EditorsNote: Changes the first graf to reflect that Creighton was the home team
Christian Bishop scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Denzel Mahoney added 17 points, and No. 9 Creighton, the home team, coasted to a 94-67 win over intra-city rival Omaha on Tuesday evening.
Antwann Jones added 12 points and six rebounds off the bench for Creighton (2-0). Marcus Zegarowski and Damien Jefferson contributed 11 points each, as five players scored in double digits. Zegarowski notched 11 assists to post a double-double.
Marlon Ruffin scored 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting to lead Omaha (1-3). Zach Thornhill was the Mavericks' second-leading scorer with nine points.
Creighton shot 57.6 percent (34 of 59) from the field and 50 percent (11 of 22) from 3-point range. Omaha shot 35.6 percent (26 of 73) overall and 32 percent (8 of 25) from beyond the arc.
Zegarowski secured a double-double when he drained a 3-pointer with 15:10 left in the second half off an assist from Ryan Kalkbrenner. That increased the Bluejays' lead to 62-40.
The advantage ballooned to 27 as Creighton scored five more points after Zegarowski's 3-pointer. Shereef Mitchell made two free throws, Jones made one free throw and Kalkbrenner added a layup.
With 5:05 to go, the Bluejays secured their largest lead of the game at 36 points. A three-point play by Jones made it 92-56.
Creighton built a 50-26 lead at the half. The Bluejays shot 61.3 percent (19 of 31) before the break, while Omaha shot 32.4 percent (11 of 34).
An 11-0 run allowed Creighton to pull ahead 48-20 with 1:15 to go in the first half. Bishop scored the final six points during the run on a jump shot, two free throws and a layup.
Omaha had a 5-0 run late in the first half on a 3-pointer by Ayo Akinwole and a basket by Thornhill. But that merely trimmed a 22-point deficit to 17 points for the Mavericks, whose last lead of the game came at 7-5 with 17:08 remaining in the first half.
Bishop had 12 points before intermission to lead Creighton. Akinwole paced Omaha with eight, but he did not score after the break and finished 3 of 13 from the field.
--Field Level Media
