Senior guards Nik Graves and Josh Dix led Creighton University’s men’s basketball team to a 76-59 victory over Butler in Indianapolis on Wednesday. Graves recorded 14 points, a career-high 13 assists, and six steals, while Dix contributed a season-high 22 points. This win marked Creighton’s fourth consecutive victory at Hinkle Fieldhouse and closed their regular season with a 9-11 record in the BIG EAST conference.
With this result, Creighton improved its overall record to 15-16. Butler’s record fell to 15-15 overall and 6-13 in conference play as they head into their final regular-season game at DePaul.
The first half was closely contested, featuring multiple lead changes and ties. Late in the half, three-pointers from Jasen Green and Josh Dix helped Creighton briefly take the lead before Butler finished on an 8-3 run to hold a four-point advantage at halftime. Michael Ajayi led Butler with 15 points and seven rebounds in the opening period.
Creighton started the second half strongly with a 15-0 run, including three-pointers by Isaac Traudt and Dix. This stretch gave them an 11-point lead early in the half. The Bluejays extended their advantage further after Graves’ fourth steal set up a transition basket for Dix.
By the final media timeout, Creighton had outscored Butler 35-12 since halftime, leading many of the crowd of nearly 7,000 to depart early.
Ajayi finished with his league-leading seventeenth double-double of the season for Butler, tallying 26 points and thirteen rebounds.
Creighton held advantages in several key areas: they won the rebound battle (37-34), outscored Butler off turnovers (27-14), and did not allow any second-chance points by the Bulldogs.
Creighton will have a bye this weekend as it awaits results from other BIG EAST games to determine its seeding for next week’s tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York. The bracket will be announced Saturday night for the event scheduled March 11–14.
Coach Greg McDermott noted several player milestones: “Josh Dix had his 60th career game with 10 or more points. Dix also reached (249) 250 career assists and 1,200 career points … Nik Graves surpassed 100 career steals … Creighton made a three-pointer for the 1,087th straight game … Creighton finished off its 11th straight year with nine or more conference wins … Creighton has swept Butler for the second straight season and has now defeated the Bulldogs in eight of the last nine meetings … Creighton’s five straight wins over Butler tie its longest streak ever over the Bulldogs in 34 meetings of a series that began in 1933 … Creighton has won at Hinkle Fieldhouse in each of its last four trips … To earn a bye, Creighton needs DePaul to lose twice at home this week (to Villanova tonight and to Butler on Saturday) and Providence to lose either tonight to Marquette at home or at Georgetown on Saturday … Nik Graves’ 13 assists were the most by a Bluejay in a BIG EAST game since 2017, and he became the first BIG EAST player in at least 30 years to have a game with 14 points, 13 assists and six steals.”
