Once again, coach Greg McDermott has eliminated the top-ranked team in the country.
His Creighton team defeated No. 1 Kansas 76-63 Wednesday night at the CHI Health Center in Omaha in the Big 12-Big East Battle. That marked the first loss of the season for the Jayhawks, who have spent the entire season ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll.
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.
“I think with every team you’re selling a dream, you’re selling a plan,” McDermott said. “Until you can validate that plan with a win like this, I’m not sure the acceptance is what it’s going to be now… Everyone stepped up and did a great job when we needed them. What can we do? ?” You say? “This is the building where the No. 1 teams are going to die, obviously.”
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 unranked entirely. Kalkbrenner, however, held his own against Kansas big man and All-American Hunter Dickinson. Kalkbrenner finished with a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
However, the biggest impact he had was on the defensive end. He limited Dickinson to just six points and two field goals.
“It’s just a very, very brave effort,” McDermott said. “He hasn’t practiced all week, and we had to do some different procedures to get him on the court today. He showed a lot of courage, a lot of guts. There are two great guys playing today, I’m sure glad.” Kalkbrenner is on my team.”
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. Rylan Griffen did not play for Kansas due to the flu.
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.
Although Kansas’ success this season will likely depend on how it performs in the Big 12, Creighton has finally proven that Bill Self’s group is beatable. Perhaps most importantly for McDermott, however, the Bluejays’ losing streak is now clearly behind them.