No. 14 Creighton routs Houston Christian 78-43, Greg McDermott becomes Bluejays' career wins leader
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 16 points, Steven Ashworth added 13 and No. 14 Creighton blew out Houston Christian 78-43 on Wednesday night to make Greg McDermott the Bluejays' all-time coaching wins leader.
McDermott has won 328 games at Creighton since taking over for Dana Altman in 2010. Altman, now at Oregon, won 327 games from 1994-2010.
The Bluejays (3-0) held Houston Christian (1-2) to 25% shooting and the lowest point total against them since 2017.
The 7-foot-1 Kalkbrenner continued his torrid shooting, going 6 of 6 from the field to put him at 35 of 38 through three games for a nation-leading 92.1%.
The Bluejays came out sluggish, scoring only three points through the first 5 1/2 minutes. They turned up their transition offense, Kalkbrenner began asserting himself in the post and the rout was on after a 16-0 run gave them a double-digit lead that kept growing.
D'Aundre Samuels led the Huskies with eight points.
Takeaways
Houston Christian: The Huskies, picked last in the 12-team Southland Conference, dropped to 0-16 all-time against ranked opponents.
Creighton: The Bluejays got off to a slow start for a third straight game, missing seven of their first eight shots. They have gotten away with it against three overmatched opponents but won't be able to once the competition gets stiffer.
Key moment
Creighton outscored the Huskies 36-5 over the last 16 minutes of the first half, holding them without a point over an eight-minute span.
Key stat
Houston Christian shot 15.2% from the field (5 of 33) the first 20 minutes and only scored 12 first-half points, the lowest by a Division I team this season.
Up next
Houston Christian hosts Division III Rockford on Saturday, the same day Creighton hosts Kansas City.
Ayoka Lee scores 28 in 16 minutes as No. 10 Kansas State cruises past Creighton 86-68
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Ayoka Lee scored 28 points in just 16 minutes due to foul trouble, and No. 10 Kansas State rolled to an 86-68 victory over Creighton on Thursday night.
Temira Poindexter and Serena Sundell added 12 points apiece, and Kennedy Taylor scored 10 off the bench for the Wildcats (3-0).
Kennedy Townsend had a career-high 16 points, and Morgan Maly finished with 15 for the Bluejays (1-2). But Lauren Jensen, the nation's leading scorer, was held to just nine on 4-for-11 shooting.
Jaelyn Glenn got the Wildcats going with two early 3-pointers, but the rest of the first half was dominated by Lee, whose ability to get easy baskets in the paint allowed Kansas State to roar to a 39-23 halftime lead.
Jensen, who had 32 points in the Bluejays' win over Drake on Monday, picked up two fouls before taking a shot. Her first attempt came in the closing seconds of the first quarter, and she did not score until the second.
Takeaways
Creighton: The Bluejays were unprepared — or unable — to stop Lee from getting the ball in the post. She was 8 of 11 from the floor in the first half.
Kansas State: Lee was the star, but the backcourt also shined for the Wildcats, dishing out 24 assists on 36 made field goals.
Key moment
Zyanna Walker hit a 3-pointer and scored on a fast break early in the second half, when Creighton was threatening to make it a game. The Wildcats quickly extended their lead to 20 and coasted from there.
Key stat
8 — Kansas State only had eight turnovers in the game.
Up next
Creighton plays No. 20 Nebraska on Nov. 22, and Kansas State faces Little Rock on Monday night.
Hill's 17 help UNLV beat Omaha 80-69
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jalen Hill and Jeremiah Cherry scored 17 points each as UNLV beat Omaha 80-69 on Thursday.
Hill also had eight rebounds and five steals for the Rebels (2-1). Cherry was 7 of 8 and 3 of 3 from the free-throw line. Dedan Thomas Jr. had 15 points and shot 4 of 9 from the field and 6 of 6 from the free-throw line.
Ja'Sean Glover finished with 17 points for the Mavericks (2-2). Marquel Sutton added 16 points for Omaha. Kamryn Thomas finished with 11 points and six rebounds.
UNLV led Omaha at the half, 35-29, with Cherry (11 points) its high scorer before the break. UNLV outscored Omaha in the second half by five points, with Dedan Thomas Jr. scoring a team-high 12 points in the final half.
Shogbonyo scores 16 in Denver's 86-63 victory over Colorado Christian
DENVER (AP) — Nicholas Shogbonyo scored 16 points as Denver beat Colorado Christian 86-63 on Thursday night.
Shogbonyo had six rebounds for the Pioneers (2-2). Josh Pickett scored 15 points while going 5 of 6 and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line and added six rebounds. Isaiah Addo-Ankrah finished 4 of 5 from 3-point range to finish with 14 points.
Tate Odvody finished with 16 points for the Cougars. Colorado Christian also got 13 points from Bradley Land.
JT Toppin scores 24, Chance McMillian 16 and sizzling Texas Tech routs Wyoming 96-49
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — JT Toppin scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Chance McMillian added 16 points and hot-shooting Texas Tech routed Wyoming 96-49 on Wednesday night.
The Red Raiders (3-0) had scoring runs of 14-0 in the first half and 22-0 in the second half. Texas Tech outscored Wyoming 22-2 over the final six minutes.
Texas Tech led 74-47 before Anderson hit a couple of jumpers from two-point range and McMillian hit two 3-pointers to open the 22-point run. At one point in the second half, the Red Raiders made 12 consecutive shots. The Cowboys misfired on nine of their last 10.
Texas Tech shot 77% in the second half, 64% for the game.
Toppin made 10 of 15 shots. McMillian was 6 for 7 from the field and 4 for 4 from 3-point distance. Darrion Williams had 14 points and Devan Cambridge added 10.
Obi Agbim led Wyoming (2-1) with 15 points. The Cowboys shot 34% and had 25 turnovers.
Toppin scored seven points in a 14-0 run that gave Texas Tech a 32-13 lead with eight minutes left in the first half. The Red Raiders extended their lead and scored the final six points of the half to lead 46-20. Toppin had 16 points and eight rebounds in the half.
Phipps Scores 18 In Loss To No. 20 Bearcats
KANSAS CITY – Chadron State men's basketball hung with one of Division II's most storied programs for a half before the No. 20-ranked Northwest Missouri State Bearcats pulled away for a 74-57 victory at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Eagles, who trailed by just four points at halftime, enjoyed a CSC career-high 18-point night from senior forward Julio Phipps, who added 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Northwest Missouri State improved to 1-2. The Bearcats, who won four Division II national titles in five years from 2917-2022 but are now rebuilding with a new coaching staff, received 21 points from Luke Moustakas, who entered the game as their leading scorer.
The loss drops Chadron State to 1-2 on the season. The Eagles will stay in Kansas City and play tomorrow morning against NAIA school Ottawa University (Kansas), with tipoff set for 10:00 a.m. MT (11:00 a.m. local/CT).
Phipps, a Bronx, New York native and second-year Eagle after playing two seasons at Porterville College, made his first start of the year for CSC after making seven starts among 25 appearances last season.
Phipps scored 18 points while shooting 8 of 11 from the field. Among his 10 rebounds, six were offensive boards to create second-chance opportunities for the Eagles. Phipps also added three blocked shots.
The 18 points are the most in Phipps's CSC career, surpassing his previous high of 10. It was just off his collegiate career high, which is 21 points in junior college from December 4, 2021.
Behind Phipps, veteran guard Jalen Thomas finished with 13 points, six rebounds and three steals while shooting 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. Trey Ballard tallied his third straight game in double figures to open the year, scoring 12 points on 4 of 11 shooting.
Despite the loss, Chadron State won the rebounding battle for the third consecutive game to start the season, nabbing 40 rebounds compared to Northwest Missouri's 36. The advantage was especially apparent on the offensive glass, with Chadron State grabbing 15 offensive rebounds and outscoring the Bearcats 13-0 in second chance points.
The Eagles finished with eight assists and 15 turnovers, while the Bearcats had more of both with 19 assists and 17 turnovers.
The Eagles were stride-for-stride with their nationally ranked opponents for the first 30 minutes. CSC took an early 6-5 lead thanks to a layup from Phipps and back-to-back buckets from Jalen Thomas. Although the Bearcats took a 14-8 lead, the Eagles went on a 7-0 scoring run with a jumper from Darrius Miles and a three and a two from Ballard to go ahead 15-14.
While that would be CSC's last lead of the night, the Bearcats didn't lead by more than eight at any point during the first half and only had a four-point 32-28 advantage at halftime. Unfortunately for the Eagles, their shooting went cold after the break.
After shooting 41 percent from the field in the first half, CSC dipped to 26 percent in the second half. The Eagles were 0-11 from three-point range in the second half and 1-18 for the game.
Chadron State outpaced the Bearcats in several more categories, earning the stats edge in steals (9 to 7), blocks (4 to 2), points off turnovers (16 to 12), points in the paint (34 to 30) and bench points (24 to 9).
Chadron State— Julio Phipps 18, Jalen Thomas 13, Trey Ballard 12, Zy Wright 6, Darrius Miles 6, Jaylen Davis 2. Totals: 21-65 FG, 1-18 3PT, 14-19 FT. 57 points, 40 rebounds, 8 assists, 15 turnovers.
Northwest Missouri State—Luke Moustakas 21, Spencer Schomers 18, Emorie Knox 10, Padraig Gallagher 10, Jack Ratigan 6, Marcus Glock 5, Trey Moala 2, Jadin Johnson 2. Totals: 25-54 FG, 10-28 3PT, 14-18 FT. 74 points, 36 rebounds, 19 assists, 17 turnovers.