A week off did little to slow down red-hot Creighton.
Sophomore Damien Jefferson scored 18 points to lead five players in double figures in Creighton's 98-72 home win over Montana on Wednesday in Omaha, Neb.
A week after beating No. 16 Clemson in the Grand Cayman Islands, Creighton continued its momentum by knocking off a Montana team that made the NCAA tournament last year.
The game was close for most of the first half, with Montana holding a 32-30 lead with 6:01 remaining before the break.
Creighton held only a two-point lead at 40-38 with 3:43 left until halftime when the Bluejays started to gain some separation.
Creighton ended the first half on an 9-2 run to take a 49-40 lead at halftime.
The Bluejays continued to break away in the second half, opening on an 8-0 run to take a 57-40 lead with 17:56 remaining in the game.
Montana did mount a minor rally towards the midpoint of the second half, closing to within 11 at 69-58 with 11:38 remaining. But Creighton made sure it wouldn't be in any danger of losing after that, answering with a 13-3 run over the next 3:49 to take an 82-61 lead with 7:47 remaining.
Creighton then built its lead to 25 points at 90-65 with 5:48 left.
It was the fourth straight game in which Creighton scored at least 87 points and the third time in the last four games the Bluejays have scored at least 90.
Martin Krampelj scored 17 points, and Mitch Ballock added 14 points for Creighton, which shot 60.4 percent from the field overall (32 of 53) and 54.2 percent from 3-point range (13 of 24).
Sayeed Pridgett scored 23 points, and Michael Oguine added 21 points in defeat for Montana.
After opening the season with four straight wins, Montana has now dropped back-to-back games following a loss to Georgia Southern in the Bahamas on Nov. 18.
--Field Level Media
Montana | Creighton | |
Sayeed Pridgett 23 | Scoring | Damien Jefferson 18 |
Ahmaad Rorie 4 | Assists | Marcus Zegarowski 6 |
Michael Oguine 9 | Rebounds | Martin Krampelj 6 |
Ahmaad Rorie 4 | Free Throws Made | Damien Jefferson 7 |
Sayeed Pridgett 5 | Steals | Davion Mintz 2 |
Donaven Dorsey 1 | Blocks | Jacob Epperson 1 |