No. 15 Creighton upset No. 1 UConn 85-66 at home Tuesday night, ending the Huskies’ 14-game win streak and recording its first win over a top-ranked team in program history. UConn’s last loss came against Seton Hall on Dec. 20.
Four players scored in double figures for the Bluejays, led by senior guard Steven Ashworth’s 20 points. He hit five 3-pointers, which surpassed the three the Huskies’ entire team managed on 16 attempts. UConn’s Tristen Newton finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds in defeat.
Advertisement
The Huskies (24-3, 14-2 Big East) remain atop the Big East standings. But they also continue to struggle against Creighton (20-7, 11-5); the Bluejays are 7-2 against the Huskies since 2020 and 4-0 in Omaha.
UConn’s 14 consecutive Big East wins were tied for a conference record entering the game.
“Just kind of ran into a buzzsaw there,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said.
Scenes from Omaha as Bluejays fans storm the court 🔥
🎥 @CBBonFOX | @BluejayMBBpic.twitter.com/FfqYwBZBIc
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) February 21, 2024
After falling behind 7-0, Creighton built a 14-point halftime advantage. UConn mounted a late comeback, cutting the deficit to 10 with four minutes left, but the Bluejays proved resilient. They held the Huskies to just one field goal on their final eight possessions and closed on an 11-2 run. Creighton’s 14 made 3s were the most UConn has allowed in a game since 2018.
The Huskies’ loss is the latest in a wacky season for top teams and came one day after they became the first unanimous No. 1 in the AP Top 25 this season. Last week, four of the top seven teams — No. 2 Purdue, No. 4 Marquette, No. 6 Kansas and No. 7 North Carolina — lost games.
Creighton, a top-10 team in the preseason, has won four in a row and 11 of 14. The Bluejays were a No. 5 seed in The Athletic’s most recent bracket projection.
UConn will look to rebound when hosting Villanova on Saturday.
How Creighton pulled off the upset
The Bluejays could not miss. Seriously.
That first half — and the first few minutes of the second — is what it looks like when an entire team finds itself in the zone at once. Creighton shot 50 percent from behind the arc and 54.7 percent overall. The Bluejays withstood a valiant UConn attempt to get back in the game late with stout defense, good free-throw shooting and maturity that allowed them to manage the moment. This is a formula I’m not sure anyone will be able to replicate this effectively against the Huskies come March, but it was more than enough to get the job done Tuesday. It was a truly phenomenal performance by Creighton, and quite a way to beat a No. 1-ranked team for the very first time in program history. — Nicole Auerbach, senior writer
Required reading
- Men’s college basketball rankings: UConn towers above the field
- 2024 NCAA Tournament Bubble Watch: What the bracket reveal tells us about the bubble
(Photo: Steven Branscombe / USA Today)