Creighton Men's Basketball Wins Exhibition Opener in Ames
AMES, Iowa -- The Creighton men's basketball team opened its 2026-27 exhibition season with an 83-80 win at Iowa State on Sunday afternoon. The Bluejays trailed for just 26 seconds on the day and got a defensive stop in the closing seconds to preserve the road win.
Freshman Katrelle Harmon (16), senior Wes Enis (15), junior Austin Swartz (15) and Hudson Greer (11) all scored in double-figures for the Bluejays, who made 14-of-29 three-pointers on the day.
The Bluejays started the game quickly as Swartz drained back-to-back three-pointers for the early 6-0 lead while getting four straight defensive stops. The lead grew to 11-3 by the initial media timeout. The Cyclones answered with a 16-6 spurt to take their first lead at 19-17. Five Bluejays made a three-pointer in the opening nine minutes as CU took 10 of its first 13 attempts from long-range.
The Bluejays made nine three-pointers in the first half and took a 45-39 lead into the intermission. Nine different Bluejays scored in the first half.. Harmon was 3-for-3 from the field and swiped two steals while leading CU with seven points at the break. The Jays owned a 20-11 advantage on the boards before the break. ISU's Tre Singleton led all players with 10 points in the first half.
Creighton used a three-point play from Enis and a a trey from Swartz to beat the shot clock and take its first double-digit lead at 53-43 with 18 minutes to play. Enis buried a corner three-pointer in transition to a 7-0 run that gave the Jays a 64-48 lead with just under 12 minutes remaining. The lead grew to as large as 19 (69-50) before the Cyclones rallied with the next eight points to bring the crowd to life. The lead slipped to single-digits on a putback dunk by ISU's Taj Manning with 5:08 to go to make it 73-65.
ISU got a four-point possession on a bucket by Dominykas Pleta to trim it to five. He missed the subsequent free throw, but ISU grabbed the offensive board and fed Manning for a dunk to make it 75-70 with 3:24 left. Pleta had another tip-in with 2:31 left to make it a one-score contest. Harmon would be fouled on the ensuing trip and make the first free throw. He'd miss the second, but Enis buried a three-pointer on the offensive rebound to push the lead back to seven at 79-72 with 2:18 left.
A driving lay-up by Harmon gave CU an 81-74 lead with 1:46 left but ISU countered with baskets by Tre Singleton and Jaquan Johnson to make it a three-point game (81-78) with 1:03 left. After a timeout Harmon found Swartz in the corner for a deep two that gave CU a five-point lead. ISU scored with 12.9 left and fouled CU with 7.5 seconds left. The Jays missed both foul shots, giving ISU one last chance with 6.7 left. ISU got the ball to Bond, and his desperation trey missed everything at CU held on.
Iowa State had six players score in double-figures, led by 15 from Jamarion Batemon.
Creighton is back in action on Friday at 7:30 p.m., when it closes exhibition play against Minnesota.