Ryan Kalkbrenner came back from an early ankle injury to score 17 of his 19 points in the second half and lead No. 8 Creighton past Alabama 85-82 on Saturday night.
Trey Alexander paced Creighton (9-2) with 22 points and Baylor Scheierman added 20, but it was the return of Kalkbrenner to start the second half that gave the Bluejays the boost they needed to bounce back from their 15-point midweek loss to UNLV.
Alabama (6-4) led most of the second half until Kalkbrenner converted lobs from Alexander and Scheierman into easy layups on consecutive possessions and Scheierman hit a 3-pointer to put Creighton up 72-66.
The Bluejays’ lead grew to seven, but the Crimson Tide chipped away and got within 83-80 with 40 seconds left. Mark Sears, who led the Tide with 19 points, drove for an uncontested layup with 3.8 seconds left to make it a one-point game.
Steven Ashworth got fouled on the inbounds pass and made both free throws with 2.6 seconds left. Sears’ long 3-point try from just inside halfcourt rattled in and out at the buzzer.
Alabama, which came in sixth nationally in 3-point shooting at 41%, was just 4 of 22 from distance.
The 7-foot-1 Kalkbrenner, the Bluejays’ second-leading scorer and the two-time Big East defensive player of the year, turned his ankle while running back on defense with 13 minutes left in the first half. He went to the locker room and didn’t return until the start of the second half.
Alabama attacked the basket in Kalkbrenner’s absence. The 6-10 Nick Pringle, who had 15 points before fouling out with three minutes left, soared in along the baseline for one of his four dunks.
Mark Sears’ half court buzzer-beater JUST misses
But when Kalkbrenner returned, the Tide had no answer for him. He scored six of the Bluejays’ first eight points of the second half and converted lob after lob into easy baskets.
BIG PICTURE
Alabama: The Tide gave Creighton all it could handle on a night when they were cold from 3-point range and had starters Pringle, Mohamed Wague and others in foul trouble.
Creighton: The Bluejays are a different team when Kalkbrenner in on the court. Alabama’s ability to drive to the basket was limited when he re-entered the game.
Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner goes coast to coast for the jam
MURPHY RETURNS
The game marked the return of former Creighton assistant Preston Murphy to Omaha. Alabama coach Nate Oats hired Murphy in July upon Murphy’s completion of a two-year show-cause penalty.
Murphy, who was on Greg McDermott’s staff for four years, resigned in 2019 after he was found to have violated NCAA rules when he was videotaped accepting $6,000 from a representative of a management company in a Las Vegas hotel room. The NCAA said the payment formalized a business agreement where the management company could use Murphy as a conduit to Creighton players. Creighton was placed on two years’ probation in 2021 in connection with the case.
Alabama starting guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr.’s father, Latrell Wrightsell, played for Creighton from 1988-92.
UP NEXT
Alabama plays No. 1 Arizona in Phoenix on Wednesday, the last game in a stretch of three straight against top-10 opponents.
Creighton hosts Villanova on Wednesday in its Big East opener.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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