OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — J.P. Macura scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, and Xavier capitalized on its hot shooting late in the game and Creighton's struggles at the free throw line to defeat the 22nd-ranked Bluejays 82-80 on Saturday.
The Musketeers (17-6, 7-3 Big East) made 7 of 9 shots, including five 3-pointers, during a 19-7 spurt that turned their 66-59 deficit into a 78-73 lead with 2 minutes left.
The Bluejays (20-4, 7-4) had chances to come back in the last minute, but Ronnie Harrell Jr. missed what would have been the tying free throw, Khyri Thomas missed a baseline layup and Toby Hegner threw an outlet pass out of bounds with 1.4 seconds left.
Tyrique Jones and Trevon Bluiett scored 16 points apiece and Quentin Goodin added 15 for Xavier.
Marcus Foster led the Bluejays with 17 points. Thomas added 15 and Cole Huff had 11.
The Bluejays were 4 of 10 on free throws in the second half and just 11 of 21 for the game.
The Musketeers were down seven points with 8 minutes left when they started their comeback. Macura and Bluiett made two 3s apiece and Goodin made one as they went up by five.
Foster's 3-pointer pulled the Bluejays to 79-78 with 50 seconds left. Harrell missed his free throw with 20 seconds left, and Goodin and Kaiser Gates combined to make 3 of 4 free throws to help Xavier hold off the Bluejays.
BIG PICTURE
Xavier: The Musketeers improved to 5-1 in games decided by four points or less and beat a Top 25 opponent for the first time in six tries.
Creighton: The Bluejays played well enough to win but continued to struggle with free throws and are shooting just 67.9 percent from the line for the season.
UP NEXT
Xavier hosts DePaul on Wednesday.
Creighton visits DePaul on Saturday.
