Creighton ends Princeton’s March Madness with an 86-75 victory

Creighton used its size, 3-point shooting and strong second-half defense to end Princeton’s March Madness run, defeating the 15th-seeded Tigers 86-75 on Friday night in the Sweet 16.

The sixth-seeded Bluejays (24-12) advanced to their first regional final since they were part of the eight-team NCAA Tournament in 1941. Creighton will play No. 5 seed San Diego State on Sunday in the South Region final, where each team will be in the hunt. His first Final Four appearance.

Ryan Kalkbenner, the two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year, scored 22 points to lead the Bluejays to their sixth win in seven games. Baylor Scheierman made five 3s and finished with 21 points.

Princeton shook the brackets everywhere, knocking off No. 2 seed Arizona in the first round, then sweeping seventh seed Missouri last weekend in Sacramento, California.

The Tigers (23-9) were led by Ryan Lengborg with 26 points and Ivy League Player of the Year Tosan Evbuomwani with 24 points, six rebounds and nine assists.

Princeton, playing in its first Sweet 16 since 1967, was hoping to become the first Ivy League champion to reach the Elite Eight since Penn in 1979, the first Tigers team to reach the Final Four since Bill Bradley led them in 1965 They are there. and the second straight No. 15 seed to play in the regional final. St. Peter’s became the first 15 seed to achieve that feat last year.