Jan. 5, 2006
Box Score
OMAHA, Neb. - Senior Nedu Onyeuku returned to his hometown and led Illinois State with career-high 17 points, but Creighton spoiled the homecoming with a 22-5 run in the second half to claim a 71-52 Missouri Valley Conference victory Thursday night at the Qwest Center OMAHATM.
With the win, the Bluejays evened the season series and improved to 8-4 on the year and 2-2 in the league, while the Redbirds fell to 6-6 and 1-3.
A Roberto Fortes dunk gave ISU its first second half lead at 38-37 with 12:43 remaining, but the Jays took control of the game with a 22-5 run over the next six minutes, including seven points from Nick Porter. The Redbirds closed the gap to 11 points twice, but could never get any closer. Creighton finished the game shooting 60.5 percent from the floor, including 72.7 percent in the second half.
Creighton led by as many as seven points in the first half at 16-9 with 11:10 on the clock. The Jays used four three-pointers to build the advantage, as they had five different players hit treys in the initial frame. The Redbirds stayed close and cut the lead to 27-25 at the half when Michael Vandello put in a lay-up with five seconds remaining.
Greg Dilligard joined Onyeuku as the only Redbirds in double figures with 11. Creighton was led by Josh Dotzler's 15 points, while Dane Watts finished with 14 and Anthony Tolliver and Nick Porter each tossed in 11.
The Redbirds return to action on Sunday, when Illinois State hosts Wichita State at 2:05 p.m.
