No. 2 UConn slams Creighton, extends winning streak to 17

Braylon Mullins made four 3-pointers en route to 16 points and No. 2 UConn extended its winning streak to 17 games by rolling to an 85-58 victory over Creighton in Big East play on Saturday night at Omaha, Neb.

Silas Demary Jr. and Alex Karaban added 15 points apiece and Solo Ball had 11 for the Huskies (21-1, 11-0), who only have two longer winning streaks in program history. UConn won a school-record 23 straight games during the 1995-96 campaign and put together a 19-game winning streak in 1998-99.

UConn's only setback this season came against then-No. 4 Arizona, 71-67 on Nov. 19 on the Huskies' home floor.

Nik Graves scored 17 points for the Bluejays (12-10, 6-5), who have lost five of their past eight games. Blake Harper added 11 points for Creighton.

The Bluejays were just 5 of 21 from 3-point range and shot 40.9% overall.

Mullins (concussion) returned from a one-game absence to spark the Huskies.

He helped UConn drain 16 of 31 from behind the arc and shoot 54.1% from the field. The Huskies held a 37-24 rebounding advantage and led by as many as 30 points.

Despite winning two of the last three national championships, the victory was just UConn's fourth in 13 all-time meetings with Creighton.

UConn used a 14-2 run in the second half to turn a 10-point lead into a 62-40 advantage.

Karaban and Malachi Smith connected on 3-pointers during the surge and Karaban capped it with a layup with 11:37 left in the game.

Meanwhile, Creighton went nearly seven minutes without a field goal. A basket by Ball gave the Huskies a 69-43 lead with 8:01 left before Jasen Green's layup with 7:39 left ended the Bluejays' drought.

Jayden Ross and Mullins responded with 3-pointers to increase the lead to 30 and UConn finished off the romp.

Ball scored nine points in the first half as UConn led 41-30 at the break. Graves had 13 points in the half for the Bluejays.

Creighton led 18-17 after a 3-pointer by Isaac Traudt with 10:36 left in the first half.

A 3-pointer by Graves knotted the score at 27 with 4:41 left before the Huskies closed the half with a 14-3 push. Ball made two treys during the burst, including one with just over five seconds left that gave UConn the 11-point halftime advantage.