OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 16 points, Steven Ashworth had 13 points and No. 14 Creighton defeated Houston Christian 78-43 on Wednesday night to move Greg McDermott into the Bluejays’ all-time coaching wins lead.

McDermott has won 328 games at Creighton since replacing Dana Altman in 2010. Altman, now with Oregon, won 327 games from 1994-2010.

The Bluejays (3-0) held Houston Christian (1-2) to 25% shooting, their lowest mark against them since 2017.

The 7-foot-4 Kalkbrenner continued his hot shooting, going 6-of-6 from the field to lead the nation in shooting at 92.1% in three games.

The Bluejays came out slow, scoring just three points in the first 5.5 minutes. They improved their transition offense, Kalkbrenner began to assert himself in the post, and after a 16-0 run the upset continued to take a double-digit lead and continue to grow.

D’Aundre Samuels led the Huskies with eight points.

takeaway

Houston Christian: The Huskies, picked last in the 12-team Southland Conference, fell to 0-16 all-time against ranked opponents.

Creighton: The Bluejays got off to a slow start for their third straight game, missing seven of their first eight shots. They got away with it against three rivals, but they won’t be able to do it when the competition gets tougher.

key moment

Creighton outscored the Huskies 36-5 in the final 16 minutes of the first half, holding them scoreless throughout the eight-minute span.

Key statistics

Houston Christian scored only 12 points in the first half on 15.2% shooting from the field (5/33) in the first 20 minutes; it was the lowest score by a Division I team this season.

next

Houston Christian hosts Division III Rockford on Saturday, while Creighton hosts Kansas City.

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