Las Vegas • Rudi Williams scored 26 points and BYU handed No. 21 Creighton its fourth straight loss, 83-80 on Saturday night in the Jack Jones Hoopfest.
The Cougars (6-5) ended up with five players in double figures as they ended a two-game skid.
Jason Robinson, Gideon George and Fousseyni Traore each scored 11 points, while Richie Saunders finished with 10.
Creighton (6-4) continued its downward spiral after opening the season 6-0.
Arthur Kaluma, who fouled out for the Blue Jays, led them in scoring with 27 points.
Baylor Scheierman produced a double-double for Creighton with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Trey Alexander scored 17 points and Ryan Nembhard had 11.
The Blue Jays finished 23 of 60 (38.3%) from the floor and failed to get offensive production from their reserves, as their bench was outscored 38-8.
Creighton has shot 36% from the field during its four-game slide that’s included losses to then-No. 14 Arizona and at No. 2 Texas.
BYU established its presence in the paint by winning the rebounding battle in the first half, 23-13, including a whopping 7-1 edge on the offensive glass. The domination helped the Cougars outscore Creighton 22-8 in the paint.
BYU also got a huge boost from its reserves, outscoring the Blue Jays 22-8 in bench points in the first half.
The Cougars seized control of the first half with 4:43 remaining and the game tied 36-all. Using a 13-5 run over a span of 3:25, BYU distanced itself from the Blue Jays to open a 49-41 advantage, led by Williams’ scoring prowess off the bench.
Williams finished the first half 5 of 10 from the field, scoring 16 points in 15 minutes to lead the Cougars to a 49-45 lead at the break.
The Cougars shot 18 of 37 (48.6%) from the floor in the first half, including 5 of 14 (35.7%) from 3-point range.
Creighton was 13 for 28 (46.4%) in the first half, going a stellar 8 of 13 (61.5%) from beyond the arc.
BIG PICTURE
BYU: Dallin Hall came in averaging 6.2 points per game. After scoring an average of 11.0 points per contest over his last four games, the freshman guard was held to just seven on 2-of-9 shooting from the field
Creighton: After starting the season 5 of 28 from 3-point range, senior guard Francisco Farabello is 7 of 11 (63.6%) in his last two games.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Creighton will likely fall out of the Top 25 next week.
UP NEXT
BYU: Hosts Western Oregon on Thursday.
Creighton: Plays Arizona State on Monday in Las Vegas.
