Creighton men’s basketball advanced to the semifinals of the College Basketball Crown with an 82-69 win over Rutgers on April 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The victory allows Creighton (16-17) to continue its postseason run, setting up a semifinal matchup against West Virginia. The Mountaineers reached the next round after defeating Stanford in overtime. Rutgers ended its season with a record of 14-20.
Rutgers started strong and led early, but Creighton responded with a key run midway through the first half. The Bluejays took their first lead just before halftime and entered the break ahead by three points. Nik Graves was instrumental for Creighton, scoring 25 of his season-high 28 points in the second half and finishing with eight assists. Jasen Green contributed 16 points and nine rebounds, narrowly missing a double-double, while Josh Dix added 14 points off the bench.
Creighton’s free throw shooting played an important role as they made 20 out of their 24 attempts. On defense, they limited Rutgers to just two successful three-pointers out of fourteen attempts and held them to under forty percent shooting from the field. For Rutgers, Tariq Francis scored nineteen points and Jamichael Davis had seventeen off the bench.
The game marked several milestones for Creighton: it was their latest-ever game date in program history and their first win in April; head coach Greg McDermott coached his fourteenth postseason tournament at Creighton; Isaac Traudt played his hundredth career game; Josh Dix surpassed twelve hundred fifty career points; Nik Graves became CU’s first player since March to score twenty or more points in one half; McDermott improved his postseason record at Creighton across multiple tournaments; and Creighton’s all-time record against Big Ten teams improved further.
Looking ahead, Creighton’s performance extends its streak as one of eleven schools making postseason appearances each year for a decade—excluding seasons affected by COVID-19 cancellations—and sets up another opportunity as they prepare for West Virginia.
