OMAHA, Neb. – No. 9 Creighton defeated North Dakota, 96-61, inside the CHI Health Center Omaha on Thursday evening. Despite trailing 53-22 at intermission, the Fighting Hawks shot 60.0 percent in the second half and were only edged on the scoreboard by a tally of 43-39 in the final 20 minutes of play.

Tsotne Tsartsidze paced UND (1-1) in scoring with 16 points, knocking down a career-high four triples in the second half. He also had the first 11 points for North Dakota after intermission.

B.J. Omot and Elijah Brooks just missed double digits with eight points each. Brooks pulled down a team-high five rebounds.

Ryan Kalkbrenner led CU (2-0), pouring in 24 points while grabbing seven boards.

Trey Alexander and Arthur Kaluma also had double digit performances for Creighton, throwing in 14 and 12 points, respectfully.

The Fighting Hawks went 25-of-54 from the floor for 46.3 percent shooting, while knocking down eight triples and going 3-of-6 at the charity stripe. The Bluejays shot 38-of-74 for 51.4 percent from the field and made 12 shots from beyond the arc while adding eight points on 11 free throw attempts.

Creighton controlled the game down low, winning the battle in points in the paint (50-22) and rebounds (49-20). CU led by as many as 41 points, but UND closed that gap with 60.0 percent shooting in the second half.

North Dakota led 8-5 early but gave up runs after that point, which combined to make a 48-14 Creighton run to give the home team a 53-22 lead at intermission. In the first half, the Bluejays made 21-of-36 shots for 58.3 percent from the floor, while the Fighting Hawks hit 34.5 percent of their shots (10-of-29 shooting).

Kalkbrenner paced CU in the first 20 minutes with 16 points, followed by Alexander with 11. For UND, Omot and Brooks led the team, netting six points apiece. Creighton held a 27-9 rebounding advantage and had 28 points in the paint to North Dakota's 12. Reid Grant made a highlight-reel play before intermission, blocking an attempted dunk from the 6-10 Fredrick King.

After the break, Tsartsidze came out on fire, draining three shots from downtown in a row and adding a layup to score the first 11 points of the second half for North Dakota to trim the deficit to 59-33 at the first media timeout of the second half.

The Fighting Hawks continued working in the second half and went on a 13-2 run to close the gap to 75-53 with seven minutes left in the game. Shortly after that point, Creighton went on a 19-2 run of their own to have a 96-55 advantage on the scoreboard with just under two minutes remaining. The Hawks scored the final six points of the game with back-to-back three-point makes from Caleb Nero.

Postgame Notes

• North Dakota is now 3-11 in the series against Creighton.
• The Bluejays became the 12th ranked opponent UND has played since joining Division I. Creighton is also the highest ranked team (No. 9) that North Dakota has played since facing No. 7 Gonzaga in 2009.
• Tsotne Tsartsidze scored all 16 of his points in the second half, making the first 11 points of the second half for North Dakota.
• In the second half, UND was only edged by CU on the scoreboard by a 43-39 margin.
• The Fighting Hawks shot 60.0 percent from the field in the second half.
• A'Jahni Levias received his first official minutes as a Fighting Hawk.
• Treysen Eaglestaff led the team in assists with four, while adding two points

How It Happened
First Half

• 13:44 – CU 10, UND 8
• 11:48 – CU 19, UND 8
• 6:46 – CU 36, UND 13
• 3:56 – CU 44, UND 19
• 0:00 – CU 53, UND 22

Second Half

• 15:51 – CU 59, UND 33
• 11:48 – CU 70, UND 38
• 5:04 – CU 84, UND 53
• 3:34 – CU 87, UND 53
• 0:00 – CU 96, UND 61