Creighton Men's Basketball Controls DePaul To Earn 20th Win of Season

OMAHA, Neb. -- Ryan Kalkbrenner had 25 points and 13 rebounds to carry the Creighton men's basketball team to a 75-65 win over DePaul on Wednesday night before 17,213 fans at CHI Health Center Omaha. The Bluejays (20-8, 13-4 BIG EAST) earned their 10th straight 20-win season with the victory, its 22nd in a row over the Blue Demons.

Steven Ashworth had 16 points and six assists to join Kalkbrenner in double-figures for CU, while Isaiah Rivera paced DePaul (11-18, 2-16 BIG EAST) with 18 points and eight rebounds.

The Bluejays trailed 22-18 midway through the first half before a 16-3 run that featured three scores by Kalkbrenner and two baskets from reserve Fedor Zugic. CU led by as much as nine points in the first half before settling for a 36-32 lead at intermission.

Creighton's first five baskets of the second half were by Kalkbrenner as the senior All-American candidate proved to be unstoppable inside against an undersized DePaul front line. Leading 50-45 with 13 minutes left, Isaac Traudt had a pair of three-pointers in Creighton's game-sealing 15-0 run that put the Blue Demons away.

CU finished the game making 51.8 percent of its shots from the field (29-56) and beating DePaul 42-22 on the glass.  CU outscored the Blue Demons 36-26 in the paint, 16-1 in second-chance points and 21-10 off the bench.

Creighton opens a two-game road trip on Saturday afternoon with a 3:30 p.m. start at Xavier.