Once again, Greg McDermott has taken down the top-ranked team in the country.
Creighton defeated No. 1 Kansas 76-63 on Wednesday night at the CHI Center in Omaha in the Big 12-Big East Battle. That marked the first loss of the season for the Jayhawks, who began the season as the top-ranked team in college basketball.
The BlueJays have beaten a No. 1 team at home in consecutive seasons, following last year’s upset win over UConn. That was the program’s first win over a higher-ranked team. Naturally, the second such victory sparked a huge celebration on the Nebraska field.
Creighton led all the way Wednesday night and opened the game with a quick 10-2 burst to immediately take control of the game. Steven Ashworth even took 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 to instantly take away the momentum. The BlueJays also struggled late and nothing Kansas did worked. The Jayhawks went more than four minutes without scoring down the stretch, allowing Creighton to increase its lead to 16 points. From there, the BlueJays cruised to a 13-point victory without much trouble.
Creighton big man Ryan Kalkbrenner, who dropped 49 points in his 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 left them completely out of the standings. Kalkbrenner, however, held his own against Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson. He finished with a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Perhaps most importantly, he limited Dickinson to just six points and two field goals.
Pop Isaacs led Creighton with 27 points and was 6 of 9 from 3-point range. 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.
Kansas entered Wednesday’s game 7-0 with several key wins under its belt. The Jayhawks cruised to a three-point victory over North Carolina after nearly blowing a 20-point lead, and then beat Cooper Flagg and Duke in Las Vegas last week to remain undefeated. Kansas will face Missouri next Sunday before hosting NC State and Brown to close out its non-conference slate.
This post will be updated with more information soon.