Marquette Golden Eagles vs Creighton Bluejays Match Player Stats On Dec 14, 2020

D.J. Carton scored 20 points and Dawson Garcia registered a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds as visiting Marquette navigated a back-and-forth finish to defeat No. 9 Creighton 89-84 on Monday night at Omaha, Neb.

The Golden Eagles shot 53.6 percent en route to snapping the Bluejays' 11-game home winning streak in the Big East opener for both teams. Creighton had just its second home defeat since the beginning of the 2019-20 season and first since Jan. 7.

Creighton used a 9-0 run to pull within 76-75 with 2:32 to go, but Marquette regained control with a 7-0 response over the next 1:39, getting a 3-pointer from Carton and a pair of field goals from Garcia.

A Christian Bishop jumper and a Mitch Ballock 3-pointer -- his eighth of the night -- slashed the Bluejays' deficit to three points at 83-80 before Marquette closed the game from the line. The Golden Eagles made 17 of 26 free throws compared to 14 of 25 for Creighton.

Ballock scored a game-high 26 points to pace Creighton (4-2, 0-1 Big East), which also got double-figure scoring efforts from Denzel Mahoney (21) and Damien Jefferson (17).

Koby McEwen added 18 points for Marquette, while Greg Elliott (14) and Justin Lewis (11) followed to round out a balanced attack. Lewis added nine rebounds, and Carton dished five assists.

Marquette (5-2, 1-0 Big East) began the second half on a 6-of-9 tear from the field, including 4-of-4 accuracy from beyond the 3-point arc. After starting the second half on a 6-0 run, the Golden Eagles seemed to find an answer for every Creighton counter.

Marquette led by as many as 12 in the second half after trailing by that deficit with 2:24 to go in the first half.

Creighton led 44-35 at halftime behind 17 points from Ballock, who was 6 of 9 from the field in the first 20 minutes, including 5 for 8 from long range that featured a trey at the buzzer off a behind-the-back pass by Antwann Jones.

The Golden Eagles snapped a three-game losing streak against the Bluejays and lead the all-time series 56-35.

--Field Level Media