After falling short in one bid to get a win over a Power 5 school, Creighton will get another opportunity.
Mitch Ballock had a stellar all-around game, finishing with 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists to lead Creighton to an easy 93-68 win over Georgia State in the semifinals of the Cayman Islands Classic on Tuesday.
The Bluejays advanced to the championship game, where they will meet No. 16 Clemson at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Creighton fell to Ohio State 69-60 last week in its first attempt to beat a school from a Power 5 conference.
D'Marcus Simonds scored 21 points to lead Georgia State, which will play in-state rival Georgia in the 5 p.m. consolation game on Wednesday.
Creighton started to pull away late in the first half, going on an 8-0 run to take a 26-12 lead with 10:38 remaining in the first half.
Creighton kept growing its lead, using a 15-2 run to take a 45-22 lead with 1:53 left until halftime.
The Bluejays ultimately led 52-24 at halftime.
The second half offered little drama, as a Ballock 3-pointer made it 75-42 with 11:38 left, spawning playing time for the reserves.
Damien Jefferson had 20 points and six rebounds, Marcus Zegarowski scored 14 points, and Ty-Shon Alexander added 13 points for Creighton.
The Bluejays shot 54.5 percent from the floor (36 of 66) and made 43.8 percent of their shots from 3-point range (14 of 32).
Kane Williams added 20 points for Georgia State, which shot 39.3 percent from the field overall (24 of 61) and just 21.1 percent from 3-point range (4 of 19).
Creighton had 22 assists to Georgia State's eight, although Georgia State held a 40-38 rebounding edge.
--Field Level Media
Georgia St. | Creighton | |
D'Marcus Simonds 21 | Scoring | Mitch Ballock 23 |
Jeff Thomas 2 | Assists | Mitch Ballock 6 |
Malik Benlevi 6 | Rebounds | Mitch Ballock 7 |
D'Marcus Simonds 8 | Free Throws Made | Mitch Ballock 3 |
D'Marcus Simonds 2 | Steals | Mitch Ballock 2 |
Chris Clerkley 1 | Blocks | Samson Froling 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Georgia St. | 68 | 39.3 | 4-19 | 16-27 | 8 | 34 | 3 | 6 | 18 |
Creighton | 93 | 54.5 | 14-32 | 7-13 | 22 | 35 | 6 | 6 | 15 |