Big East Preseason Player of the Year Ryan Kalkbrenner scored a career-high 49 points and No. 15 Creighton opened its season against UT-Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday night. They needed almost all of those points in a 99-86 win in the opener.
Creighton, which has been on Sweet 16 teams in three of the past four seasons, couldn’t shake off the Southland Conference Vaqueros until the final two minutes.
The 7-foot-1 Kalkbrenner’s total was the second-highest in program history, behind Bob Portman’s 51 points against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1967. The fifth-year center went an impressive 20-of-22 from the field, including two 2-for-3s. He scored a pointer and made 7 of 8 free throws. He also grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked three shots.
Stephen Ashworth scored 25 points for the Blue Jays.
Hassan Abdul-Hakim had 24 points and Cliff Davis and DK Thorne each added 17 points for the Vaqueros (0-2), who scored on Howie Fleming Jr.’s fifth chance with 2:37 left. They were within 87 wins and 82 losses.
takeout
UT Rio Grande Valley: The Vaqueros made 14 of 35 3-pointers in the second half to stay close and ahead of Creighton on the board. He earned 19 second chance points. They fell to 0-14 against top 25 opponents and have lost 56 straight against power conference opponents, according to Sportradar.
Creighton: The Blue Jays are 30-point favorites, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, and performed better than expected against the Vaqueros. Manager Greg McDermott was forced to start until the final moment.
Ryan Kalkbrenner had a double-double with 49 points and Creighton defeated UTRGV 99-86.
important moment
Kalkbrenner scored 10 consecutive points in a variety of ways in the first half. He made free throws, hit threes from the wing, dunked lobs from Jamiyah Neal, beat his guard downcourt for a fastbreak layup, and showed off some post moves for easy buckets. I decided.
Main status
Creighton has won 30 consecutive home openers since 1995.
to the next
Creighton hosts Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday for the second of four home games over an 11-day span. UT-Rio Grande Valley returns home to face Champion Christian College on Sunday.
Associated Press reported.
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