Jamiya Neal filled the stat sheet with 21 points, nine rebounds and four assists, carrying No. 21 Creighton to an 80-76 win over Notre Dame in the seventh-place game of the Players Era Festival on Saturday in Las Vegas.
Fredrick King started in place of the injured Ryan Kalkbrenner and finished with 14 points as Creighton (5-3) ended a three-game losing streak. Steven Ashworth chipped in 15 points and six rebounds.
Notre Dame (4-4) lost its fourth consecutive game despite four players scoring in double figures, including 17-point efforts from Braeden Shrewsberry and Tae Davis. Matt Allocco scored 12 and Garrett Sundra tallied 11. The Irish are still without leading scorer Markus Burton, who injured his right knee in Tuesday’s overtime loss to Rutgers.
Down by as many as 17, Notre Dame led 53-52 after Shrewsberry hit a 3-pointer with 10:19 to play, capping an 11-0 run.
Three consecutive 3-pointers, including two by Neal, helped the Bluejays push their lead to 61-53 with under seven minutes left and never looked back.
Kalkbrenner, Creighton’s leading scorer (18.1 points per game) and rebounder (8.6), did not start the game due to a lower-body injury and never saw the floor.
It didn’t matter, with Neal rising to the occasion.
He helped fuel a 9-0 run in the first half, burying a 3-pointer and scoring off a layup and free throw. Isaac Traudt then knocked down a wide-open shot from distance that pushed the Bluejays’ advantage to 21-11 with 12:12 to play in the half.
Creighton had its biggest lead at 30-13 with 8:17 left after Mason Miller connected from beyond the arc.
Notre Dame battled back, igniting a 12-0 run highlighted by 3-pointers from J.R. Konieczny and Kebba Njie as Notre Dame closed the gap to 30-25 with 3:40 remaining.
Neal’s 3-pointer in the corner with 1:58 to go gave Creighton a 35-27 cushion, and his wide-open dunk with 54 seconds to play put the Bluejays back up by 10 at 37-27.
Creighton took a 40-30 lead into halftime after shooting 6-of-13 from 3-point range, including Traudt’s triple with three seconds remaining.
–Field Level Media
