | Toby Hegner 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Middle Tennessee St. | 47 | 39.1 | 4-14 | 7-14 | 9 | 27 | 1 | 6 | 10 |
Creighton | 57 | 45.9 | 5-15 | 18-21 | 12 | 22 | 3 | 4 | 10 |