Blue Demons Fall at Creighton in Regular Season Finale

Saturday, March 9

Omaha, Neb.

7:00 P.M. CT

DePaul University

15-14, 7-11BE

Creighton

18-13, 9-9BE

DePaul

Creighton

Blue Demons Fall at Creighton in Regular Season Finale

3/9/2019 9:48:00 PM | MEN'S BASKETBALL

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes BIG EAST Tournament Bracket

Eli Cain and Max Strus score 19 points apiece and Devin Gage adds 14 points with seven assists

OMAHA, Neb. – DePaul made a run after starting slow, but couldn't make the complete comeback in a 91-78 loss at Creighton. The Blue Demons trailed by 14 midway through the first half and pulled to within three, but the Bluejays held off and rebuilt the lead late in the game.

The Blue Demons started slow missing their first five shots and trailed 9-2 following an Eli Cain jumper with just under 14 minutes left in the first half.

Devin Gage started attacking Creighton's zone defense and his three-point play pulled DePaul to within six at 24-18 at the seven-minute mark of the first half.

The Blue Demons moved to within four points three times before halftime including a tip in by Jaylen Butz with just over a minute left before the score settled at 41-34 in favor of Creighton.

DePaul made runs at Creighton throughout the second half, but couldn't get over the initial deficit as Mitch Ballock led the Bluejays from the behind the arc. Ballock totaled 39 points on 11-of-12 shooting from behind the arc to lead all scorers.

Butz pulled DePaul to within three with nine minutes left, but Creighton (18-13, 9-9 BIG EAST) answered with five straight points to push its advantage back to eight. The Bluejays led by as many as 15 points late in the and posted a 91-78 final score.

DePaul (15-14, 7-11 BIG EAST) was led by 19 points each from Eli Cain and Max Strus. Gage added 14 points and seven assists while Butz totaled 11 points and five rebounds. Paul Reed pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with five points.

Ballock led all scorers with his 39 points and Martin Krampelj added 23 points and 10 rebounds for Creighton.

DePaul heads to New York as the No. 10 seed in next week's BIG EAST Tournament. The Blue Demons meet seventh-seeded St. John's on Wednesday night at 9:30 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden.