Creighton Comeback Bid Falls Short At Providence
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Down by as much as 14 points midway through the second half, Creighton Men's Basketball rallied within three in the final minute but the deficit was too much to overcome as the Bluejays fell at Providence 93-88 on Friday, Jan. 16. The loss moved Creighton to 11-8 on the season and 5-3 in BIG EAST action, while Providence moved to 9-9 overall and 2-5 in conference contests.
Early in the contest Creighton grabbed a 14-10 edge (14:44) thanks to 10-2 burst. Josh Dix got things rolling with five straight points on a layup and trey, then Isaac Traudt connected from beyond the arc and Jasen Green capped the run with a pair of free throws. Leading 16-14 moments later Nik Graves sandwiched a pair of treys around two more from the charity stripe by Green as Creighton pushed its lead to 24-14 (11:36).
Providence responded with seven of the next nine points, drawing as close as four points three different times, but Creighton pushed the lead back to double-figures with six straight points on the interior to make it a 38-28 contest with 6:23 left. Fueled by their home crowd, the Friars surged in the final minutes of the opening half, yet the Bluejays clung to a 46-45 advantage at the break.
After a back-and-forth first five minutes of the second half left the contest knotted at 57-57 (14:18). Providence seized control with a 14-0 run to grab the lead 71-57 with 10:11 left. Creighton responded with a 7-0 burst, but couldn't only got as close as 91-88 in the closing seconds. After shooting 6-for-12 from free throw line in the first half, Providence connected on 19-of-23 in the second half, including 12-of-12 in the final four minutes.
Green delivered a career-high 26 points to lead the Bluejays, while Blake Harper added 16. Two other Bluejays finished in double digits as Dix had 14 points and Graves finished with 13.
Providence got a team-high 24 points from Stefan Vaaks to go with 18 points and 11 rebounds from Jamier Jones.
Creighton returns to action when it hosts Xavier on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Central.