Ty-Shon Alexander recorded 24 points, eight assists and five steals to lead the host No. 23 Creighton Bluejays to a 93-64 win over the DePaul Blue Demons on Saturday night in Omaha, Neb.
The win was the 12th straight for the Bluejays over the Blue Demons. DePaul lost its seventh straight game.
Damien Jefferson added 12 points and six rebounds for the Bluejays (20-6, 9-4 Big East). Mitchell Ballock, who was held scoreless in Creighton's upset win over No. 10 Seton Hall on Wednesday, finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Charlie Moore led DePaul (13-12, 1-11) with 20 points. Romeo Weems chipped in with 12 points.
The Blue Demons' second-leading leading scorer, Paul Reed (15.6 points per game), came into play Saturday with 15 double-doubles this season. He was held scoreless in the first half and didn't score until he drained a 3-point attempt nearly three minutes into the second half.
Reed finished with just three points and three rebounds in 12 minutes.
With the score tied at 10-all, the Bluejays took control of the game, going on a 21-5 run with Alexander and Ballock doing most of the damage. Jefferson connected on a 16-foot jumper right before the first-half buzzer to give the Bluejays a 42-28 lead at intermission.
Alexander scored 13 points and made all five of his steals in the first half, while Ballock hit three 3-pointers and had nine points.
The Creighton advantage would have been greater if not for nine first-half turnovers, which the Blue Demons converted into nine points.
If the Blue Demons had any thought of making a comeback, those hopes were quickly squashed when the Bluejays scored the first 11 points of the second half.
Zegarowski followed layups by Alexander and Jefferson with a 3-pointer and a layup of his own. A dunk by Jefferson put the Bluejays up 53-28.
Reed stopped the bleeding with his only bucket of the game.
Creighton made 11 of its first 13 shots to open up a 70-37 lead. The Bluejays made 67.9 percent (19-for-28) of their second-half shots and finished the game at 57.9 percent.
--Field Level Media
