No. 8 Creighton hits 100-point plateau in season-opening rout of Florida A&M

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - On the strength of 18 three-point makes, No. 8 Creighton rolled past Florida A&M in their season opener, 105-54.

Creighton’s 51-point win is tied for its eighth-largest in program history, per Bluejays athletics. Five of its 11 victories by 51 points or more have come in a season-opener.

“I liked the way we shared it. I liked out aggressiveness on the offensive glass,” head coach Greg McDermott said. “Certainly some things we could clean up, but I think the unselfish core of this team was really on display tonight.”

After two early turnovers, the Bluejays settled in to take a 13-8 lead. Out of the first media timeout, Trey Alexander brought CHI Health Center to it’s feet with a monstrous one-handed slam dunk. Alexander finished with game-highs in points (20) and assists (5).

Steven Ashworth led the way with five treys on seven attempts in his Creighton debut. As advertised, the Utah State transfer fit in with the Bluejays veteran trio well--playing both on-ball and off--finishing with 17 points and 4 assists in the win.

Ashworth fed Baylor Scheierman in transition for a two-handed jam. The senior guard was asked who had the better dunk between him and Alexander.

“I’m gonna say me because I don’t dunk as much,” Scheierman said with a smile after tallying 15 points and eight rebounds. “So every time I do, it’s pretty spectacular.”

Ryan Kalkbrenner became the second player in Creighton history to record his 200th career block Tuesday night. The only other Bluejay to accomplish the feat was Benoit Benjamin (411).

“To watch his growth and development over the course of the past three years has been incredible,” McDermott said of his senior center. “He’s just absolutely been a joy to coach and he’s poised to have a heck of a year.”

A crowd of 16,117 was on hand for the Bluejays lopsided victory.

“It’s probably as good of an opening game crowd as I can recall, and I’ve been here a little while,” McDermott said.

Creighton returns to action Saturday hosting North Dakota State at 1:00 p.m.

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