Sophomore guard Ty-Shon Alexander scored 19 points as host Creighton posted a 75-61 victory over Butler in Big East action on Friday night at Omaha, Neb.
Junior forward Martin Krampelj scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting and collected eight rebounds as the Bluejays (12-8, 3-4 Big East) won their second straight after losing their previous four games. Junior guard Davion Mintz added 14 points, six rebounds and six assists, and sophomore guard Mitch Ballock had 13 points and seven rebounds.
Junior guard Kamar Baldwin scored 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting for Butler (12-9, 3-5).
The Bulldogs shot just 39.7 percent from the field, including 5 of 22 from long range.
The Bluejays shot 50 percent from the field and made just 7 of 23 from 3-point range. Creighton held a 40-29 rebounding edge.
The Bulldogs trailed by five with just over three minutes left before Mintz converted a three-point play and Alexander made two free throws to give the Bluejays a 69-59 lead with 2:43 remaining.
Butler didn't trail by fewer than eight the rest of the way as Creighton closed it out.
Baldwin's jumper 19 seconds into the second half pulled Butler within four before the Bluejays answered with a 13-6 run, taking a 53-42 lead on Mintz's layup with 13:55 remaining.
Ballock buried a 3-pointer just under two minutes later to make it 56-44.
The Bulldogs moved within 59-53 with 6:23 left on Baldwin's basket. Alexander answered with a 3-pointer to give Creighton a nine-point lead with 5:57 left but Butler soon moved within 64-59 on two free throws by sophomore forward Jordan Tucker with 3:23 remaining.
Ballock scored 10 first-half points and Creighton shot 55.6 percent from the field to take a 40-34 lead into the break.
Baldwin scored seven straight points to give Butler a 23-21 edge with 7:07 until halftime, before the Bluejays answered with eight straight points. Creighton later rattled off nine in a row to take a 40-30 advantage before the Bulldogs scored the final four of the half.
--Field Level Media
Butler | Creighton | |
Kamar Baldwin 23 | Scoring | Ty-Shon Alexander 19 |
Kamar Baldwin 3 | Assists | Davion Mintz 6 |
Paul Jorgensen 5 | Rebounds | Martin Krampelj 8 |
Kamar Baldwin 5 | Free Throws Made | Ty-Shon Alexander 7 |
Henry Baddley 3 | Steals | Ty-Shon Alexander 2 |
Christian David 1 | Blocks | Martin Krampelj 2 |