Jamiya Neal, Creighton cruise past Louisville in South Region opener

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Jamiya Neal poured in a career-high 29 points to go with 12 rebounds and six assists to lead ninth-seeded Creighton past eighth-seeded Louisville, 89-75, on Thursday in a South Region first-round contest.

Steven Ashworth added 22 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 14 for Creighton (25-10), plays the winner of Auburn-Alabama State on Saturday in the second round.

Chucky Hepburn had 22 to lead Louisville (27-8), which finished a dramatic turnaround season with consecutive losses in the ACC tournament championship to Duke and Thursday's first-round loss to Creighton. Terrence Edwards Jr. added 21 for Louisville, which had a large contingent of fans make the trip to Rupp Arena, just 70 miles east of campus.

As Louisville was trying to make a comeback down 12, 73-61, with 4:41 left, Cardinals coach Pat Kelsey picked up a technical foul. A water bottle was thrown onto the court in front of the Creighton bench from a section of angry Louisville fans just to the right of the Bluejays. The game was delayed for five minutes as the mess was cleaned up.

After the delay, Ashworth hit both technical free throws and Neal hit a jumper that hit the back of the rim and fell through as the shot clock was expiring to turn it into a four-point possession and a 77-61 lead.

Louisville, which trailed by 20 late in the first half, could get no closer than 10 points in the final two minutes.

Hepburn, Louisville's leading scorer this season, single-handedly kept Louisville in the game. Hepburn finishing with 18 of his team's 34 points in the first half, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that cut Creighton's lead to 49-34 at the break.

Louisville lost backup guard Reyne Smith with 11:37 left in the second half following a loose ball scramble just before Aboubacar Traore went in for a Cardinals layup. Smith was on the floor for several minutes holding his lower left leg before slowly getting to his feet and being helped to the locker room by trainers.

--Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media