OMAHA, Neb. -- Tenth-ranked Creighton slowed a late second-half comeback by Akron to keep its undefeated season intact Saturday with an 82-70 victory over the Zips.

After trailing 37-30 at halftime, Akron got within 41-38 before a 19-3 run put the Bluejays up 60-41 nearly nine minutes into the second half. That surge created the first double-digit lead by either team.

"Our pace and what we do, it just takes one run that's a knockout punch," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. "Our guys just have to stay with it and keep believing in that and that it's going to pay off."

The Bluejays (8-0) deftly divided the scoring duties in that stretch of 5:09. Justin Patton and Cole Huff had six points apiece, Marcus Foster had four and Maurice Watson three.

"We just lost our cookies for about a four-minute stretch and that cost us the game," Akron coach Keith Dambrot said. "That's the fourth time I've been in Omaha. One was for a Nike Clinic, the other three have been a miserable experience."

Akron has lost to Creighton in its other visits to Omaha, most recently a 77-61 setback in 2012.

Akron whittled away at Creighton's lead, getting it down to nine points before a 3-pointer by Tavian Dunn-Martin pulled the Zips (6-2) within 78-70 with 1:52 remaining in regulation.

A jumper by Foster and a layup by Watson sealed the victory for Creighton. Foster led all scorers with 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field. Huff (16 points), Watson (14), and Patton (11) also finished in double figures.

Foster and Patton scored in double figures in each of their first eight games as Bluejays. Watson, who leads all active NCAA Division I players in career assists with 711 after adding an arena-record 13 to his total before an announced crowd of 16,852.

Kwan Cheatham Jr. topped Akron (6-2) with 17 points. Isaiah Johnson scored 13, and Antino Jackson added 12.

"Johnson is a load there," McDermott said. "He's an extremely skilled passer, and they surround him with all these shooters. We missed some open three's but we still shot 55 percent for the game so we're getting the type of shots that we want."

Creighton is still the only team in the country that has shot at least 50 percent from the field in every game this season. On Saturday the final numbers were 32-of-58 (55.2 percent)

The Bluejays also forced Akron into committing 17 turnovers while committing only 11 themselves. Seventeen was too high of a number for Dambrot.

"We knew going in that it was going to be a game of spurts," Dambrot said. "If we could limit their spurts, and we could get it within five or six in the last four minutes, we would be in good shape.

"But we made too many turnovers. If you make 17 turnovers, we need to be under 10. Other than that, we were efficient enough offensively to win, but you can't make 17 turnovers with those turning into transition baskets."

Creighton came roaring out of the gate, jumping to a 10-3 lead in the first 3:48. Nine of those points were scored by Foster -- on 3-pointers from the right baseline and right wing and a layup/free throw combination that put Creighton up by seven.

Turnovers were the biggest problem for the Zips as they struggled much of the night with Creighton's speed. Eight of Creighton's first 12 points came off Akron giveaways.

The exclamation point on that run was the one-hand slam by Foster. Sophomore guard Khyri Thomas stole the ball and found Foster streaking down the court for the easy basket that took Foster's point total to 11 and gave Creighton a 12-4 lead.

Creighton's lead grew to nine points before the Zips began chipping away. Akron got within 21-17. Creighton got its advantage back to nine points, and the Zips twice got back within five points before they went to intermission down 37-30.

NOTES: Akron coach Keith Dambrot was the head coach at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School when LeBron James was a freshman and sophomore. Dambrot has been the Zips' head coach since 2004 and is the current chairman of the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee... The Creighton volleyball team was saluted during one of the first-half media timeouts. The three-time Big East champions qualified for the Sweet 16 on Friday with a five-set win over host Kansas. ... Creighton is 8-0 for the first time since the 2003-04 team began the season 12-0. The first loss that team sustained was to Northern Iowa, which was coached by Greg McDermott, now Creighton's coach.