OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Baylor Scheierman scored 23 points, Trey Alexander had 15 of his 20 in the first half, and eighth-ranked Creighton blew out Texas Southern 82-50 Saturday night.
It took a while for the Bluejays to warm up against their opponent from the Southwestern Athletic Conference. When they did, it was game over.
Ryan Kalkbrenner had 16 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks for Creighton, and Alexander had eight assists and seven rebounds.
Creighton (4-0) had runs of 11-0, 14-5 and 11-2 while building a 47-27 halftime lead. The bulge grew to 39 points in the second half.
Texas Southern (0-4), playing the fourth of nine straight road or neutral-site games to open the season, got 14 points from Zytarious Mortle. The Tigers were without SWAC preseason player or the year and leading scorer PJ Henry for an undisclosed reason.
After Shaqir O'Neal's 3 pulled the Tigers within 10 midway through the first half, Alexander's dunk, Francisco Farabello's layup and Isaac Traudt's putback built back the cushion. Then Alexander's four-point play and back-to-back 3s all but finished off the Tigers.
Mortle scored nine points in a 13-7 spurt that cut Creighton's lead to 17 points in the second half. Kalkbrenner then dunked Steven Ashworth's lob to start a 20-0 spurt, and the Tigers went almost seven minutes without scoring.
BIG PICTURE
Texas Southern: The Tigers, picked to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference, played their second game in seven-game stretch in which six of the opponents were in the NCAA Tournament last season.
Creighton: The Bluejays improved to 29-0 all-time against opponents from the SWAC. They beat Florida A&M 105-54 on Nov. 7.
UP NEXT
Creighton: plays Loyola-Chicago on Wednesday in the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, Missouri.
Texas Southern: visits Oral Roberts on Tuesday.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
