Freemantle scores 19 of his 23 in the 2nd half, Xavier beats Creighton 83-61 for fifth straight win

CINCINNATI (AP) — Zach Freemantle scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half to help Xavier beat Creighton 83-61 on Saturday for its fifth straight win.

Freemantle added six rebounds for the Musketeers (19-10, 11-7 Big East Conference). Ryan Conwell scored 20 points and Dante Maddox Jr. had 16.

Creighton (20-9, 13-5), which has two regular-season games remaining and is 3 1/2 games back of No. 7 St. John's, entered tied with Marquette for second place in the conference and has a one-game lead over UConn.

Ryan Kalkbrenner finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks for the Bluejays. Creighton also got nine points and five assists from Steven Ashworth. Jamiya Neal finished with eight points and six rebounds.

Xavier took the lead with 12:51 left in the first half and did not give it up. Conwell led the Musketeers with 10 points in the first half to help put them up 42-27 at the break. Xavier pulled away with a 14-0 run in the second half to extend an eight-point lead to 22 points.

NEXT UP

Creighton visits Seton Hall on Tuesday.

Xavier plays Wednesday against Butler on the road.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.