Creighton men's basketball falls short to No. 4 UConn
Arthur Kaluma had his second straight double-double with 14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, but it wasn't enough as visiting Creighton lost a 69-60 game at No. 4 Connecticut on Saturday, Jan. 7.
By News Channel NebraskaSTORRS, Conn. -- Arthur Kaluma had his second straight double-double with 14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, but it wasn't enough as visiting Creighton lost a 69-60 game at No. 4 Connecticut on Saturday, Jan. 7.
UConn (15-2, 4-2 BIG EAST) snapped a two-game skid with its 11th straight home win, while Creighton (9-7, 3-2 BIG EAST) had a three-game win streak come to an end.
The teams exchanged eight lead changes in the first 12 minutes before the game changed when Bluejay starters Ryan Kalkbrenner and Ryan Nembhard each picked up their second fouls with more than five minutes to play. The Huskies took advantage and owned a 37-29 lead into the half. Kaluma led CU with 10 points and seven rebounds as the Bluejays owned a 22-14 rebounding advantage. UConn was paced by 14 points from Adama Sanogo and 11 more from Jordan Hawkins.
UConn took a 40-29 lead as Hawkins sank three free throws before the Bluejays rallied with a 14-2 run to retake a 43-42 lead on a Trey Alexander jumper with 13:47 to play. All five Bluejay starters scored during the run, which forced a UConn timeout.
Sanogo, the Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year, answered with the next seven points on two inside scores and a three-pointer to jump-start a 14-2 Huskies run. Creighton whittled the UConn lead down to six (59-53) with just over four minutes left on a dunk from Ryan Kalkbrenner, but Sanogo answered after a timeout to end the threat and CU never got any closer.
Sanogo led UConn with 26 points while Hawkins finished with 17 points.
Creighton won the rebound battle 49-34 and outscored the Huskies 26-20 in the paint.
Creighton returns to the court on Wednesday, Jan. 11, with a 6:00 p.m. Central game at No. 18 Xavier.