MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kam Jones overcame a slow start to collect 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists as No. 8 Marquette defeated Creighton 79-71 on Friday night to remain unbeaten in Big East competition.

Stevie Mitchell added 18 points to help Marquette (13-2, 4-0) win its fourth straight. Ryan Kalkbrenner had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Creighton (9-6, 2-2).

Jones missed his first seven shots and went scoreless for the first 17 1/2 minutes of the game before hitting a 3-pointer to start a 16-0 run. Jones’ driving layup with 38 seconds left in the half broke a tie and put Marquette in front for good.

Takeaways

Creighton: Kalkbrenner has made nearly two-thirds of his career field-goal attempts, but he shot just 4 of 11 from the floor Friday. Kalkbrenner increased his career point total to 2,010. The only other players to score at least 2,000 points from Creighton are Doug McDermott (3,150 from 2010-14), Rodney Buford (2,116 from 1995-99) and Bob Harstad (2,110 from 1987-91).

No. 8 Marquette beats Creighton 79-71 to stay unbeaten in Big East play | iNFOnews.ca — Marquette’s Kam Jones gets past Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Marquette: The Golden Eagles never could pull away from Creighton but still made enough plays down the stretch to extend their winning streak.

Key moment

Creighton trailed 64-60 with 7:05 left when Fredrick King was at the line trying to complete a three-point play. After King missed his free throw, Jasen Green got the offensive rebound and had a chance to cut Marquette’s lead to two, but he missed. Marquette’s David Joplin then hit a layup on the other end to extend the lead to six. Marquette stayed ahead by at least five the rest of the way.

Key stats

Creighton shot just 40% overall and 22.6% (7 of 31) from 3-point range.