OMAHA, Neb.—For 31 minutes Tuesday, P’Allen Stinnett was scoreless and Creighton was struggling against last-place Indiana State at Qwest Center Omaha.
One offensive rebound changed all that.
Stinnett’s second-chance basket with 8:37 to play broke a 46-46 tie and ignited a 14-5 run that pushed the Bluejays to 73-62 win over the struggling Sycamores in Missouri Valley Conference play.
The sophomore guard went on to score 10 points during Creighton’s decisive surge.
“P’Allen’s not going to go scoreless; we all know that,” Jays guard Booker Woodfox said. “He’s going to find a way to get some points quick. That first offensive rebound got him going.”
Woodfox and Justin Carter each finished with 17 points for Creighton (16-6, 6-4).
But it was Stinnett’s 13 points, all coming late in the game, that made the difference. He was 5-for-5 from the floor in the second half as the Jays shot 67 percent (14 of 21) as a team to pull away.
“P’Allen decided he was going to go make plays,” said Indiana State coach Kevin McKenna, a former Creighton player and assistant. “He hit a couple of tough shots. The offensive rebound, though, really kind of kick-started them a little bit and got them going.”
Until Stinnett’s flurry, it was an even game.
Indiana State (4-17, 2-8) led by three early in the second half before suffering its fifth straight loss.
The Sycamores trailed 27-26 at the break despite making only one of their 10 shots from two-point range in the first half. Six of their seven field goals came from long range, where they were six of 11.
Indiana State’s last lead, 41-40, came on a Jay Tunnell basket with 11:20 remaining. The Sycamores later tied the game at 46-46 on a conventional three-point play by Harry Marshall, who finished with 16 points.
But Stinnett grabbed a missed free throw by teammate Kenton Walker on Creighton’s next possession and scored to put his team up for good.
Carter added two free throws before Stinnett knocked down a pair of contested 3-point shots to make it 53-46. Indiana State, now 1-9 in true road games, got no closer the rest of the way.
The victory moved Jays coach Dana Altman into second place on the all-time wins list in conference games for Missouri Valley coaches. His 164th league win, which didn’t come easily, moved him past Eddie Hickey and left him behind only the legendary Henry Iba (187) on the MVC list.
“We were a little tight tonight,” Altman said. “I’m not sure we were playing to win for a long time. We were playing not to lose.”
