Creighton

Big East: Creighton Faces UConn

March 14, 2025 by Digital Sports Desk

NEW YORK – Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner has spent this week anticipating another chance to play for a Big East championship.

The four-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year is one step closer to achieving his goal, but standing in second-seeded Creighton’s way is a semifinal matchup with third-seeded UConn, which appears to be peaking again.

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Creighton (23-9) has won three straight and the 7-foot-1 Kalkbrenner has scored 79 points in those games. The Bluejays needed 32 from the senior center when they outlasted DePaul for an 85-81 double-overtime win on Thursday in the Big East quarterfinals.

The Bluejays scored the final 11 points of regulation after struggling offensively throughout, and Kalkbrenner hit the go-ahead basket in double overtime after Creighton lost an eight-point lead in the first overtime.

“Like I’ve been saying ever since I decided to come back for another year, I haven’t gotten the Big East Championship yet,” Kalkbrenner said after making 14-of-21 shots in 47 minutes Thursday. “So to come back for another day and get another shot at staying another day and getting a shot at the championship is huge.

“I really, really, really want this championship, and I’m going to play my butt off to get it. Yeah, it means a lot to be able to come back another day.”

The Huskies (23-9) are on a five-game winning streak and seeking their second straight title after beating Marquette for their first Big East crown since 2011 on the way to a dominating second straight national championship.

UConn’s past five wins are by an average of 16 points. The Huskies earned their fourth double-digit victory of this streak when they pulled away down the stretch for a 73-56 victory over sixth-seeded Villanova in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

“It’s March,” UConn forward Alex Karaban said. “We’re desperate for championships here so we want to play our best basketball right now. There’s no better time.”

Karaban fueled the latest win when he scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half. Karaban sank two of his four 3s when the Huskies ended the game on a 22-5 run over the final 7:58.

The teams split a pair of single-digit games during the regular season, and Kalkbrenner was held to 18 points in those games combined as others had career performances for both teams.

The Bluejays earned a 68-63 win at UConn on Jan. 18 when Jamiya Neal scored a career-high 24 points. The Huskies notched a 70-66 victory at Creighton on Feb. 11 when freshman Liam McNeeley scored 38 points.

“Obviously every game is different,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley said about facing Creighton and Kalkbrenner. “Yeah, that defensive scheme is really challenging. There’s opportunities in the paint. They may not be all the way at the rim. There’s opportunities for us to drop, the deep drop that he plays to get to the logo, which are tougher shots but their scheme and what he is as a defensive player is obviously going to be a challenge.”

– Field Level Media

Creighton Double OTs DePaul

March 13, 2025 by Digital Sports Desk

NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Creighton’s bigman Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 32 points, including the go-ahead hook shot with 2:12 remaining in the second overtime as Creighton survived a major scare from DePaul to earn a wild 85-81 victory on Thursday in the Big East tournament quarterfinals.

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Creighton rallied from an 11-point deficit in the final 2:12 of regulation and blew an eight-point lead in the final 93 seconds of the first overtime.

Fedor Zugic added 13 points, including a pair of 3-pointers in Creighton’s comeback late in regulation. Steven Ashworth was held to 10 on 3-of-16 shooting but hit the tying trey with 21 seconds left in regulation for the second-seeded Bluejays (23-9).

Layden Blocker scored 25 for DePaul (14-19), including the Blue Demons’ final nine points of the first overtime. Isaiah Rivera added 17 and CJ Gunn chipped in 14 points and six steals for the 10th-seeded Blue Demons, who were attempting to reach the semifinals for the first time since joining the Big East.

DePaul held a 76-75 lead when Rivera hit a step-back 3-pointer over Zugic with 3:37 remaining in the second extra session. After the Blue Demons’ David Thomas missed a 3-point attempt with 2:26 left, Kalkbrenner put Creighton ahead for good with a hook shot over NJ Benson.

Kalkbrenner hit a layup around a double team with 91 seconds left, and teammate Jamiya Neal dunked 20 seconds later for a 81-76 edge. The Blue Demons were within 83-81 after a trey by Blocker with 12 seconds to go, and Creighton finally secured matters when Ty Davis sank two free throws with nine seconds remaining.

The Bluejays beat DePaul for the 23rd straight time and advanced to a Friday semifinals against third-seeded UConn or sixth-seeded Villanova.

DePaul held a 62-51 lead after a layup by Thomas with 2:12 left in the second half. Zugic started Creighton’s run with two 3-pointers in 20 seconds. Kalkbrenner had a layup with 1:11 left, and Ashworth forged a 62-62 tie with a deep 3-pointer from the right side with 21 seconds left following a Bluejays timeout.

In overtime, Zugic dunked on the first possession and Creighton extended its lead to 72-64 on a basket Davis with 1:33 to go. Blocker forced double overtime by getting by Davis for a short jumper with one second left.

Before Creighton stormed back, the Blue Demons held a 36-21 lead at halftime and a 17-point edge in the opening minutes of the second half.

– Field Level Media

Kalkbrenner Leads Creighton

March 13, 2025 by Digital Sports Desk

NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner saw his name mentioned in conjunction with another Big East player who enjoyed a storied NBA career at Madison Square Garden.

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Kalkbrenner joined Patrick Ewing as the only second player to be named as a four-time winner of the Big East’s Defensive Player of the Year award. The senior standout shot-blocker will look to record another big performance on Thursday night as second-seeded Creighton (22-9) squares off against 10th-seeded DePaul (14-18) in a Big East tournament quarterfinal matchup.

Kalkbrenner won his latest award earlier this week after leading the conference with 80 blocked shots. Along with Khyri Thomas, the Bluejays have earned at least a share of the award in six of the past nine seasons.

“That’s crazy because I wouldn’t think of myself in the same conversation as (former Georgetown and New York Knicks star) Patrick Ewing, at least not yet,” Kalkbrenner said. “So it’s definitely a huge honor to get that award and tie Ewing in that way. Still a lot of work to do for us.”

Kalkbrenner also led the Big East by shooting 66.3 percent from the field and was second behind Villanova’s Eric Dixon in scoring at an average of 19.4 points a game.

Kalkbrenner scored 12 points against St. John’s on Feb. 16 when he tweaked his ankle in a collision under the rim but ended the regular-season by averaging 22.8 points in his final five games, including a 27-point showing in Saturday’s 87-74 regular-season win over Butler.

The Bluejays are attempting to reach the title game for the fifth time since joining the Big East and the third time with Kalkbrenner after doing so in 2021 and 2022.

“That would be awesome,” he said. “In my time we’ve never won the Big East regular season or tournament, and that’s something I would love to do.”

While Creighton relies on Kalkbrenner’s interior play, it also is potent from outside. Steven Ashworth shot 38 percent from 3-point range in the regular season, fourth in the Big East behind Dixon, UConn’s Solo Ball and Xavier’s Ryan Conwell.

Ashworth hit 7 of 15 shots from beyond the arc against Butler. He made 24 of 59 attempts from 3-point range over his final six games since missing all five attempts against UConn on Feb. 11.

DePaul has improved by 11 games under first-year coach Chris Holtmann, who saw his team advance in the Big East tournament with a 71-67 victory over seventh-seeded Georgetown on Wednesday.

The Blue Demons are on a three-game winning streak and have shot at least 50 percent in each game. The past three games are occurring after a 2-14 skid that included a 73-49 home loss to Creighton on Jan. 21 and a 75-65 setback on Feb. 26, when Kalkbrenner totaled 25 points and 13 rebounds.

“It’s going to be a tough matchup with Kalkbrenner,” Holtmann said. “Bottom line, it’s not just Kalkbrenner. They have a terrific team. For us, we’re grateful for an opportunity to come out and compete, and we can’t wait to get out there and play again and wear the DePaul uniform. We’re super excited about it.”

NJ Benson did not play in the previous meeting with Creighton and guided DePaul to its second opening-round victory in three seasons.

Benson, who averaged 8.5 points during the regular season, returned after missing a month with a hand injury and scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half, including 11 straight for DePaul in the second half to turn a tie game into a seven-point lead.

– Field Level Media