OMAHA, Neb. ? Bradley point guards Daniel Ruffin and Will Franklin combined for 40 points, but it was not enough to prevent Creighton (12-4, 6-2) from rallying from a 10-point halftime deficit for an 80-76 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball victory Wednesday night at the Qwest Center.
Fueled by an 18-4 run to open the second half, Creighton overcame a 38-28 halftime deficit to earn its 13th consecutive home win, while dealing Bradley (9-7, 3-5) its program record 14th straight Missouri Valley Conference road loss.
Ruffin, the sophomore point guard who dished out 13 assists in the season's first meeting versus Creighton Jan. 2, scored 16 of his career-best 22 points in the first half. Franklin, the backup point guard, picked up the slack in the second half, when he scored 13 of his career-best 18 points. The point guard combo did not get enough offensive support, however, as Bradley's four double-digit scorers entering the game ? Marcellus Sommerville (14.6 ppg), Tony Bennett (12.5), Patrick O'Bryant (11.9) and Lawrence Wright (11.3) ? combined for 21 points on 7-for-31 (.226) shooting from the field.
After handing Creighton its largest halftime deficit in the 2-1/2 year history of the Qwest Center, the Braves opened the scoring in the second half to build their largest lead of the night at 40-28. A pair of free throws by Nick Porter ignited the rally, which would eventually turned into a 46-42 lead. Johnny Mathies had seven of the points in the run, which included points from five different players.
Just when it seemed that Creighton's lead was comfortable at seven, BU quickly trimmed the score to 59-58 on two straight treys from Will Franklin. CU's lead would quickly return to 10 thanks to a 9-0 run, capped by an alley-oop dunk by Anthony Tolliver with 1:06 to go.
Bradley then began its frantic rally that proved just short. Ruffin would hit three straight free throws after being fouled while missing a trey. Two free throws by CU later, Franklin would drain another trifecta to make it 72-66. With 47 seconds left, Ruffin drained a three-pointer to make it 73-69.
CU's lead returned to five with 26 seconds left before Bradley got a basket from Franklin, and an offensive putback from Lawrence Wright to make it 77-76 with 17 seconds left. CU's Josh Dotzler made two free throws with 16 seconds left to make it a three-point cushion, and the Jays then hung on when Danny Adams missed a three-pointer and CU's Pierce Hibma snagged the carom. Hibma made his first free throw to give the Jays their final four-point margin.
Tolliver led Creighton with 19 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Johnny Mathies had 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals, while Dane Watts and Nick Porter both had 13 points. CU shot 40.4 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from three-point range. CU also made 30-of-44 shots from the free throw line, setting a pair of Qwest Center records in the process.
The Braves shot 42.6 percent for the game, but just 31.7 percent in the second half, and Bradley was just 9-for-12 from the free throw line.
Bradley will return to action Saturday night when the Braves host Indiana State in a 7:05 p.m. contest at Carver Arena.
