No. 10 Creighton demolishes Central Michigan in lopsided battle

Field Level Media|published: Sat 9th December, 16:05 2023

Dec 9, 2023; Omaha, Nebraska, USA; Creighton Bluejays center Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) fouls Central Michigan Chippewas forward Markus Harding (15) on a rebound attempt in the first half at CHI Health Center Omaha. credits: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

Reserve Isaac Traudt led a balanced scoring effort with a season-high 18 points as No. 10 Creighton cruised to a 109-64 victory over Central Michigan on Saturday afternoon in Omaha, Neb.

Traudt was lethal from 3-point range, going 5-for-6 from beyond the arc. The Bluejays (8-1) hit 15 of 31 shots from long distance as a team, getting four threes from both Mason Miller and Trey Alexander in the blowout victory.

Miller finished with a career-high 17 points, while Alexander (15 points), Ryan Kalkbrenner (15), Fredrick King (14) and Baylor Scheierman (13) also scored in double figures for Creighton.

Derrick Butler paced the Chippewas (3-6) with 28 points on 13-of-21 shooting to go along with seven boards. Anthony Pritchard supplied 22 points, but the other seven Central Michigan players to see the floor combined for just 14.

Miller drained a pair of threes and Alexander and Scheierman each added one as the Bluejays scored 16 of the game's first 20 points.

CMU pulled within 20-12 when Pritchard canned a jumper with 12:27 left in the first half, but a 3-point barrage by the Bluejays then blew the game open.

Seven of Creighton's final 11 made field goals of the period came from beyond the arc. Two of those seven treys ended up being four-point plays — one from Traudt and one from Miller.

Thanks to 61.3 percent shooting from the field and (19 of 31) and 52.4 percent shooting from deep (11 of 21), the Bluejays took a commanding 56-36 advantage into the break. Miller and Traudt combined to go 7-for-8 from 3-point range while scoring 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Pritchard and Butler each scored 16 points to account for nearly all of Central Michigan's first-half scoring.

Creighton effectively sealed the victory just 5:24 into the second half, making eight of its first nine field-goal attempts and going up 75-44 on Kalkbrenner's three-point play.

The visitors never got their deficit under 29 the rest of the way, with the Bluejays' lead topping out at 45.

—Field Level Media

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