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OMAHA, Neb. – Creighton hit six of seven shots to open the second half as the No. 23 ranked Bluejays pulled away from Eastern Illinois for a 75-53 win on Tuesday night. The game was played as part of the Emerald Coast Classic. EIU will play North Carolina Central on Friday at 11 a.m. in Niceville, Fla.
EIU dropped to 1-4 on the year while Creighton improved to 5-0.
Austin Chatman scored seven of Creighton's first 12 points for the Bluejays as they pulled out to a 12-6 lead in the first four minutes.
LeTrell Viser drained a jumper with 12:16 to play to cut the Creighton lead to four at 18-14. The Bluejays then made five straight baskets on a 10-2 run to pull out to a 28-16 lead.
The Bluejays dominated play on the glass in the opening half with a 25-12 margin which resulted in 13 second chance points for Creighton. Geoffrey Groselle had ten first half points going 5-of-5 from the field.
EIU was cold from 3-point range hitting only 1-of-10 from the beyond the arc in the opening half.
Dylan Chatman connected for the 3-pointer leading EIU with four first half points. EIU finished the game 6-of-19 from 3-point range.
Leading 39-20 at the half, Creighton opened the second half making six of seven from the field as they finished the night shooting 52 percent from the field.
EIU had nine points from
Chris Olivier and
Trae Anderson as they shot 50 percent in the second half.
Josh Piper had four rebounds to lead EIU but the Panthers lost the battle on the glass by a 38-25 margin. Creighton turned that advantage into 18 second chance points. James Milliken led the Bluejays with ten rebounds.
Groselle led Creighton with 15 points. Toby Hegner added 13.