National Basketball Association
Creighton 96, Arizona State 85
When: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Where: Wells-Fargo Arena, Tempe, Arizona
Officials:
# Tony Padilla, # Dick Cartmell, # Eric Curry
Attendance:
6793
By The Sports Xchange
TEMPE, Ariz. -- No. 9 Creighton has never been ranked higher in the national polls, but the Bluejays see no reason to stop now.
Guard Marcus Foster scored a season-high 29 points to lead six players in double figures, and the Bluejays (12-0) made 14 3-pointers in a 96-85 victory over Arizona State on Tuesday at Wells Fargo Arena.
"I don't even think we've reached our peak yet," said Foster, the team's leading scorer. "I think we can get even better than we are right now. Turning up our defense is going to be the main key. We are very good offensively, one of the best teams in the country offensively.
"Undefeated in non-conference and No. 9 in the country, that's exactly where we want to be."
Center Justin Patton had 18 points and Isaiah Zierden and Toby Hegner scored 12 points apiece for the Bluejays, who opened the second half on a 26-11 run to take a 71-51 lead.
Creighton guard Maurice Watson Jr., who leads NCAA Division I with an average of 9.2 assist per game, had 10 points and seven assists. He has had at least five assists in every game this season.
Reserves Zierden and Hegner each made four 3-pointers as the Bluejays finished two short of their season high set in an 86-77 victory over Ole Miss in the title game of the Paradise Jam on Nov. 21.
The Bluejays moved up a spot to No. 9 in the AP poll this week and have been that high only once before, on Feb. 24, 2014, after starting 23-4. They play No. 1 Villanova on New Year's Eve.
Foster had three threes and added four rebounds and three assists
"I'm playing with a whole bunch of shooters, so just skipping it around, either I'm going to get a wide-open shot or one of my teammates is going to get a wide-open shot," Foster said.
"When they made a shot, I feel like I made a shot."
Guards Torian Graham and Tra Holder had 24 points apiece for the Sun Devils (6-6), who have lost two in a row.
Arizona State forward Obinna Oleka had 19 points and 16 rebounds, his seventh double-double of the season.
Creighton shot 53.2 percent from the field and was 16 of 24 in the second half. The Bluejays made 14-of-25 3-pointers. Arizona State shot 45.7 percent and made 7 of 25 3-point attempts
"They have a lot of shooters," Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley said. "There were times when we possibly did lose a couple of guys on some of their set plays. But they put an enormous amount of pressure on you because they have Foster and Watson that can drive so effectively.
"We won the paint. We didn't win the game, but we won the interior part of this game. They just outshot from the 3-point line."
The Sun Devils scored the first nine points but Creighton caught them by midway through the first half, when Zierden's third 3-pointer made it 23-22 at 10:58. The Bluejays made eight 3-pointers in the half for a 45-40 lead.
Three-pointers from Foster, Hegner, Khyri Thomas (11 points) and Zierden sparked the 26-11 run to start the second half.
"We withstood their big run early, and we were still standing," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. "We made shots tonight, and when we make shots we are really efficient offensively."
NOTES: Creighton was the highest-ranked non-conference team to play at Arizona State in exactly 36 years, since the No. 14 Sun Devils beat No. 7 Ohio State, 71-58, on Dec. 20, 1980. ... The Bluejays last started 12-0 in 2003-04, when Dana Altman was the coach. ... Creighton begins Big East play with home games against Seton Hall on Dec. 28 and No. 1-ranked Villanova on Dec. 31. ... Arizona State lost its previous two games against ranked teams, to then-No. 1 Kentucky in the Bahamas and to No. 15 Purdue in New York City.
Top Game Performances
Creighton |
|
Arizona State |
Marcus Foster 29 |
Scoring |
Torian Graham 24 |
Maurice Watson Jr. 7 |
Assists |
Tra Holder 5 |
Toby Hegner 9 |
Rebounds |
Obinna Oleka 16 |
Marcus Foster 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Tra Holder 6 |
Marcus Foster 2 |
Steals |
Shannon Evans II 3 |
Justin Patton 3 |
Blocks |
Shannon Evans II 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Creighton
|
96 |
53.2 |
14-25 |
16-21 |
22 |
29 |
5 |
5 |
15 |
Arizona State
|
85 |
45.7 |
7-25 |
14-20 |
13 |
35 |
6 |
7 |
10 |