STORRS, Conn. — On Wednesday night, Josh Dix tallied 13 of his 21 points during the second half, while Nik Graves contributed 18 points, as Creighton defeated No. 5 UConn 91-84, thus overshadowing the jersey retirement ceremony for former Huskies legend Emeka Okafor.
Creighton (14-13, 8-8 Big East), having been listed as a 15.5-point underdog by DraftKings Sportsbook, inflicted upon UConn (24-2, 14-2) its initial conference home defeat of the current season. Furthermore, Creighton’s head coach, Greg McDermott, earned the unique distinction of being the inaugural coach to conquer a Dan Hurley-led squad four times on their home turf.
Emeka Okafor was recognized as the third men’s basketball player for UConn to have his jersey retired, as the Huskies paid tribute to the 2004 NCAA champion and national player of the year during the halftime intermission. Ray Allen and Richard Hamilton remain the sole individuals to have their numbers similarly honored.
The Huskies held an advantage of seven points at the commencement of the second half, yet they only managed a 34% shooting accuracy during that period.
Braylon Mullins spearheaded UConn’s offense with 25 points. Silas Demary Jr. contributed 17 points along with nine assists. Tarris Reed Jr. registered 15 points and 11 rebounds, though he recorded a mere two points in the subsequent half.
Fedor Zugic provided 14 points for Creighton, a team that bested UConn 27-11 in points accumulated from the free-throw line.
Mullins sank a three-point shot as the halftime buzzer sounded, leveling the score at 45. Subsequently, after Mullins drained back-to-back three-pointers to give the Huskies a 63-59 lead, UConn failed to convert 10 of its subsequent 11 attempts during Creighton’s 14-2 scoring spree, which extended the Bluejays’ advantage to seven points.
Creighton secured their inaugural away victory against an AP top-five opponent, a feat not accomplished since prevailing over Villanova in January 2014, per findings from ESPN Research.
The Associated Press supplied material for this report.