Creighton beats No. 13 Xavier behind balanced scoring effort

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Arthur Kamula scored 20 points, Creighton's four other starters finished in double-figures and the Bluejays toppled No. 13 Xavier 84-67 on Saturday for their fourth straight Big East win.

Creighton (13-8, 7-3) steadily built a double-digit lead throughout the game and made 34 of its 60 field goal attempts (56.7%) before a sold-out crowd.

Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 17 points, Baylor Scheierman had 14, Trey Alexander finished with 13 and Ryan Nembhard added 11 for the Bluejays, who avenged a 90-87 loss at Xavier on Jan. 11.

Zach Freemantle led Xavier (17-5, 9-2) with 18 points, followed by Colby Jones and Adam Kunkel with 13.

Creighton went on a 10-2 run just before halftime for a 42-28 lead. The Musketeers threatened in the second half with an 11-3 run to get within 55-49 with a 3-pointer by Kunkel.

Creighton responded with its biggest offensive burst of the game, outscoring Xavier 19-8 in fewer than six minutes to take a 74-57 lead.

BIG PICTURE

Xavier: The Musketeers entered the game leading the nation in assists per game at 21.0. At halftime, Xavier had only six assists before finishing the game with 16.

Creighton: The win over the Musketeers improved Creighton’s home record to 10-1 and also made the Bluejays 6-0 in Big East home games. Creighton’s lone home loss was a 63-53 setback to Nebraska on Dec. 4.

UP NEXT

Xavier: Hosts Providence on Wednesday.

Creighton: Plays at Georgetown on Wednesday.

___

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25