The Sports Xchange
Nov 10, 2017
Marcus Foster and Khyri Thomas combined to score 45 points as Creighton won its 23rd straight season opener and defeated Yale 92-76 on Friday at CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Neb.
Foster went 9-for-13 from the field on his way to 23 points. Thomas made 10 of 12 attempts from the field and finished with 22 points.
Blake Reynolds led the way for the Bulldogs with 18 points. Paul Atkinson and Trey Phills chipped in with 12 points each for Yale.
Yale, coming off an 18-11 season and the favorite to win the Ivy League, was able to hang with Creighton for the first 12 minutes of the game and only trailed 24-21 with a little more than eight minutes left in the half.
But then the Bluejays (1-0) went on a 9-0 run to seize control. Mitchell Ballock's 3-point jumper put the Bluejays up 33-21 and Creighton never looked back.
Thomas closed out the first half by scoring seven straight as the Bluejays took a 47-35 lead into intermission.
Creighton shot 60.6 percent in the first half as the Blue Jays made 20 of 33 field-goal attempts. Thomas scored 14 points to pave the way for Creighton.
The Bluejays opened up the second half just like the first half ended and built a 17-point lead at 54-37 with Thomas doing most of the damage.
The Bulldogs (0-1) got within 12 at the 16-minute mark when Phills' layup made the score 58-46. Foster answered with seven points and along with a Toby Hegner dunk, the lead was back to 18 at 69-51.
Yale was missing star point guard Makai Mason, who suffered a stress fracture and could miss up to two months. He missed all of last season, with the same injury, after averaging 16 points and four assists in the 2015-16 season.