NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan Kalkbrenner had 32 points and scored the go-ahead basket in the second overtime after Creighton scored the final 11 points in regulation, and the Bluejays held on for an 85-81 victory over DePaul in a Big East Tournament quarterfinal at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.
Kalkbrenner scored in the paint to give No. 2 seed Creighton a 77-76 lead and the Bluejays (23-9) never trailed over the final 2:12 against the 10th-seeded Blue Demons (14-19). Creighton advanced to the semifinals Friday night against third-seeded UConn, which earned a 73-56 victory over No. 6 seed Villanova.
Creighton’s Fedor Zugic and Steven Ashworth had 3-pointers at both ends of an 11-0 run to end regulation. Ashworth’s shot came with 21 seconds left and forced OT tied at 62.
A layup by Ty Davis gave the Bluejays a 72-64 lead with 1:33 left in the first OT. The Blue Demons’ Layden Blocker outscored Creighton 9-1 from there and his jumper with one second left forced a second OT tied at 73.
Kalkbrenner also grabbed nine rebounds and blocked five shots for Creighton. Zugic had 13 points off the bench and Ashworth scored 10 before fouling out.
Blocker hit five 3-pointers and scored 25 to lead DePaul, which has never reached the Big East semifinals. Isaiah Rivera totaled 17 points and nine rebounds. CJ Gunn scored 14 before fouling out.
Rivera had nine points and Gunn scored eight to guide the Blue Demons to a 36-21 lead at halftime.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
Copyright © 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
