The Sports Xchange
Nov 20, 2017
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Creighton used two double-digit runs to hand No. 23 UCLA its first loss 100-89 in the first semifinal game of the 2017 CBE Hall of Fame Classic Monday night at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Creighton was led by Marcus Foster with 23 points. Mitch Ballock added 22 points, Khyri Thomas had 16, Ty-Shon Alexander had 12 and Davion Mintz had 10.
UCLA was led by Aaron Holiday with 25 points. Prince Ali had 18, Thomas Welsh added 16 and Kris Wilkes had 15.
The Blue Jays will face the winner of Monday night's second game between Wisconsin and Baylor. The Blue Jays, playing about three hours from campus, definitely had the crowd on their side and beat a top-25 team in consecutive games for the first time in school history.
Creighton (4-0) used a 7-0 run on each side of halftime to open a 50-38 lead. UCLA (3-1) cut the lead to six points on several occasions, but could only cut it to five points once. But the Blue Jays pulled away late to secure the win.
A back-and-forth first half saw Creighton start a little slowly, but then use a 16-0 run over just 3:48 to turn a 13-8 deficit into a 24-13 advantage. UCLA managed to chip away, eventually taking a 38-36 lead with just over two minutes remaining. But the Blue Jays finished the half on a 7-0 spurt to take 43-38 lead into the half.
NOTES: The UCLA freshman trio of LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill remain suspended. They were arrested last week on suspicion of stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store while the Bruins were in the Chinese city of Hangzhou... The Bruins won the first of their 11 NCAA titles in Kansas City (Municipal Auditorium) in 1964. ... Former Creighton great Paul Silas was enshrined in the College Basketball Hall of Fame Sunday night. ... This is Creighton's third time in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic (2002 and 2004 when the event was known as the Guardians Classic). The Blue Jays are now 11-0 all-time in the tournament.