OMAHA, Neb. – Scored 49 points on a school-record 20 field goals from the All-American senior center Ryan KalkbrennerThe No. 15 Creighton men's basketball team opened the 2024-25 regular season with a 99-86 win over UTRGV on Wednesday, Nov. 6.

Kalkbrenner's 49 points were the second-most in a single game in program history, trailing only Bob Portman's 51 points against UW-Milwaukee in 1967, and surpassed Doug McDermott's arena record by a Bluejay of 45 points in 2014. He also established a new one School record with 20 (20 of 22) made field goals, making him the first player in NCAA history with 20 made field goals on 90 percent shooting since Bill Walton in the 1973 National Championship. Kalkbrenner's 49 points also included 11 records set his 17th record^Th Career double-double.

senior Steven Ashworth added 25 points of his own with seven rebounds and seven assists as a sophomore Isaac Traudt contributed 11 points to the win. CU shot just 7 of 23 from distance (30.4 percent), but made up for it by going 26 of 29 at the line (89.7 percent). Creighton also won the rebounding battle 38-33 and outscored the Vaqueros 50-32 in the paint. Ashworth's 17-for-17 goal-line shooting performance is the highest goal-line shooting percentage in program history.

UTRGV was led with 26 points and 11 rebounds by Hasan Abdul-Hakim and 17 points each by DK Thorn and Cliff Davis. The Vaqueros went 33 of 77 (42.9 percent) from the floor, including 14 of 35 (40.0 percent) from three and 6 of 10 from charity stripe. UTRGV forced Creighton into 15 turnovers, which led to 19 points for the Vaqueros.

Kalkbrenner, the first Bluejay to make his fourth straight first-day start since Doug McDermott in 2013, scored the first eight points of the game for the Bluejays, but a flurry of three-pointers from the Vaqueros opened the scoring Lead of 12:8. 16-minute timeout in the first half.

From there, Creighton went on a 10-4 run, behind two treys from Traudt and the first basket of his career from the redshirt freshman Shane Thomas take the lead with 20:16. Two consecutive three-pointers from UTRGV's Marshall Destremau evened the score at 23-23 before Kalkbrenner scored 10 straight points to give the Bluejays a 33-27 lead and the lead for good, while Creighton led 46-38 at the break.

Kalkbrenner continued his dominance in the second half, scoring 29 points on a perfect 11-of-11 shooting. The Bluejays provided an offensive spark and quickly extended their lead to double digits, 60-50, after a layup by Kalkbrenner with 14:56 to play.

Kalkbrenner, the Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year and Preseason First Team All-American, then scored 10 of the Bluejays' next 13 points as their lead grew to as many as 14 at 73-59 with 9:36 remaining. However, the Vaqueros refused to give up and closed to within six points at 73-67 on an 8-0 run to force the score Greg McDermott into a break.

Creighton responded with an 8-2 run of its own, extending its lead back to 11 at 83-72 before eight straight free throws from Ashworth sealed the Bluejays' 99-86 win.


Creighton returns to the Bluejays as they host FDU on Sunday, November 10th at CHI Health Center Omaha at 4 p.m.

NOTES: Creighton has now won 30 straight home openers…Creighton is now 92-15 all-time in season openers and 27-1 in its last 28 openers…Creighton improved to 100-17 all-time in home openers as a ranked team.. . Creighton is now 3-0 all-time against UTRGV and Greg McDermott improved to 7-0 against teams currently in the Southland Conference…McDermott is now 23-1 as a Division I head coach in the season opener and has 23 straight wins…The game is scheduled for November 6th the second-earliest start date for a season opener in program history, one day later than the season opener on November 5, 2019…Creighton shot 60 percent from the field, the best for a season opener in the last 30 seasons…Of the 19 previous teams of Creighton scored more than 90 points in the season opener, 12 of which would reach the NCAA Tournament…Creighton has won 47 straight home games against winless teams… Ryan Kalkbrenner has scored in double figures in 23 consecutive games and recorded a block in 15 consecutive games…Creighton has won 27 consecutive games with more than 25 free throws… Steven Ashworth made a three-pointer in 20 consecutive games… Ryan Kalkbrenner (1,820) passed Kyle Korver (1,801) for the sixth-most career points in program history… No other top player has scored as many points and as many rebounds in any game in the last 30 years Ryan Kalkbrenner tonight, and his 49 points are the most in a double-double performance in BIG EAST history.