Once again, coach Greg McDermott has eliminated the top-ranked team in the country.
His Creighton team rolled over No. 1 Kansas 76-63 Wednesday night at CHI Health Center in Omaha in the Big 12-Big East Battle. That marked the first loss of the season for the Jayhawks, who have been ranked No. 1 in the AP poll all season.
The Bluejays have now defeated a No. 1 team at home in consecutive seasons, following last year’s win over UConn. That was the program’s first-ever win over a top-ranked team. Naturally, the second win led to a big celebration on the field in Nebraska.
“I think with any team you’re selling a dream, you’re selling a plan,” McDermott said. “Until you can validate that plan with a win like this, I’m not sure the buy-in is what it will be now… Everyone stepped up and did a great job when we needed them. What can I do ?” you say? Apparently this is the No. 1 building where the teams are going to die.”
Creighton led the entire game Wednesday night, opening the game with a quick 10-2 burst to immediately take control of the game. Steven Ashworth even pulled one off the logo before halftime for the Bluejays, who took a 10-point lead into the locker room.
Although Kansas opened the second half on a 9-0 run, Creighton responded with a 10-0 run of its own, immediately taking away the momentum. The Bluejays also poured it on late, and nothing Kansas did worked. The Jayhawks went more than four minutes without scoring, allowing Creighton to increase its lead to 16 points. From there, the Bluejays rolled to the 13-point victory without much trouble.
Creighton big man Ryan Kalkbrenner, who dropped 49 points in their season opener, was questionable entering the game with a lower-body injury. The 7-footer missed their last game against Notre Dame, snapping a three-game losing streak that dropped them completely from the rankings. However, Kalkbrenner more than held his own against big man from Kansas and All-American Hunter Dickinson. Kalkbrenner finished with a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
However, the biggest impact he had was on defense. He held Dickinson to just six points and two field goals.
“It’s just a brave, brave effort,” McDermott said. “He’s not training all week, and we had to do a number of different procedures to get him on the ground today. He showed a lot of courage, a lot of guts. There are two great big guys playing today, I’m certainly happy about it.” Kalkbrenner is on my team.”
Pop Isaacs led Creighton with 27 points while shooting 6-of-9 from the 3-point line. Ashworth added 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Dajuan Harris Jr. led Kansas with 15 points and five assists, and Zeke Mayo added 12 points. Rylan Griffen did not play for Kansas due to the flu.
Kansas started Wednesday’s game 7-0 and already had a number of key wins under its belt. The Jayhawks pulled off a three-point victory over North Carolina after nearly blowing a 20-point lead, then defeated Cooper Flagg and Duke in Las Vegas last week to remain undefeated. Kansas will take on Missouri next Sunday before hosting NC State and Brown to close out their non-conference slate.
While Kansas’ success this season will likely depend on how it holds its own in the Big 12, Creighton has finally proven that Bill Self’s group can be beaten. Perhaps more importantly for McDermott, the Bluejays’ losing skid is now clearly behind them.
