• Box Score: CU 89, USD 78

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• Photo Showcase: Creighton vs. South Dakota

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Creighton rediscovered its aim Tuesday night in making a triumphant return to the Civic Auditorium.

The Bluejays, who have struggled all season to make shots from beyond the arc, relied on their outside punch in posting an 89-78 victory that knocked South Dakota out of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

Creighton made 12 of 23 shots from 3-point range to offset an unproductive night by its two primary inside scorers. Kenny Lawson and Justin Carter combined to miss 14 of 15 shots from the field in finishing with six points, 17 below their average.

“If somebody had told me before the game that JC and Kenny would go 1 for 15, I really thought we would have been in trouble," Creighton coach Dana Altman said. “But we obviously had a lot of people step up, and we shot the ball well from 3, which has been a problem for us this year.

“We probably should play a few more games at the Civic, I guess."

Ethan Wragge and Cavel Witter each made four 3-point shots to lead the Bluejays. The 12 baskets from 3-point range were one off Creighton’s season high, while its 52.2 percent clip from beyond the arc trailed only the 55.6 percent it made in a February win over Evansville.

“We’ve been shooting it a lot better in a couple of the practices we’ve had at the Civic," Wragge said. “I think we’ve all been putting in a little more time shooting shots, and it paid off tonight.

“It’s pretty easy to shoot in here, and we shot well as a team tonight."

Teammate Wayne Runnels quickly added: “They shot pretty well, too."

South Dakota, which earned a spot in the CIT by winning the Great West Conference tournament, made 12 of 25 shots from 3-point range. Jake Thomas, who led the 22-10 Coyotes with 18 points, drew oohs from the turnout of 4,348 by nailing at least two of his four 3-pointers from well beyond professional range.

In the end, though, Creighton’s inside-outside balance was just too much for South Dakota, which is in its third year of a transition from Division II to Division I. The Bluejays got points from 11 of the 12 players Altman used, and Creighton held a 56-18 edge in bench scoring.

“This was a great experience for us at the stage our program is at," South Dakota coach Dave Boots said. “They shot the ball very well and were hard to defend, but I thought our guys responded very well.

“They gave a really good effort against a team that had a very good night tonight."

Creighton used a 15-4 run to break from a 25-22 lead in the latter stages of the first half, then scored the final six points to take a 50-36 lead at the break. It was the first time this season that Creighton had opened a game by scoring 50 points in the first half.

South Dakota closed its deficit to 10 points at the first official timeout of the second half, but Creighton countered with two free throws by Runnels, baskets by Casey Harriman and Darryl Ashford and a 3-pointer by Kaleb Korver to stretch the lead back to 16.

Another 3-point basket by Witter and two by Korver highlighted a 10-0 run that gave Creighton its biggest lead of the night at 79-57 with 8:02 to play. The Bluejays coasted home to the win that left them 17-15 and assured them of another home game to be played Monday against an opponent that will be determined after the first round is completed Thursday.

“We’ve been playing so long that it would be hard to end things now," Runnels said. “Things haven’t gone on way the whole year, but we want to gain some of our fans back by just playing hard on our home court."

Runnels will win back plenty of fans if he continues to play as he did Tuesday. His 15 points were his most since he scored 16 in the season opener at Dayton, and he matched his season high with nine rebounds.

Witter also scored 15 points, while Wragge finished with 14 and Darryl Ashford added 13. Witter’s total was his best since Jan. 30, Ashford’s since Jan. 27 and Wragge’s since Dec. 16.

Overall, Creighton shot 46.9 percent from the field. Subtract the 1-for-15 showing by Lawson and Carter, and Creighton’s other players made 29 of 49 shots (59.1 percent) from the field.

“We came out focused from the get-go," said Witter, who finished 4 of 5, all from beyond the arc. “We came out and executed very well and we got what we wanted on offense. We only took a few bad shots, and we played solid defense for probably 30 of the 40 minutes.

“As a team, we knew we had to move on. You can’t live in the past. It’s a privilege just to be playing basketball, and we’re going to go out and try to get better and get another win on Monday."

Contact the writer:

679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com

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