Owen Freeman scored 19 points off the bench and Nik Graves added 15, lifting No. 23 Creighton to a 92-76 season-opening victory over South Dakota on Wednesday in Omaha, Neb.
Freeman made 9 of 11 shots from the floor and showed no ill effects as he works his way back from a knee injury since he transferred from Iowa.
Jackson McAndrew collected 13 points and seven rebounds for the Bluejays (1-0), who won their 32nd consecutive home opener and handed Greg McDermott his 500th career win as a Division I head coach.
The Bluejays shot a sizzling 50.0% from the floor, held a 20-7 advantage in assists and enjoyed a 44-37 edge in rebounds.
Summitt League Preseason First-Team selection Isaac Bruns scored 16 points and Jordan Crawford added 14 for South Dakota.
Vince Buzelis had 12 points off the bench for the Coyotes (0-2), who opened their season with an 81-79 overtime decision to Utah Tech on Monday.
Graves made several pump fakes before draining a 3-pointer, capping his team’s 7-0 run to give Creighton a 26-21 lead with 9:08 remaining in the first half.
Shey Eberwein trimmed the deficit to three points following a layup before the Bluejays scored 18 of the final 26 points of the half to take a 48-35 lead into intermission. Austin Swartz started the late uprising with a 3-pointer and Freeman made three baskets from in close during that stretch.
Freeman continued to exploit the interior to start the second half, making two dunks and two layups as Creighton scored 14 of the first 20 points to seize a 62-41 lead.
The Bluejays’ lead ballooned to 20 points with 4:45 remaining in the second half. Liam McChesney, who had open heart surgery in 2023, checked into his first game since March 2, 2023 while playing for Illinois State. He had one rebound and one block while missing two shots from the floor on Wednesday.
