Ryan Kalkbrenner and No. 14 Creighton will look to continue their sizzling start to the season on Wednesday night when Houston Christian visits the Bluejays in Omaha, Neb.
Kalkbrenner, the Big East preseason player of the year, followed his career-high 49-point performance in the season opener against Texas Rio Grande Valley with 24 points in 22 minutes in the Bluejays’ 96-70 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday.
The fifth-year senior has made a staggering 90.6 percent (29 of 32) of his shots from the floor for Creighton (2-0).
For his efforts, Kalkbrenner was named the Big East Player of the Week on Monday for the first time in his career.
Steven Ashworth drained five 3-pointers to highlight his 15-point performance vs. Fairleigh Dickinson.
Arizona State transfer Jamiya Neal scored 13 points and Texas Tech transfer Pop Isaacs added 12 on Sunday in his debut. Those strong performances — along with a 36-8 run that spanned from the end of the first half into the start of the second — allowed Creighton to pull away from Fairleigh Dickinson.
“Stops (are) the biggest thing,” Ashworth said, per the Omaha World-Herald. “If we can string together a few stops in a row, it really puts pressure on the other team’s defense to get back in transition, then guard us.”
Neal provided exclamation points with emphatic slams on Sunday.
“I think that’s where I thrive the most,” he said. “I like to play in (transition) as much as possible. If I can get in those types of situations, I want to get that.”
Isaacs is still working out the kinks as he looks to rediscover his game following a torn hip labrum.
“His timing and rhythm is not gonna be great, but it was good to have him out there and hopefully work some of those kinks out while continuing to feel a little bit better,” Bluejays coach Greg McDermott said.
Should Kalkbrenner and company hit on all cylinders on Wednesday, that likely would allow McDermott to etch his name in the team’s record books. McDermott and Dana Altman (1994-2010) are tied with a program-best 327 wins.
McDermott credited his team’s defense for stepping up after he challenged his charges following the season opener.
“Certainly a step in the right direction,” McDermott said. “That’s what it’s about this time of year, just trying to get a little bit better as we move day to day.”
Houston Christian (1-1) has a tall task if it wants to bounce back from its 90-59 setback to then-No. 19 Texas on Friday.
Julian Mackey had 20 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the floor — including 3 of 6 from beyond the arc.
Itawamba (Miss.) Community College transfer Bryson Dawkins followed his 18-point performance in Houston Christian’s 86-59 season-opening win over Avila with 13 points on Friday.
Huskies coach Craig Doty, in his first season, wrote on his X account just how impressed he was by his team’s performance against a ranked team before a crowd larger than his squad is accustomed to seeing.
“We played with Texas for a half on the road in front of a crowd of 10,993 people,” Doty wrote. “It was a 3 point game with 2:08 remaining in the first half. A pair of second half 12-0 runs for the Longhorns put the game away as we got wore down by the size, strength, and NBA level talent of the #19 ranked team in country.
“It was a great environment for our student-athletes to compete in.”
The Huskies were picked to finish last in the 12-team Southland Conference in the preseason media poll.
