San Diego St. @ Creighton preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 29, 2013 ) San Diego St. 86, Creighton 80

Creighton heads into the Las Vegas Invitational with three players ranked in the top 40 nationally in 3-point shooting percentage. Those numbers will be put to the test in Thursday night's semifinal at Orleans Arena against a San Diego State team that comes in ranked 24th national in 3-point shooting defense.

Junior guard Ty-Shon Alexander (13th, 53.6 percent), sophomore guard Marcus Zegarowski (26th, 50.0 percent) and junior guard Mitch Ballock (39th, 46.9 percent) are all off to hot starts shooting the ball behind the arc for the Bluejays. The trio also rank in the top three on the team in assists with Zegarowski leading the way at 4.4 per game which also pleases head coach Greg McDermott. "It's what we've tried to create within our program," McDermott told omaha.com. "We try to recruit guys that are unselfish by nature and then try to even grow that part of their game. They're unselfish young people, and they have confidence in one another. That's a really good recipe." San Diego State, off to its first 6-0 start since the Kawhi Leonard-led Aztecs finished 34-3, is holding opponents to 26.2 shooting beyond the arc.

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1

ABOUT CREIGHTON (4-1): Zegarowski leads the team in scoring (18.0) and has connected on 17-of-34 treys while also averaging four rebounds per game. Alexander, who played in the Pan American Games for Team USA in August, is second in scoring (17.4) to go along with 4.8 rebounds per game. Ballock, who made 95 3-pointers last season including a Big East-record 11 against DePaul, is averaging 13.8 points and 5.8 rebounds.

ABOUT SAN DIEGO STATE (6-0): Guard Malachi Flynn, a transfer from Washington State where he averaged 15.8 points in 2017-18 for the Cougars, leads the Aztecs in scoring (13.3) while shooting 41.9 percent from 3-point range. Yanni Wetzell, a 6-10 grad transfer from Wake Forest, is tied with junior guard Jordan Schakel for second in scoring with a 10.2 average and is also grabbing 7.2 rebounds per game. Junior forward Matt Mitchell (10.0) also is averaging double digits.

TIP-INS

1. Creighton owns a 4-2 series lead against the Aztecs but San Diego State won the last meeting, 86-80, in the Wooden Legacy tournament in Fullerton, Calif., in 2013.

2. San Diego State has won all of its first six games by at least five points, the first time it has accomplished that feat in its 99 seasons in school history.

3. The winner will play the winner of the Texas Tech-Iowa contest in Friday night's championship game.

PREDICTION: Creighton 86, San Diego State 79