OMAHA, Neb. — Creighton has played eight No. 1 teams in basketball history, but the first six games weren’t close. It was all a loss.
What about the last two? Blue Jays explode at CHI Health Center.
On Wednesday night, Creighton defeated No. 1 Kansas 76-63 in a game in which the unranked Blue Jays never trailed, leading by as many as 17 points.
Ten months ago, they defeated No. 1 Connecticut State, 85-66. That was UConn’s last loss before it won 13 straight en route to its second consecutive national championship.
Five of the Creighton players who took the court against the Jayhawks also played against the Huskies, including 7-foot-1 center Ryan Kalkbrenner. The Big East Preseason Player of the Year returned from injury and scored 17 points, topping Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson. Kalkbrenner scored 15 points against UW last February.
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“Of course, both feel great,” Kalkbrenner said. “UW and Kansas are both elite, high-level programs. We were able to execute our game plan in both games and play at a high level. These wins feel good. .”
The crowd was raucous from the opening tip against KU, and the noise level rose every time Pop Isaacs hit six 3-pointers and Kalkbrenner flashed a lob pass for a dunk. As the final buzzer sounded, flames erupted behind both backboards and students rushed onto the court from their end zone seats.
“I had never had a moment like that in college,” Isaacs said. “I’ve never played against the No. 1 team in the country. I’ve played against the No. 2 and No. 3 teams. That was the hype. The students came and the place went crazy. That’s not it. It was my first courtroom attack. That was the biggest thing. ”
Isaacs is familiar with Kansas’ defense from his two seasons at Texas Tech, which he said is an advantage. He scored a season-high 27 points.
“I saw the ball go through the basket,” he said. “The first shot went in. It felt good off my hands. I felt like I looked really good tonight. Like my coach says, if I hit the right shot, I’m a really good shooter,” he said. And I hit the right shots tonight.”For the most part. ”
Jayhawks coach Bill called himself Isaacs.
“Pop was great,” he said. “We’ve known Pop since he was 5 years old. I’ve known his dad his whole life and coached against him the last two years at Tech. He was great tonight. It was.”
Isaacs and point guard Stephen Ashworth missed practice this week due to illness, with Ashworth still dealing with soreness from an ankle sprain he suffered two weeks ago and Kalkbrenner scheduled for Saturday’s Blue Jays due to a lower-body injury. He missed the game against Notre Dame. Injury.
Asked if he thought his team would be up to the task against the Jayhawks, coach Greg McDermott said he called his 90-year-old father before the game to ask for some words of wisdom.
“He told me to pack up and go home,” McDermott said. “He didn’t have a lot of confidence after watching us play and watching Kansas play.”
McDermott said beating Kansas means a little more than beating UW, even though the Huskies are a Big East opponent. McDermott grew up watching the Jayhawks in Iowa and coached at Iowa State for four seasons, but was never able to beat Self and the Jayhawks. In fact, they were 0-10 against KU before Wednesday.
“I’ve been watching Kansas State basketball for a long time,” McDermott said. “Going back to Coach (Roy) Williams and Coach Self, they’re some of the best players. When I was at Iowa State, we had some close calls at Hilton (Coliseum). I left Hilton disappointed that we didn’t win. To work against a good team from the University of Kansas and to finally beat them when they had a great team and were No. 1 in the nation. It’s great for the team and for the fans that we were able to do that.”
Dajuan Harris Jr. scored 15 points for Kansas, and AJ Storr and Zeke Mayo each added 12 points, shooting 36 percent from the field.
The game was Kansas’ 105th game as a No. 1 AP team against an unranked opponent. Prior to Wednesday, the Jayhawks had lost by double digits in just two more such cases.
This report used information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press.
