March Madness: Creighton shocks three-seed Baylor 85-76 to reach the Sweet 16 for the fifth time

The six-seed Creighton Bluejays stunned third-seed Baylor in an 85-76 barnburner that will see the Omaha, Nebraska-based school make the Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons.

Guard Ryan Nembhard led the team with a whopping 30 points on 8-13 shooting alongside two rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Baylor was led by the play of guard RJ Cryer – who also grabbed 30 points and two rebounds in his performance. 

Trey Alexander posted 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists while Arthur Kaluma added 11 points for the Bluejays (23-12), who claimed their second Sweet 16 berth in three years.

Creighton will face No. 15 seed Princeton Friday night in Louisville. The Bluejays and Tigers have met once previously — a 63-54 Creighton home win on Dec. 29, 1961.

Ryan Nembhard (2) droppped 30 points to lead Creighton to another Sweet 16 appearance

LJ Cryer recorded a career-high 30 points to pace Baylor (23-11) while Adam Flagler added 15 and Jalen Bridges scored 12.

The Bears canned just 5 of 22 attempts from 3-point range compared to the Bluejays’ 11-for-24 effort — good for an 18-point edge from long distance for the Bluejays.

Creighton’s edge in deep shooting played out early as it drilled four of its first five 3-point tries — including one from each corner by backup guard Francisco Farabello — to build an 18-12 lead at the 13:37 mark of the first half.

The Bluejays expanded their lead to 27-17 on Alexander’s 3-pointer with 7:51 to play. At that juncture, Baylor had made just 31.8 percent of its shots overall and 2 of 11 from 3-point range.

Josh Ojianwuna and Bridges threw down back-to-back dunks to pull Baylor within 34-27 with 2:28 to go, but Baylor Scheierman swished a 3-pointer from the corner — Creighton’s seventh of the half — to give the Bluejays a 39-29 lead at the break.

Five minutes into the second half, Flagler cashed a jumper and Cryer followed with a pullup and a 3-pointer to give Baylor a 7-0 run that chopped Creighton’s lead to 50— the closest the Bears had been since 15-12.

Creighton’s play from guards Nembhard (2) and Trey Alexander (23) buoyed them to the win

Coach Greg McDermott is going back to the Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons

Creighton’s Alexander answered with a short jumper on the ensuing possession to trigger a 13-5 spree over the next four minutes to restore a 13-point lead.

When Creighton 7-footer Ryan Kalkbrenner went to the bench with his fourth foul at the 6:33 mark, Baylor had a window to rally. 

But after Flagler hit two free throws to pull the Bears within 71-59, Farabello and Nembhard responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to give Creighton its biggest lead at 77-59.

Flagler’s layup cut Creighton’s margin to 79-70 with three minutes to play. The Bears had three subsequent possessions to get closer, but Keyonte George’s missed shot was followed by two turnovers.