Bluejays Hold Off Blue Demons

Saturday, January 30

Chicago, Ill.

7:00 P.M. CT

DePaul University

3-7,1-7Big East

Creighton

13-4,9-3Big East

Creighton

DePaul

1/30/2021 9:46:00 PM | MEN'S BASKETBALL

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes Photo Gallery

Late run for visiting Creighton leads to seven-point defeat for DePaul

CHICAGO - After a back-and-forth affair through 38 minutes of action, visiting Creighton held off the Blue Demons in a 69-62 decision at Wintrust Arena. Ray Salnave led the way with 21 points and five boards.

Javon Freeman-Liberty added 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists while Kobe Elvis scored seven with three rebounds and two assists.

DePaul made three of its first four attempts to jump out to an early 7-6 lead before being held without a field goal for nearly nine minutes.

The Blue Demons responded with an 8-0 run over two minutes to cut the deficit to three at the 4:20 mark before three Creighton free throws stretched the Bluejay lead back to six.

Salnave responded in a big way, scoring the final nine points of the half for the Blue Demons to tie the ballgame heading into the locker room at 29 apiece.

DePaul (3-7, 1-7 BIG EAST) held Creighton to a field goal percentage of just .306 in the first 20 minutes. Entering Saturday's matchup, the Bluejays led the BIG EAST in field goal percentage at a .489 clip. Salnave led the Blue Demons at the break with 12 points and five rebounds.

An Elvis triple followed up by a Freeman-Liberty steal and score gave DePaul their largest lead of the game at 50-45 with 14:22 remaining in the second half.

No. 17/14 Creighton (13-4, 9-3) embarked on a 14-5 run to retake the lead, 54-50, at the 8:34 mark.

Two Salnave free throws and a transition three put the Blue Demons back on top heading into the under-four media timeout before a 6-0 burst late in the game pushed the visiting Bluejays ahead for good.

Four Bluejays scored in double figures with Marcus Zegarowski leading the way with 19 points.

DePaul is back in action on Wednesday afternoon as Xavier visits Wintrust Arena for a 4 p.m. start on FS1 and WYLL (1160 AM).