National Basketball Association
Marquette 89, Creighton 84
When: 9:00 PM ET, Monday, December 14, 2020
Where: CHI Health Center Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska
Officials:
# Jeff Clark, # Wally Rutecki, # Roger Ayers
Attendance:
255
By Field Level Media
D.J. Carton scored 20 points and Dawson Garcia registered a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds as visiting Marquette navigated a back-and-forth finish to defeat No. 9 Creighton 89-84 on Monday night at Omaha, Neb.
The Golden Eagles shot 53.6 percent en route to snapping the Bluejays' 11-game home winning streak in the Big East opener for both teams. Creighton had just its second home defeat since the beginning of the 2019-20 season and first since Jan. 7.
Creighton used a 9-0 run to pull within 76-75 with 2:32 to go, but Marquette regained control with a 7-0 response over the next 1:39, getting a 3-pointer from Carton and a pair of field goals from Garcia.
A Christian Bishop jumper and a Mitch Ballock 3-pointer -- his eighth of the night -- slashed the Bluejays' deficit to three points at 83-80 before Marquette closed the game from the line. The Golden Eagles made 17 of 26 free throws compared to 14 of 25 for Creighton.
Ballock scored a game-high 26 points to pace Creighton (4-2, 0-1 Big East), which also got double-figure scoring efforts from Denzel Mahoney (21) and Damien Jefferson (17).
Koby McEwen added 18 points for Marquette, while Greg Elliott (14) and Justin Lewis (11) followed to round out a balanced attack. Lewis added nine rebounds, and Carton dished five assists.
Marquette (5-2, 1-0 Big East) began the second half on a 6-of-9 tear from the field, including 4-of-4 accuracy from beyond the 3-point arc. After starting the second half on a 6-0 run, the Golden Eagles seemed to find an answer for every Creighton counter.
Marquette led by as many as 12 in the second half after trailing by that deficit with 2:24 to go in the first half.
Creighton led 44-35 at halftime behind 17 points from Ballock, who was 6 of 9 from the field in the first 20 minutes, including 5 for 8 from long range that featured a trey at the buzzer off a behind-the-back pass by Antwann Jones.
The Golden Eagles snapped a three-game losing streak against the Bluejays and lead the all-time series 56-35.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Marquette |
|
Creighton |
D.J. Carton 20 |
Scoring |
Mitch Ballock 26 |
D.J. Carton 5 |
Assists |
Marcus Zegarowski 5 |
Dawson Garcia 10 |
Rebounds |
Mitch Ballock 6 |
Koby McEwen 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Denzel Mahoney 7 |
D.J. Carton 2 |
Steals |
Marcus Zegarowski 2 |
Dawson Garcia 2 |
Blocks |
Christian Bishop 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Marquette
|
89 |
53.6 |
12-21 |
17-26 |
19 |
40 |
5 |
5 |
12 |
Creighton
|
84 |
48.3 |
14-32 |
14-25 |
16 |
25 |
4 |
7 |
7 |