Creighton Men Defeat Nicholls 96-76

OMAHA, Neb. -- Nik Graves had 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds while surpassing 1,000 career points as Creighton Men's Basketball improved to 5-3 with a 96-76 win over Nicholls on Tuesday night in Omaha. The Bluejays made a season-high 17 three-pointers in 34 attempts.

The Bluejay offense was clicking early, making five straight shots during a 12-0 run to build a 12-3 lead. Graves made two three-pointers in that early surge, moving to the cusp of 1,000 career points. The visiting Colonels didn't quit, getting a pair of three-pointers from reserve Christian Winborne to pull within 23-21.  CU continued its hot shooting, moving in front by double-digits at 38-28 on a three-ball from Jasen Green and 43-30 after a corner trey by Isaac Traudt. Graves moved over 1,000 career points on a trey to make it 46-32, then Austin Swartz buried a corner triple of his own as the lead grew to 49-32.

Creighton made 10-of-17 three-pointers before the break as six different Bluejays made at least one shot from long-range. CU also owned a 20-11 edge on the glass in the opening stanza.

Back-to-back trifectas from Traudt and another by Green extended CU's lead to 69-43 with 14 minutes to play. The Bluejays led by as much as 29 (74-45).

Five Bluejays scored in double-figures. Owen Freeman, Josh Dix and Green all scored 14 points to pace a balanced effort, while Graves and Swartz each had 11. CU distributed 24 assists on 35 field goals and won the rebound battle, 35-23. CU shot 61.0 percent from the field and was perfect in seven free throw attempts.

Winborne led Nicholls (0-7) with a season-best 20 points, making 5-of-5 three-point attempts. The Colonels made 9-of-17 three-pointers (52.9 percent) and shot 25-for-61 (45.9 percent) overall.

Creighton returns to the court on Sunday at 4 p.m. with a road game at unbeaten Nebraska that will be televised on FS1.