CINCINNATI (AP) — Souley Boum scored 26 points and Colby Jones scored 20 as No. 12 Xavier won its ninth straight game, 90-87 over Creighton on Wednesday night.
Jack Nunge had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Xavier (14-3, 6-0 Big East), which is off to its best start ever in Big East play.
Baylor Scheierman led Creighton (9-8, 3-3) with 25 points. Ryan Nembhard scored 17 and Trey Alexander had 16 for the Bluejays.
Xavier led by seven points with 1:31 left but Nembhard scored the next five and Creighton had a chance to tie or take the lead in the closing seconds. A steal by Boum with 13 seconds left denied that opportunity, and he then made four free throws in the last five seconds.
The Bluejays were the preseason pick to win the league for the first time since joining the Big East in 2013 but dropped to fifth in the conference standings. Creighton had a six-game losing streak earlier this season.
Since Xavier and Creighton joined the Big East in 2013, 16 of their 22 meetings have been decided by eight points or fewer, including two overtime games.
Wednesday's game featured 13 lead changes and five ties.
The Musketeers hit six straight shots including a 3-pointer by Nunge to go ahead 80-73, their largest lead of the game with 5:17 remaining.
Nembhard's jumper cut the Musketeers' lead to 86-84 with 23.9 seconds remaining.
The Bluejays and Musketeers were a combined 11 of 17 shooting to start the game and neither team cooled off much.
Creighton led by as many as seven points in the first half, but the Musketeers closed the half on a 6-0 run to trim the deficit to 46-45.
Creighton began the second half by making 4 of 8 from three-point range.
BIG PICTURE
Creighton: The Bluejays were ranked ninth in the AP preseason poll, the highest preseason ranking in school history. Xavier was the Bluejays' sixth ranked opponent this season, all on the road.
Xavier: Defensive issues continue to plague the Musketeers, who have allowed 80 or more points five times this season. But they held Creighton without a field goal for nearly four minutes to get back in the game late in the second half.
UP NEXT
Creighton: Hosts No. 19 Providence on Saturday.
Xavier: Hosts No. 25 Marquette on Sunday.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
