No. 1 UConn men overwhelmed, upset at Creighton, 85-66

OMAHA – Creighton students flooded the CHI Health Center court as the final buzzer sounded on Tuesday night, putting the final punctuation on No. 1 UConn’s 85-66 loss to the 15th-ranked Bluejays.

The loss, UConn’s first in two months, ended a Big East-record 14-game winning streak. The program, 0-4 all-time in Omaha, has not beaten an AP top 25 opponent on the road in 10 years.

Creighton, led by Steven Ashworth’s 20 points and 16 from Trey Alexander, shot 54.7% from the field for the game and made a ridiculous 14 of 28 from beyond the arc. Tristen Newton had 27 points and 12 rebounds for the Huskies, who shot 44.1% and made just 3 of 16 from beyond the arc.

The game started with UConn (24-3, 14-2 Big East) up 11-3, but Donovan Clingan picked up a quick second foul around the 15-minute mark and went to the bench. Five minutes later, Creighton brought an avalanche.

The Bluejays made 12 of their next 14 shots from the field, including eight 3-pointers, and used an 18-2 run over a five-minute stretch to take a 39-25 lead. Dan Hurley brought Clingan back into the game around the seven-minute mark to stop the bleeding but UConn trailed 43-29 at the break, its largest halftime deficit of the season.

Shooting 57.1% from the field and 8 of 15 from deep in the opening 20 minutes, Creighton finished the first half just five points away from its final point total when the teams met earlier this season in Storrs. Point guard Steven Ashworth, with Big East Player of the Year candidate Baylor Scheierman on the bench scoreless for much of the first half with two fouls, had a game-high 16 points and four made 3-pointers at the break.

Creighton continued to capitalize on open shots, making five of its first six to start the second half, three of which came from beyond the arc, to extend its lead to 21.

UConn, struggling to create space for open shots all game, strung together a 14-3 run fueled by Newton and cut its deficit to 10 with 4:29 to go after a dunk from Clingan. The Bluejays responded with a string of free throws to put the game away.

The Huskies return to Gampel Pavilion on Saturday for an 8 p.m. tip-off against Villanova.