Mansfield, CT — Christian Bishop scored 19 points and led four other Creighton players in double-digit scoring for the No. 9 ranked Bluejays defeated UConn 76-74 in overtime in a Big East Conference game on Sunday.
Bishop Came Up Big In Second Half
Bishop, who scored 12 of his total points in the second half, shot 8 of 11 from the field overall and made his last four shots, as Creighton avoided the upset at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. He also had five rebounds and two blocks.
Mitch Ballock added 13 points with four rebounds, Marcus Zegarowski had 11 points and eight rebounds and Denzel Mahoney grabbed his first double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Bluejays (6-2, 2-1 Big East) who won for their second straight game.
Damien Jefferson, who hit a jumper as time expired to send the game into overtime, finished with 10 points with five rebounds and four assists.
Bouknight’s 40pts In Defeat
James Bouknight scored a career-high 40 points on 13 of 24 shooting to lead the way for the Huskies (3-1, 0-1).
UConn led 66-62 with 21 seconds remaining, but Zegarowski’s layup cut the deficit to two points with 13 seconds left before Jefferson made sure of the extra time as the clock hit zero.
Creighton then used a 9-0 run in overtime to secure the victory in a game that had eight ties and 15 lead changes.
RJ Cole finished with 12 points for UConn, which shot 35.8% on 24 of 67 shooting from the field.
Creighton was 27 of 65 for 41.5% shooting from the floor and edged UConn in the rebounding column, 48-41.
The Bluejays led by as many as 12 points in the first half and led 33-29 at halftime.
However, the Huskies rallied in the second half to make it a contest before falling short in overtime.
UP NEXT
Creighton plays Xavier on Wed, Dec 23.
UConn was slated scheduled to play at DePaul on Wednesday, but due to a positive coronavirus test in the Blue Demons program last week, the Huskies will not travel to Chicago. The Huskies will be off for 10 days until playing the game that was rescheduled for Dec. 30 in Chicago.
CREIGHTON (6-2)
Bishop 8-11 3-6 19, Jefferson 4-9 0-0 10, Ballock 4-7 3-4 13, Zegarowski 4-14 2-2 11, Mahoney 4-11 1-2 10, Jones 1-6 3-6 6, Kalkbrenner 1-4 3-4 5, Mitchell 0-2 0-0 0, O’Connell 1-1 0-0 2, Epperson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-65 15-24 76.
UCONN (3-1)
Whaley 3-3 1/3 7, Carlton 1/3 0-0 2, Bouknight 13-24 9-12 40, Cole 2-14 6-8 12, Martin 1-6 0-0 2, Gaffney 1-7 2-2 4, Adams 1-5 0-0 2, Sanogo 2-4 1-1 5, Jackson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-67 19-26 74.
Halftime--Creighton 33-29. 3-Point Goals–Creighton 7-27 (Ballock 2-4, Jefferson 2-5, Jones 1-4, Mahoney 1-5, Zegarowski 1-8, Mitchell 0-1), UConn 7-30 (Bouknight 5-12, Cole 2-9, Jackson 0-1, Martin 0-1, Adams 0-3, Gaffney 0-4). Fouled Out–Whaley. Rebounds–Creighton 40 (Mahoney 13), UConn 37 (Martin 10). Assists–Creighton 13 (Jefferson 4), UConn 9 (Gaffney 3). Total Fouls–Creighton 24, UConn 21.
