#23 Creighton Men's Basketball Suffers First Loss at #19 Gonzaga

SPOKANE, Wash. -- No. 19 Gonzaga opened the second half with a 32-7 run to break open a close game and hand No. 23 Creighton 90-63 loss on Tuesday night at a sold out McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Wash.

Gonzaga improved to 3-0 on the season with its third straight home win. Creighton fell to 1-1 for just the second time in 16 seasons under Greg McDermott, though the lone previous exception was by CU's 2019-20 team that went on to win the BIG EAST regular-season title.

Both teams came out firing from the outset. Gonzaga center Graham Ike surpassed 2,000 career points as he made career-high three three-pointers in the first four minutes, helping the host Bulldogs to an early 11-7 lead. CU used the long ball to take the lead, getting two three-pointers from Jackson McAndrew and one trey each by Josh Dix and Jasen Green to take its lone lead at 20-19 before the initial media timeout.

Gonzaga headed into halftime with a 44-38 lead, led by 13 from Ike and nine by Adam Miller. GU owned a 20-13 rebound advantage before the break, but turned six offensive rebounds into just one point. Creighton was paced by eight points at the break from Blake Harper.

CU missed its first six shots from the field in the second half as the Bulldogs pushed their lead to 52-40. An 21-0 run over a span of 6:11 stretched the margin to 76-45 and ended any comeback hopes for the visitors. Reserve Mario Saint-Supery had 10 points during that Gonzaga surge.

Ike paced Gonzaga with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Braden Huff (14), Saint-Supery (13) and Miller (11) also scored in double-figures. The Bulldogs shot 37-for-70 for the game (52.9 percent).

Harper and Graves were the lone Bluejays in double-figures with 12 points.  CU did make 20-of-31 free throws on the night but shot 18-for-49 from the floor (36.7 percent).

Creighton is back in action on Friday at 7 p.m. when it hosts Maryland Eastern Shore.