5 observations as No. 19 Creighton Bluejays snap Xavier Musketeers' 3-game winning streak

Xavier men's basketball fell flat Saturday afternoon in a win that would've significantly bolstered its chances of an at-large NCAA Tournament berth.

Facing No. 19 Creighton, which was coming off back-to-back Big East losses, Xavier couldn't build on a hot start and let a Quadrant 1 victory slip through its hands in a 78-71 loss at Cintas Center.

"What I'm not gonna do is allow this home loss to change our mindset of what we've been doing the last three months," Xavier head coach Sean Miller said. "As it gets closer to March, the gloom on a loss kind of steals your mind. Yeah, we lost. We have to come back and bounce back."

The usual suspects led the way for Xavier offensively as the backcourt trio of Desmond Claude (22), Dayvion McKnight (21) and Quincy Olivari (18) combined for 85.9% of the Musketeers' points.

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More: Xavier gives up Big East match to Creighton at Cintas Center

Creighton got a dominant performance from big man Ryan Kalkbrenner, who led all scorers with 28. Sharpshooting guard Baylor Scheierman added a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double.

Here's what we learned on Saturday.

5 observations from Xavier Musketeers' loss to Creighton Bluejays

Xavier runs out of gas

A 7-0 second-half Xavier run brought some much-needed juice back into Cintas Center, but the Musketeers couldn't capitalize on it. Dailyn Swain's jumper in the lane trimmed the Creighton lead to single digits (49-41), but the Bluejays got loose in transition on the next two possessions. Trey Alexander broke free from the pack on both occasions, coasting for an uncontested breakaway lay-in and feeding Mason Miller for a corner 3-pointer to put the Bluejays up 54-41.

Creighton's defense allowed Butler and Providence to shoot a combined 50.7% from the field in its last two games. The Bluejays, who haven't lost three in a row in the Big East since 2019, were the better team on defense, holding Xavier to 42.4% from the field and limiting its chances from beyond the arc with just 13 attempts.

McKnight went on a personal 6-0 run with some contested finishes at the rim to pull Xavier within striking distance. Xavier got possession down 74-69 with 44.9 seconds left, but Creighton got a stop and put the game away at the free-throw line.

"I have no problem with our team's effort level, our preparation. We wanted to win this game badly and we lost to a really good team," Miller said.

Kalkbrenner too much for Xavier defense

Creighton is No. 10 in the nation in 3-point attempts per game, so it's easy to overlook how the Bluejays are No. 3 in KenPom in shooting from inside the arc. Kalkbrenner, a 7-foot-1 senior center, is a big reason for that. Kalkbrenner is No. 2 in Creighton history in field goal percentage with the majority of his looks coming from close distance.

Kalkbrenner was the difference Saturday on a day where Creighton shot just 25% from downtown. When all else failed and Xavier grabbed any slice of momentum, Creighton head coach Greg McDermott dialed up a pick-and-roll attack that ended with Kalkbrenner near the rim and Xavier had no answer for it.

Xavier played three players at the 5 spot − Abou Ousmane, Sasa Ciani and Lazar Djokovic − but no one could slow down Kalkbrenner from a game-high 28 points on 12-of-14 shooting. Kalkbrenner's dunk with 9:13 remaining gave Creighton its largest lead of the game at 66-46.

Creighton finished with 40 points in the paint, combining for 18 layups and dunks.

"I thought our big guys struggled tonight," Miller said. "I know they can be better; we need them to be better, but we needed them to be better this afternoon."

Xavier starting center Ousmane knocked down a mid-range jumper to give the Musketeers' an early 6-2 lead. He would go on to miss his next six shot attempts and finished with just one rebound.

"He (Ousmane) has really had it in a lot of big games this year," Miller said. "I thought he got down when he missed some shots, got frustrated and he wasn't able to give us what he did in our last game."

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Creighton storms back for halftime lead

As expected, Creighton's "Let it Fly" offense was not shy about attacking from the perimeter all afternoon long, but the Bluejays were off the mark early on, starting 0-of-8 from beyond the arc and went just 4-of-16 in the first half.

The Bluejays got a big bump from Kalkbrenner, who was feasting at the rim with multiple post-entry passes and lobs at the rim off pick and rolls. Kalkbrenner racked up a game-high 14 points in the first half and Creighton recovered from its slow shooting start from deep with 22 points in the paint and five dunks.

Xavier shot just 38.7% from the field in the first half and Creighton held the Musketeers scoreless for the final 3:22. Creighton stretched its lead to 38-29 going into the intermission after a Scheierman made a contested baseline jumper and Miller knocked down an uncontested triple following a sloppy, costly Xavier turnover in the backcourt. Miller was 2-of-2 from the perimeter in the first half while all other Bluejays combined to go 2-of-14.

Musketeers come out hot

It'd be difficult to script a better start for the Musketeers in front of a frenzied, capacity crowd. Xavier was energized on defense, forcing three turnovers and a Creighton shot clock violation in the opening four minutes.

Claude's 3-pointer and an Olivari transition basket gave Xavier an 11-4 lead after the game's first media timeout and the Musketeers would lead by as many as nine in the first half.

"We just couldn't sustain that energy consistently throughout the whole game to beat a good, well-coached Creighton team," Olivari said.

Xavier basketball's past, present and potentially future in attendance

Part of the Cintas Center atmosphere Saturday came from a special weekend that included former Xavier basketball greats Trevon Bluiett and J.P. Macura being inducted into the school's Hall of Fame. Former Musketeers' head coach Chris Mack introduced the two in Friday's night's Hall of Fame dinner and the two were honored at halftime on Saturday, though Bluiett was not in attendance.

There was also a glimpse into the possible future of Xavier basketball as the Musketeers hosted New Zealand big man Julius Halaifonua over the weekend.

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Big East basketball: No. 19 Creighton snaps Xavier's winning streak