Creighton Men's Basketball Beats UConn; Advances to BIG EAST Tourney Final

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Jasen Green made his first seven shots and scored a career-high 19 points to help the Creighton men's basketball team defeat two-time defending national champion Connecticut, 71-62, on Friday night before a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden.

The Bluejays will play sixth-ranked and top-seeded St. John's (29-4), which ousted fifth-seeded and No. 25 Marquette 79-63 in the first semifinal of the evening. This year marks just the second time since 2004 that the top two seeds of the BIG EAST Tournament have played in the final, as it also happened in 2023.

Jamiya Neal came out firing out from the opening tip, similar to Creighton's win in Storrs in January. Neal scored Creighton's first nine points and assisted on its next bucket as Creighton took an early 11-6 advantage. The teams would play at a frenetic pace throughout the first half with Green scoring nine points during a 12-2 Bluejay run to take a 42-30 lead.

Green shot 7-for-7 from the field in the first half, scoring 15 points to eclipse his previous career-high of 14 points. Neal had 13 points, three rebounds and three rebounds to support Green's extraordinary start. CU shot 75 percent from the field (18-24), won the rebound battle 15-10, and had nine assists to just two turnovers.

CU carried its momentum into the second half. Green hit made two free throws after he was intentionally fouled on a breakaway after a steal, and a Ryan Kalkbrenner basket pushed the Bluejay lead to 50-35. CU's lead grew to as large as 55-38 and Preseason All-American Alex Karaban picked up his fourth foul before UConn countered with the next 12 points and close the gap to 55-50 with just over 12 minutes to play.

Twice UConn got within three points on baskets by Tarris Reed Jr., but Neal stepped into a huge three-pointer with 5:24 remaining to double the Bluejay lead to six (62-56).

Green returned to the scoring column down the stretch with a hoop to put CU up 66-58 with 2:43 left, before clutch free throws from Ashworth and Neal sealed the 71-62 victory.

Green and Neal led all scorers with 19 points and Ashworth and Kalkbrenner both added 12. Creighton finished the contest shooting 52 percent (26-of-50) from the field and 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from three, while committing a season-low four turnovers. 

Solo Ball and Liam McNeeley paced UConn with 13 points each as the Huskies shot 42.6 percent (26-of-61) from the floor and 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from three.