Jamiya Neal filled the stat sheet with 21 points, nine rebounds and four assists, carrying No. 21 Creighton to an 80-76 victory over Notre Dame in the seventh-place game of the Players Era Festival on Saturday in Las Vegas.
Fredrick King started in place of the injured Ryan Kalkbrenner and finished with 14 points as Creighton (5-3) snapped a three-game losing streak. Steven Ashworth had 15 points and six rebounds.
Notre Dame (4-4) lost its fourth straight game despite four players scoring in double figures, including 17-point efforts from Braeden Shrewsberry and Tae Davis. Matt Allocco scored 12 and Garrett Sundra had 11. The Irish are without leading scorer Markus Burton, who suffered a right knee injury in Tuesday’s loss to Rutgers.
Down by 17, Notre Dame took a 53-52 lead after Shrewsberry hit a 3-pointer with 10:19 to play, capping an 11-0 run.
Three consecutive 3-pointers, including two by Neal, helped the Bluejays push their lead to 61-53 with less than seven minutes remaining and they never looked back.
Kalkbrenner, Creighton’s leading scorer (18.1 points per game) and rebounder (8.6), did not start the game because of a lower-body injury and did not see the floor.
It didn’t matter, as Neal rose to the occasion.
He helped spark a 9-0 run in the first half, burying a three-pointer and hitting a layup and free throw. Isaac Traudt then knocked down a wide-open shot from range that pushed the Bluejays’ advantage to 21-11 with 12:12 to play in the half.
Creighton took its biggest lead at 30-13 with 8:17 left after Mason Miller connected from beyond the arc.
Notre Dame stormed back, opening a 12-0 run highlighted by 3-pointers by JR Konieczny and Kebba Njie as Notre Dame closed the gap to 30-25 with 3:40 left.
Neal’s 3-pointer in the corner with 1:58 left gave Creighton a 35-27 cushion, and his open dunk with 54 seconds to play put the Bluejays back up 10 at 37-27.
Creighton took a 40-30 lead into halftime after shooting 6-of-13 from 3-point range, including Traudt’s three with three seconds left.
–Field Level Media
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