OMAHA, Neb. ? Creighton senior guard Nate Funk scored a game-high 25 points, leading Creighton (12-6, 6-2) to a 65-54 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball victory versus visiting Bradley (13-7, 4-4) Thursday night at Qwest Center OMAHA.
A Creighton record crowd of 16,339 saw the Bluejays snap Bradley's three-game overall winning streak and deal the Braves their ninth consecutive loss in Omaha, while also delivering 13th-year head coach Dana Altman his 250th win at the school.
Junior forward Matt Salley led Bradley with a career-best 18 points, making him the seventh different Brave to lead the team in scoring this year. Point guard Daniel Ruffin added 12 points, six assists and four steals, while backcourt mate Will Franklin chipped in with 11 points for the Braves. Senior guard J.J. Tauai pulled down a career-best 11 rebounds and tied a career high with five steals. Anthony Tolliver was Creighton's only other double-digit scorer, finishing with 10 points and a career-high-tying 13 rebounds. Dane Watts, who made key 3-pointer late in the game, finished with seven points and 10 rebounds.
Bradley came into the game leading the nation in 3-point field goal percentage and fourth nationally by averaging 10.7 treys per game, but the Braves managed just make just 5-of-23 (.217) attempts Thursday night. Overall, Bradley's five guards shot just 23.8 percent (10-42) from the field.
Despite the cold shooting night, a 42-27 rebounding disadvantage and foul trouble by big man Zach Andrews, who played just 10 minutes, Bradley was able to remain close most of the game.
A five-minute stretch during the middle of the second half highlighted Bradley's struggles Thursday. Trailing 45-38 following two Tolliver free throws with 12:43 left, the Braves closed to within 45-41 on a Franklin 3-pointer with 12:31 remaining. Creighton committed one of its 21 turnovers on the next possession, but Ruffin missed a 3-pointer. Creighton committed another turnover, and following a media timeout, Bradley closed to 45-43 on a Matt Salley layup with 11:20 left.
The Braves forced a miss by Creighton's Nick Bahe, but Manny Gakou tracked down the offensive rebound and Bahe drained a 3-pointer later in the extra possession to push the lead back to 48-43. Funk then got a steal and upped the lead back to seven, 50-43, with 10:09 left. After another Franklin 3-pointers brought Bradley back to within four, the Braves forced two more Creighton turnovers, but could not capitalize. The Bluejays then scored the next four points after offensive rebounds to gain a 54-46 lead with 7:15 left.
With the Braves still hanging around, down just 57-52 with 4:36 left, the game remained scoreless until Watts drilled his corner trey with 2:10 left and Bradley could not get any closer the rest of the way.
Having played four of its last five games on the road, Bradley will return to Carver Arena for a two-game home stand, beginning with Saturday night's Hall of Fame Game against fellow 2006 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 participant Wichita State. The first 5,000 fans wearing red will receive a mini megaphone, courtesy of Verizon Wireless, and the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2007 will be enshrined during a halftime ceremony. A limited number of tickets are available for Saturday's game and may be purchased ($8, $12, $18) through the Robertson Field House Box Office (309-677-2625), the Carver Arena box office or any TicketMaster outlet.
