OMAHA, Neb. (AP) Johnny Mathies scored 22 points, and Creighton continued its 3-point success in defeating Evansville 69-64 Tuesday night.
Mathies was 4-for-4 from 3-point range as the Bluejays (18-10, 9-7 Missouri Valley Conference) finished with 21 field goals, 10 of which were 3-pointers.
Lucious Wagner scored 20 points and Andre Burton had 17 for Evansville (11-14, 5-11), which rallied from a 16-point deficit to make a game of it in the final 5½ minutes.
The Bluejays maintained a double-digit lead for most of the second half, and a 3-pointer by Mathies made it 50-34 with 9:38 to play. But the Purple Aces went on a 12-2 run to make it 58-52 with 3:02 left. They had chances to get closer before Creighton wrapped it up with free throws plus a steal and dunk by Mathies that made it 66-58 with 32 seconds left.
Evansville still managed to get within four by scoring four points within 3 seconds, but Tyler McKinney sandwiched three free throws around a layup by Burton in the final seconds.
The Bluejays got off to a slow start and then made seven 3-pointers - three by Mathies - in the final 10 minutes of the first half to turn a 12-9 deficit into a 34-21 lead at halftime. They were 8-for-13 from beyond the arc and only 5-for-16 on 2-point shots in the first 20 minutes.
Creighton, which set team and conference records with 20 3-pointers in a 100-68 Bracket Buster win over Chattanooga three days earlier, cooled off in the second half and finished at 40 percent (21-for-53) from the field. Evansville shot 41 percent (24-59).
The teams split their season series, the Purple Aces beating Creighton 63-61 two months ago in Evansville on a last-second shot by Kyle Anslinger.
