Rudi Williams scored 26 points to lead BYU to an 83-80 victory over No. 21 Creighton at the Jack Jones Hoopfest in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Fousseyni Traore chipped in 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Cougars. Gideon George and Jaxson Robinson also scored 11 points apiece.
BYU (6-5) snapped a two-game losing streak by dominating on the offensive glass, holding a 16-4 advantage. The Cougars outscored the Bluejays 21-5 in second-chance points.
Arthur Kaluma scored a career-high 27 points to lead Creighton but fouled out with 6:32 left. Trey Alexander added 17 points, while Baylor Scheierman chipped in 13 for the Bluejays.
Creighton (6-4) lost its fourth consecutive game. The Bluejays shot just 31.3 percent from the field in the second half.
Alexander made six free throws and hit a layup to fuel a 12-0 run that gave Creighton an 80-79 lead with 26 seconds left. The Cougars committed six turnovers over a three-minute stretch to let the Bluejays back in the game.
Dallin Hall tipped in his own missed layup with 11 seconds left to help BYU escape with the win.
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton’s leading scorer, did not play because of a non-COVID illness. Kalkbrenner’s absence didn’t slow the Bluejays’ offense early, but it was hampered as the game progressed.
Creighton made four straight 3-pointers to forge a 19-11 lead with 13 minutes left in the first. Scheierman led the charge with a pair of outside baskets.
BYU erased the deficit later in the first half and took a 49-41 lead after Traore scored layups on back-to-back possessions, the second one a three-point play, to cap an 11-3 run. Creighton made just one basket over the final five minutes before halftime, opening the door for the Cougars to go in front.
Creighton rallied and erased the deficit early in the second half. Kaluma slammed home a dunk and drained two 3-pointers to fuel a 10-0 run that put the Bluejays ahead 58-56.
BYU later answered with a 12-0 run to take a 76-65 lead with 4:40 remaining. Creighton experienced a seven-minute scoreless stretch before Scheierman ended the drought with a layup.
–Field Level Media
