Marcus Zegarowski scored a career-high 32 points to help lift Creighton past No. 12 Texas Tech 83-76 in overtime on Friday in the third-place game at the Continental Tires Las Vegas Invitational at the Orleans Arena.
Creighton built a 19-point lead with about two minutes left in the first half, but the Red Raiders roared back, eventually tying the game at 61 via an 18-3 second-half run in which the Bluejays missed eight of their nine shots.
The teams traded baskets in the final minutes before a layup by Texas Tech's Chris Clarke with 33 seconds to play tied the game at 74 and forced overtime.
Zegarowski's layup and then a jumper with 2:48 left in the extra period sprang the Bluejays to an 80-74 lead. Creighton then had a possession that lasted more than a minute because of two offensive rebounds and held on to win despite missing four straight shots.
Ty-Shon Alexander added 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Bluejays (5-2).
Davide Moretti led Texas Tech (5-2) with a career-high 23 points, with Clarke scoring 17 and Kyler Edwards adding 14 points.
The Red Raiders played without star freshman Jahmi'us Ramsey, their leading scorer at 17.3 points per game despite scoring just seven points in the semifinal of this tournament against Iowa. He was held out Friday with a hamstring injury.
The Bluejays rolled to a 46-32 lead at halftime by nailing 8 of 14 3-pointers and outshooting Texas Tech 61.5 percent to 40.6 percent over the first 20 minutes.
Zegarowski had 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor in the half, with Alexander pouring in 15 points (on 5-of-6 shooting) and grabbing seven rebounds before halftime.
Moretti and Clarke led the Red Raiders with nine points each in the first half. Texas Tech was just 2 of 13 from beyond the arc in the half.
--Field Level Media
Texas Tech | Creighton | |
Davide Moretti 23 | Scoring | Marcus Zegarowski 32 |
Chris Clarke 9 | Assists | Marcus Zegarowski 5 |
Kyler Edwards 8 | Rebounds | Ty-Shon Alexander 12 |
Davide Moretti 4 | Free Throws Made | Ty-Shon Alexander 5 |
Kyler Edwards 2 | Steals | Marcus Zegarowski 2 |
Kyler Edwards 1 | Blocks | Mitch Ballock 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Texas Tech | 76 | 43.3 | 8-30 | 10-12 | 19 | 30 | 2 | 6 | 9 |
Creighton | 83 | 51.7 | 10-24 | 13-20 | 14 | 35 | 2 | 4 | 14 |