South Carolina Upstate Spartans vs Creighton Bluejays Match Player Stats On Dec 20, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 20, 2017

OMAHA, Neb. -- Marcus Foster led six Creighton players in double figures Wednesday night at the 25th-ranked Bluejays routed South Carolina Upstate 116-62.

Foster and Creighton's other starters were through for the night before the midway point of the second half, giving the reserves some valuable playing time before an announced crowd of 15,366 at CenturyLink Center.

However, before putting on his warmup top for most of the second half, Foster poured in 16 points by making 6 of 7 shots -- including 3 of 4 from 3-point range -- and one free throw.

Other Creighton players who finished in double figures were Toby Hegner and Mitch Ballock (13 apiece), Ty-Shon Alexander (11) and Khyri Thomas and Tyler Clement (10 apiece). The Bluejays shot 19 of 34 from 3-point range (55.9 percent) and 42 of 65 overall (64.6 percent).

Creighton cleared the century mark with just under five minutes remaining in the game on a 3-pointer from the right wing by Davion Mintz.

The game was close for the first four minutes as the Spartans got a pair of 3-pointers that helped make the score 11-8. Then it was off to the races for the Creighton offense, as the Bluejays went on a 34-7 run over the next 10 minutes to take a 45-15 lead.

Creighton's advantage continued to grow as McDermott kept all his starters on the bench in the final six minutes before the Bluejays headed to halftime with a 58-24 lead.

It was the second-biggest halftime lead for the Bluejays ever in a game at CenturyLink Center. Only a 37-point lead at intermission over Longwood (62-25) in 2016 topped Wednesday's performance.

Creighton was 22 of 32 (68.8 percent) in the first half. Foster led the way with 16 points and two steals as 10 different Bluejays scored in the opening 20 minutes.

Creighton led by at least 40 points for the final six minutes, with its biggest lead being 56 points.

Malik Moore led Upstate (4-11) with 14 points and six rebounds. Avery Diggs added 10 points, and Deion Holmes scored nine.

NOTES: South Carolina Upstate is now 0-9 in true road games this season, including losses to Minnesota (92-77) and Georgia (74-65). ... The Spartans rank second nationally with 425 3-point attempts and are No. 19 in 3-pointers made per game (10.8). ... Coach Greg McDermott picked up his 175th win with Creighton on Monday against Texas-Arlington. He is just the second coach in program history to reach that victory milestone, joining predecessor Dana Altman (327). It took McDermott 259 games to get to 175, while Altman needed 274 to reach that mark. ... Creighton has won 104 consecutive home games over teams that enter the game with a record of .500 or worse.