Wes Enis scored 25 points and Creighton rode a strong second half to a 76-61 victory over Kansas City on Monday in Omaha, Neb., in the season opener for both teams.
Enis, a transfer from South Florida, made five 3-pointers and 6 of 8 attempts from the foul line to make a winner out of Alan Huss in his head-coaching debut with the Bluejays. The Kansas City native was appointed as the new head coach at his alma mater after Greg McDermott announced his retirement after 16 seasons.
Topeka native Mark Turgeon was not as successful in his debut with the Roos despite 15 points from East Tennessee State transfer Jaylen Smith.
Creighton erased a six-point deficit at intermission with a strong start to the second half, highlighted by a string of 17 straight points to take a 55-44 lead with 10:15 left. The Bluejays didn’t take their foot off the gas, outscoring Kansas City by a 43-22 margin in the half.
B.J. Davis scored 13 points and added four steals for Creighton, which took advantage of a decided edge in made free throws (19-4) as well as 22 turnovers by the Roos.
Chattanooga transfer Sebastian Hartmann and Carl Daughtery Jr. each had eight points for Kansas City, which lost its final 15 games last season en route to a 4-27 campaign.
Daughtery made a pair of free throws to give Kansas City a 44-38 lead early in the second half before Creighton scored the next 17 points to seize control of the game. Enis drained a pair of 3-pointers during that sequence.
Trevon Carter-Givens’ tip-in extended the Bluejays’ advantage to 66-50 with 4:53 to play. The Roos countered with a pair of layups, however Davis made a 3-pointer and a step-back jumper to push the lead back to 16 with 2:39 remaining.
Austin Swartz sank a short jumper to give Creighton an 18-11 lead 9:30 into the game before Kansas City responded with a 28-15 run to end the half. Hartmann’s layup gave Kansas City a 39-31 advantage with 1:08 to play before Enis sank a pair of free throws to cap the first-half scoring.