Creighton 68-63 UConn (Jan 18, 2025) Game Summary

On By Littum

STORRS, Conn. — — Jamiya Neal had a career-high 24 points to lead Creighton to a 68-63 win over no. 14 UConn on Saturday.

Ryan Kalkbrenner had 16 points and Steven Ashworth scored 12 for the Bluejays (12-6, 5-2 Big East).

Hassan Diarra and Solo Ball each had 15 points for UConn (13-5, 5-2). The Huskies’ loss snapped a 28-game winning streak.

Four consecutive points by Alex Karaban capped a 12-2 run early in the second half to put the Huskies up 43-41. Creighton responded with a pair of dunks in a 6-0 run to regain the lead.

After missing his first three 3-pointers, Creighton hit four straight with Isaac Traudt giving the Bluejays their first lead midway through the first half. The Huskies regained the lead twice in the first, but Creighton scored 10 of the final 12 points of the half to take a 35-28 lead into the locker room.

Takeaways

Creighton: The Bluejays won the battle between the teams picked to finish first and second in the Big East preseason poll as players other than Kalkbrenner and Ashworth stepped up to play big games.

UConn: The Huskies lost another winnable game while star tight end Liam McNeeley working his way back from a high ankle sprain.

Key moment

UConn had just regained the lead on a pair of Samson Johnson free throws with about 3 1/2 minutes remaining when Kalkbrenner scored the next three points and forced a layup by Diarra to give Creighton a lead it would not relinquish on.

Key State

Creighton outscored UConn 14-5 at the foul line, including four consecutive free throws to tie the game.

Next

Creighton plays at DePaul on Tuesday. UConn hosts Butler on Tuesday at the XL Center.

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