Trey Alexander scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half to lift No. 8 Creighton to a convincing 105-54 season-opening victory over Florida A&M on Tuesday in Omaha, Neb.
Alexander made 7 of 8 shots from the floor — including 2 of 3 from 3-point range — as the Bluejays seized control early en route to winning their 29th straight home opener.
Utah State transfer Steven Ashworth scored 17 points and Baylor Scheierman collected 15 points and eight rebounds for Creighton. Ashworth sank five 3-pointers and Scheierman and Isaac Traudt each added three for the Bluejays, who had eight players convert at least once from beyond the arc.
Creighton shot a robust 56.7 percent from the floor (38 of 67), hit 47.4 percent of its shots from beyond the arc (18 of 38) and held a decided 53-21 advantage in rebounds.
The Bluejays didn’t need much from Ryan Kalkbrenner, however. An All-Big East preseason first-team pick and two-time Big East defensive player of the year, Kalkbrenner scored just nine points while playing in his 100th career game.
Kalkbrenner recorded his 200th career block early in the first half when he denied Hantz Louis-Jeune’s bid for a layup.
Keith Lamar scored 16 points for the Rattlers, who made just 1 of 7 attempts from 3-point range.
Florida A&M held an 8-6 lead just 3:18 into the game before Creighton claimed control of the contest. Ashworth drained a 3-pointer and Scheierman sank two from beyond the arc to ignite a 22-4 run by the Bluejays.
Louis-Jeune made a layup to halt the momentum. However, Ashworth and Alexander each drained two 3-pointers and Scheierman added one to fuel Creighton to a 56-27 lead at halftime.
The Bluejays held a 19-0 advantage in second-chance points in the first half.
The Rattlers scored four quick points to start the second half before Creighton responded with the next 16 to push its lead to 72-31. Mason Miller made two 3-pointers, Ashworth had one and Kalkbrenner capped that sequence with a three-point play.
The outcome was not in doubt the rest of the way.
–Field Level Media
