Omaha, Nebraska (December 7, 2002)--BYU could not overcome its season high in turnovers and the 26th ranked Creighton Bluejays took full advantage beating the Cougars 74-64 Saturday afternoon in Omaha.
"You've got to give them [Creighton] credit, they are a very good team. They have been to the NCAA Tournament four years in a row," said BYU head coach Steve Cleveland.
BYU enjoyed better shooting percentages than Creighton from the field (46% to 42%) , from the line (85% to 67%)and from behind the arc (41% to 25%), but killed themselves with turnovers.
Pressing defense caused BYU problems all game and Creighton made the Cougars pay. The Bluejays beat BYU on the glass also, out-rebounding BYU 14-7 on the offensive end. As a result, Creighton took 18 more shots than BYU and scored 25 points off of turnovers to BYU's 4.
"We played hard, we always do, but we didn't play as hard as Creighton did today," said BYU head coach Steve Cleveland.
BYU got down early in the first half without the services of its leading scorer Travis Hansen, who was on the bench with quick fouls. Mark Bigelow scored 17 of his 21 points in the opening half on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range to cut the lead to 36-32 at halftime.
In the second half, BYU tied the game at 40, when Creighton went on an 21-6 run with the help of defensive pressure and three-point bombs to extend the lead to 61-46 with 8:29 to go.
BYU narrowed the margin to 58-65 with 3:56 on a Ricky Bower three-pointer but that was as close as they got.
Creighton was led by Kyle Korver's double-double, 19 points and 11 rebounds. Nate Funk scored a career high 14 points, while Kellen Miliner added 11 for the Bluejays.
For BYU, Hansen finished with 11 points, Bower and Jared Jensen each added 9, and Rafael Araujo scored 6 points while grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds.
The win runs Creighton's record to 6-0. BYU drops its first game of the season and comes home with a 1-1 split on the road trip, following the victory over Arizona State last Wednesday.
BYU will face the University of San Diego on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in the Marriott Center. The Cougars put its home win-streak of 37 games on the line against San Diego then face the Utah State Aggies on Saturday night, tipoff is also at 7 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Brigham Young vs Creighton
12-07-02 2:05 p.m. at Omaha, Nebraska (Omaha Civic Auditorium)
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VISITORS: Brigham Young 5-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 Mark Bigelow........ f 7-16 4-8 3-4 2 4 6 2 21 2 6 1 1 38
52 Jared Jensen........ f 3-5 0-0 3-3 1 2 3 1 9 0 0 1 0 29
55 Rafael Araujo....... c 2-4 0-1 2-2 3 9 12 4 6 1 5 1 1 28
02 Travis Hansen....... g 4-6 0-0 3-4 0 2 2 5 11 2 4 0 1 27
24 Kevin Woodberry..... g 1-3 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 1 3 0 3 0 1 15
04 Luiz Lemes.......... 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 3 1 1 0 0 7
05 Jake Shoff.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
10 Terry Nashif........ 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 2 2 3 0 0 1 0 0 9
14 Ricky Bower......... 4-8 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 2 9 4 2 0 2 29
15 John Allen.......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 8
32 Bart Jepsen......... 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 3
40 Dan Howard.......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 6
TEAM................ 1 4 5
Totals.............. 23-50 7-17 11-13 7 27 34 21 64 11 23 4 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-25 48.0% 2nd Half: 11-25 44.0% Game: 46.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-11 54.5% 2nd Half: 1-6 16.7% Game: 41.2% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 9-10 90.0% Game: 84.6% 0
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HOME TEAM: Creighton 6-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
22 Michael Lindeman.... f 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 1 2 4 3 0 1 20
25 Kyle Korver......... f 6-18 4-14 3-4 0 11 11 2 19 4 1 0 1 35
43 Brody Deren......... c 5-8 0-0 0-2 0 2 2 2 10 2 2 1 0 23
20 Larry House......... g 0-6 0-3 1-2 4 0 4 3 1 0 1 1 1 21
24 Tyler McKinney...... g 1-2 0-1 2-2 0 1 1 1 4 2 2 0 0 16
03 DeAnthony Bowden.... 3-5 0-2 1-2 0 1 1 2 7 2 2 0 4 22
10 Nate Funk........... 6-9 1-3 1-2 2 2 4 0 14 1 1 0 2 24
15 Kellen Miliner...... 3-6 3-5 2-2 3 0 3 1 11 0 0 1 0 17
21 Joe Dabbert......... 1-5 0-0 0-0 3 1 4 1 2 0 0 2 0 8
34 Mike Grimes......... 1-1 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 2 4 0 0 0 0 14
TEAM................
Totals.............. 27-64 8-28 12-18 14 22 36 15 74 15 12 5 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-37 40.5% 2nd Half: 12-27 44.4% Game: 42.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-16 18.8% 2nd Half: 5-12 41.7% Game: 28.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-6 50.0% 2nd Half: 9-12 75.0% Game: 66.7% 2
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Officials: Bob Staffen, Randy McCall, Mark McMullen
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. Creighton-None.
Attendance: 8529
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Brigham Young................. 32 32 - 64
Creighton..................... 36 38 - 74
Fouled out: #2 Travis Hansen (31.1)
Kyle Korver shoots career-high and Civic record 14 3-pt. attempts.
Kyle Korver second double-double of season and sixth of career.
Nate Funk career-high 14 points for Creighton.
Points in the paint-BY 28,CU 32. Points off turnovers-BY 4,CU 25.
2nd chance points-BY 9,CU 6. Fast break points-BY 6,CU 8.
Bench points-BY 14,CU 38. Score tied-4 times. Lead changes-3 times.