OMAHA, Neb.: Christian Bishop scored 18 points to lead six Creighton players in double figures and the ninth-ranked Bluejays routed Omaha 94-67 on Tuesday.
The Bluejays (2-0) came out much sharper than they did in their opener against North Dakota State on Sunday. They shot 61% while bolting to a 50-26 halftime lead.
Big East preseason player of the year Marcus Zegarowski made back-to-back 3-pointers near the end of a 27-3 run that broke open the game early.
Denzel Mahoney, who sat out the opener because of COVID-19 issues, hit a 3 for Creighton’s first basket and finished with 17 points. Antwann Jones scored 12 points, Zegarowski had 11 points and 11 assists, Damien Jefferson added 11 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner had 10 points.
The Mavericks (1-3) had no answer for the inside-outside game of Bishop, who had 12 points and seven rebounds before the break. He played only five minutes in the second half, allowing the 7-foot Kalkbrenner and the 6-11 Jacob Epperson to get decent playing time.
Marlon Ruffin scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half and Matt Pile had a game-high nine rebounds to lead the Mavericks.
The teams, whose campuses are 15 minutes apart, met in the regular season for the first time since 1995. This was the 44th game between the teams and the most lopsided since Creighton won 107-67 in 1961.
BIG PICTURE
Omaha: The Mavericks of the Summit League were playing their highest-ranked opponent since elevating from Division II 10 years ago. They were overmatched from the start and play their next six games on the road, including dates with No. 7 Kansas, Colorado and Kansas State.
Creighton: This was nothing more than a glorified scrimmage for the Bluejays, who bounced back from a poor shooting game against North Dakota State with 57% accuracy from the field. They hit 11 of 22 3s after going 8 for 35 against NDSU.
UP NEXT
Omaha visits Drake on Thursday.
Creighton hosts Kennesaw State on Friday.
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