The Creighton Bluejays hit the Missouri State basketball team with a barrage of nine treys in the first half to build an 11-point halftime lead and kept the offense going in the second half for an 88-67 Missouri Valley Conference win over the Bears before an announced crowd of 15,194 at Qwest Center Omaha.
The contest was one of runs early, with Creighton (18-8, 9-7 MVC) going on a 6-0 spurt to lead 15-11, the Bears (13-15, 6-10) answering with a 7-0 run to lead by three with 13:19 left in the opening half, and the Bluejays responding with a 9-0 run capped by P’Allen Stinnett’s fast-break layup at 11:14.
MSU’s scoreless streak extended to 4:21 before Deven Mitchell’s baseline jumper at the 8:58 mark pulled the Bears within 24-20.
The hot-shooting continued for both teams as the Bears and Jays combined to drain five three-pointers over a three-minute stretch, ending with CU’s Booker Woodfox hitting his second of the game to give Creighton a 39-32 advantage with 4:07 to play in the half. The Jays increased their lead by four to go into halftime up 48-37.
The Bears shot 6-of-12 from beyond the three-point arc in the first half and 9-for-19 (47 percent) for the game, while Creighton added two more triples in the second half to finish 11-of-26 for the game.
Missouri State opened the second half with Justin Fuehrmeyer converting a conventional three-point play that made the score 48-40, but Creighton answered with a 5-0 run and then earned its largest lead of the game at 57-42 following a dunk by Stinnett.
The Bears got as close as 12 points at 65-53, but the Jays finished strong to earn their fifth straight win in the series.
Fuehrmeyer led the Bears with 14 points and five assists, while Mitchell added 13 and Dale Lamberth 10. Stinnett and Cavel Witter led the Bluejays with 19 points apiece.
Creighton shot 33-for-69 (48 percent) from the field for the game, while Missouri State managed to shoot just 37.5 percent on 24-of-64 from the floor.
The Bears step out of conference this weekend for an O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters game at home against Central Michigan Saturday at 7 p.m.
