ST. LOUIS -- Nate Funk scored 20 points to lead Creighton to a 69-52 win over Illinois State in a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinal Saturday night.
Funk scored the Bluejays first six points and helped Creighton (21-10) out to a 12-5 lead. He also keyed a 20-2 run at the start of the second half that put Creighton up 48-25.
A first team all-MVC choice, Funk hit on 6-of-13 shots from the field and went 7-for-7 at the foul line.
Jimmy Motz added a career-high 15 points off the bench for Creighton, Anthony Tolliver had 10 points and eight rebounds and Johnny Mathies had 10 points.
Trey Guidry led Illinois State (17-13) with 16 points and Dana Ford added 11. Lorenzo Gordon, Illinois State's leading scorer at 16.6, managed just seven points.
Creighton hit 48 percent from the field. The Bluejays missed their first six shots of the game before hitting eight of the next nine to go up 19-6. Mathies capped off the streak with a foul-line jumper.
Third-seeded Creighton won for the sixth time in a row. Illinois State, seeded sixth, has lost seven of its last eight games.
Creighton beat Illinois State 64-59 in the regular-season finale for both schools on Monday.
Creighton will face second-seeded Wichita State (20-8) in a semifinal game Sunday. The Bluejays have won eight MVC Tournament titles, two more than any other conference team.
