Connecticut Huskies vs Creighton Bluejays Match Player Stats On Jan 23, 2021

Denzel Mahoney had 20 points and Marcus Zegarowski scored 10 of his 15 in the second half to lead No. 11 Creighton to a 74-66 Big East win against No. 23 Connecticut on Saturday in Omaha, Neb.

Damien Jefferson added 13 points for the Bluejays (11-4, 7-3), who halted a two-game losing streak despite going 6 of 20 from 3-point range and getting outrebounded 42-27.

Creighton did shoot 51.1 percent overall and held UConn (7-3, 4-3) to 36.5 percent shooting.

R.J. Cole scored 14 points and Adama Sanogo added 13 for the Huskies, who have dropped two in a row and remain without injured star James Bouknight (20.3 points per game).

Down early in the opening minutes of the second half, Creighton hit four of its first five shots to go up 40-35.

UConn fought back thanks to the play of Sanogo and Tyrese Martin (11 points) to tie the game at 48-48.

Creighton, though, got a floater from Mahoney to regain the lead for good. A 3-pointer by Zegarowski capped a 10-0 run that swelled the lead to 62-50 with 6:30 remaining.

The Huskies clawed back again as back-to-back treys from Isaiah Whaley (10 points) and Brendan Adams cut that deficit in half. That would be as close as the visitors would get, however, as baskets from Mitch Ballock and Zegarowski gave the hosts more breathing room.

Neither team showed much rhythm in the first half, and each missed its first five 3-point attempts. However, the Bluejays eventually found their form from distance. Up 11-10, Ballock made Creighton's first 3-pointer midway through the first half. Mahoney followed with consecutive triples and the hosts led 21-13, then pushed that advantage to 25-15.

UConn used a 9-0 run capped by Adams' 3-pointer to get within 25-24. It was back-and-forth the rest of the half, with Creighton taking a 29-28 advantage into the locker room.

--Field Level Media