Providence Friars -at- Creighton Bluejays Boxscore

Ty-Shon Alexander scored 24 points and Marcus Zegarowski hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds as No. 25 Creighton rallied for a 78-74 Big East Conference victory over Providence on Saturday at Omaha, Neb.

Mitch Ballock scored 17 points and Denzel Mahoney added 14 as the Bluejays (14-5, 3-3) rebounded from a defeat at Georgetown on Wednesday to win their second home conference game in three tries.

Zegarowski did not start because of an illness and struggled throughout, going 3 of 10 from the field, but he was there in the end with his 3-pointer from above the key. He went 2 of 4 from 3-point range.

David Duke scored a career-high 36 points for the Friars (11-8, 4-2), who lost on the road in conference play for the first time this season.

Creighton held Providence leading scorer Alpha Diallo to eight points. Diallo and Luwane Pipkins combined to shoot 6 of 25 from the field. Duke was 12 of 18 from the field and 6 of 8 from 3-point range as he kept the Friars in the game.

Creighton was able to forge a 41-37 lead at halftime by shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 55.6 from 3-point range as Ballock scored 12 points. The Bluejays defense held Providence to 35.3 percent from the field in the opening half.

Providence took charge early in the second half, taking a 52-51 lead with 11:17 remaining, and from there never trailed by more than two until Zegarowski's game-winning 3.

The Bluejays trailed 74-69 with 1:41 to play after two free throws from Duke before their rally began. Creighton closed the game on a 9-0 run that started when Alexander hit a 3-pointer with 1:26 remaining and a jumper in the paint with 37 seconds to play to tie the game 74-74.

Creighton was 8 of 16 from 3-point range. Providence was 11 of 28 from beyond the 3-point line.

--Field Level Media