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Feb. 13, 2007

Final Stats

OMAHA, Neb. - Nick Porter scored a career-high 21 points, including nine in the final five minutes of the game, to lead Creighton to a 66-55 win over the University of Northern Iowa Tuesday night at Qwest Center Omaha.

UNI was led by Brooks McKowen (Fairbank, Iowa) with 15 points, while Grant Stout (New Sharon, Iowa) added 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds.  Freshman Adam Koch (Ashwaubenon, Wis.) came off the bench to score seven points, grab two rebounds and block one shot.

UNI led throughout the first half, building as much as an eight-point advantage (28-20) after a Jared Josten (Webster City, Iowa) three-pointer with 3:53 on the clock.  Dane Watts then hit three-pointers on two straight Bluejay possessions, sandwiched around a deep trey from McKowen, to keep Creighton close.  UNI maintained a 33-28 edge at intermission, forcing 10 Creighton turnovers in the first half.

Creighton started the second half with an 11-4 run, culminated by a Nate Funk three that gave the Bluejays their first lead (39-37) since the game's opening minutes.  After the teams traded baskets, UNI scored six straight to go up 46-41 with 11:56 left in the game.  Creighton pulled within 48-47 on a pair of Funk free throws, before Koch scored on layup to push the Panthers back in front 50-47 with 9:23 remaining.

A Funk baseline jumper one minute later pulled CU within 50-49, and the Bluejays took the lead for good, 52-50, on a Watts three from the top of the key with 6:06 on the clock.  Porter then scored on three straight Creighton possessions, keying a 13-1 run, to build CU's lead to 60-51 with just over two minutes left.  Creighton was able to hit enough free throws down the stretch to seal the win.  UNI went cold from the field down the stretch, missing 12 of 13 field goal attempts in the final 10 minutes of the game.

Creighton improved to 18-8 overall, 12-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while UNI lost its fourth in a row and fell to 16-11, 7-9 in conference.  The Panthers travel to face 10^th-ranked Nevada this Saturday in O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters.  Tipoff time is 5:05 p.m. (central) from Reno, Nev., and the game will be televised by ESPN2.