Creighton knocks off Butler to end regular season

Ryan Kalkbrenner racked up 27 points and 15 rebounds as Creighton knocked off Butler 87-74 in the Big East regular-season finale for both teams on Saturday in Omaha, Neb.

Kalkbrenner also made two blocks, giving him 248 in his Big East career and surpassing eclipse Patrick Ewing's record.

Steven Ashworth scored 23 points, mostly on 7-of-15 3-pointers, and had 11 assists and six rebounds. Jackson McAndrew had 14 points and Jamiya Neal chipped in 10 points and eight assists for the Bluejays (22-9, 15-5 Big East) who are the No. 2 seed in the Big East tournament.

It's the most conference wins for Creighton since they joined the Big East 12 years ago.

Jahmyl Telfort and Patrick McCaffery led Butler with 19 points apiece. Andre Screen chipped in 10 points and six rebounds for the Bulldogs (13-18, 6-14), who have lost four straight games and are the No. 9 seed in the tournament.

Ashworth did most of his damage in the first half, scoring 21 points while going 7-for-10 from beyond the arc. The Bluejays hit 11-of-21 shots from 3-point range in the half. and Fedor Zugic's triple pulled them within 33-30 with 8:31 left.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 21-13 lead on Kolby King's 3-pointer, which capped a 7-0 run at the 13:49 mark of the half.

The Bluejays later hit six straight shots during a 14-2 run and grew their advantage to 52-42 just 1:11 before halftime when Ashworth drilled 3-pointers on consecutive possessions.

Butler went to the locker room down 52-44 thanks to Screen's tip-in at the buzzer.

The visitors tried to hang around as McCaffery went on a 4-0 run with a dunk and fast-break layup to cut Creighton's lead to 61-50 with 15:52 to play. With 4:31 left, Boden Kapke's layup over Kalkbrenner pulled the Bulldogs within 76-70 and capped a 13-4 run.

But Creighton responded with 3-pointers by Neal and Mason Miller to stretch its lead to 82-70 with 3:23 to play.

--Field Level Media