No. 9 Creighton makes fast work of Kennesaw St in rout

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Marcus Zegarowski and Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 14 points apiece to lead No. 9 Creighton in a 93-58 rout of Kennesaw State on Friday.

Creighton coach Greg McDermott went nine deep into his bench in the first half and 13 of his players got minutes in a game in which the Bluejays (3-0) led by as many as 43 points.

Zegarowski, the Big East preseason player of the year, also had four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Kalkbrenner, a 7-foot freshman reserve, went 7 for 8 from the floor and dunked on four of five possessions while the Bluejays were on an early 23-4 run. He had six rebounds, blocked two shots and had a steal in his 15 minutes.

Damien Jefferson added 13 points, Christian Bishop and Shereef Mitchell had 11 apiece and Mitch Ballock had 10.

Kennesaw State (2-2) put up only mild resistance after the first five minutes.

Late in the first half, Ballock converted a pass from Denzel Mahoney into a layup. Mahoney then made a steal and Jacob Epperson whipped the ball to the left wing, where Ballock swished a 3-pointer from more than 30 feet for a 50-22 lead.

Alex Peterson led the Owls with 14 points. Chris Youngblood added 13 and Spencer Rodgers had 10.

BIG PICTURE

Kennesaw State: The Owls were playing their first Top 10 opponent since 2011 and the outcome was predictable for a team that went 1-28 last season.

Creighton: If McDermott wanted to get a good amount of playing time for a lot of guys, he accomplished that. The Bluejays have played two games against opponents from the Summit League and one from the Atlantic Sun. The schedule gets significantly tougher now.

UP NEXT

Kennesaw State hosts NAIA Thomas University (Ga.) in an exhibition Sunday.

Creighton visits No. 7 Kansas on Tuesday.

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