Brandon Maclin scored 21 points to fuel visiting DePaul to a 72-71 victory over Creighton on Wednesday in Omaha, Neb.
Maclin made 8 of 12 shots from the floor and all three attempts from 3-point range for the Blue Demons (15-13, 7-10 Big East), who completed a season sweep of the Bluejays after losing 23 straight in the series. DePaul posted a 72-71 victory over Creighton on Feb. 11.
NJ Benson had 14 points and CJ Gunn added 11 off the bench for the Blue Demons.
DePaul shot 50% both from the floor (28 of 56) and 3-point range (10 of 20).
Josh Dix scored 15 points and Nik Graves added 14 for the Bluejays (14-15, 8-10), who have lost seven of their last nine games overall. Creighton has a losing record for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
Fedor Zugic and Jasen Green each scored 13 points for the Bluejays, who were unable to pull out the victory after Blake Harper’s bid for a layup bounced off the rim as time expired.
Benson made a layup to give DePaul a 72-71 lead with 32 seconds remaining. Graves missed a driving layup with eight seconds left, but Green was able to snare an offensive rebound to set up the last play.
DePaul chipped away at an 11-point deficit before it forged a tie at 66-66 following Gunn’s 3-pointer with 2:45 left in the second half. Maclin sandwiched two free throws and a tip-in around a 3-pointer by Dix. However, Graves made a pair of free throws to give Creighton a 71-70 lead with 56 seconds remaining.
Dix drained a step-back jumper to stake Creighton to a 56-49 lead with 9:38 remaining in the second half before DePaul countered with a 7-0 run. Green halted the momentum with a layup, and Graves added six free throws for the Bluejays.
Creighton countered an early one-point deficit by scoring 10 straight points to take a 15-6 lead. The Blue Demons whittled their deficit down to five before Kerem Konan converted a three-point play with 24 seconds remaining in the first half.
