Creighton finds its groove to cruise past Georgetown

Ryan Kalkbrenner delivered 19 points, eight rebounds and four blocks to fuel slow-starting Creighton in an 80-69 win over Georgetown on Sunday in Omaha, Neb.

Jamiya Neal supplied 13 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists as the Bluejays (19-8, 12-4 Big East) snapped a two-game skid and avenged an 81-57 loss to the Hoyas on Dec. 18.

Steven Ashworth contributed 20 points and seven assists while Jasen Green added 14 points for Creighton, which trailed by 10 points with seven minutes left in the first half before surging.

The Bluejays outrebounded short-handed Georgetown 49-37 and had an 11-0 edge in bench points.

Micah Peavy delivered 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Hoyas (16-11, 7-9), who were without second-leading scorer and top rebounder Thomas Sorber (turf toe) for the second straight game.

Jayden Epps scored 22 points and Malik Mack added 15 points for Georgetown, which also played without injured starter Caleb Williams.

After trailing for all but the final second of the first half, the Bluejays opened the second period with the first seven points, including a triple by Jackson McAndrew, to take a 51-42 lead.

With Kalkbrenner providing six of the points in an eight-point run, Creighton stretched its edge to 60-46.

Midway through the half, Epps scored 10 points in a five-minute span as the Hoyas cut the deficit to 64-59.

But Isaac Traudt scored his only points of the game in a stretch of 2:05 to keep the Bluejays in charge. His personal 8-0 run gave Creighton a 77-61 lead with 4:39 left.

Georgetown started on a heater, hitting 8 of its first 14 attempts from deep, with Peavy sinking 4 of 5 and Mack making both of his attempts.

When Epps made a floater with 7:06 left in the first half, it gave the Hoyas their biggest lead 36-26.

Creighton outscored Georgetown 15-4 in the final 5:04 of the half. Ashworth fueled the surge with eight points.

With less than a second left in the period, Kalkbrenner made two free throws to put the Bluejays up 44-42.

Creighton debuted a new set of throwback uniforms for Sunday's game.

--Field Level Media