Well, that’s certainly one way to start a season.
Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner — the preseason Big East Player of the Year — scored a career-high 49 points Wednesday, helping the Bluejays narrowly stave off UT-Rio Grande Valley, 99-86.
Not only is that the most points by any Creighton player since 1967 — and the second-most in a game in program history — but it’s also the most by any Division-I player in a season-opener since Arkansas guard Rotnei Clarke had 51 against Alcorn State back in 2009.
“I just saw a few go in,” Kalkbrenner said postgame, “and just kept going from there.”
Kalkbrenner’s previous career-high was 31, against NC State in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. The 7-foot-1 center is better known for his defensive aptitude — he’s one of only three players in conference history to win Big East Defensive Player of the Year three times — and not his scoring chops, but Creighton needed every last one of his points to eke out the win. The Vaqueros, who made 14 3-pointers, kept the game within striking distance all night before going on a 13-4 run midway through the second half that cut the score to five.
But Kalkbrenner was inevitable, his efficiency as impressive as his final tally. He made 20 of his 22 shots, including both of his 3-point attempts, plus seven of his eight free-throws.
The last D-I player to make 20 shots at a 90 percent clip or better was Bill Walton, in the 1973 national championship.
During the 2023-24 season, there were only 24 players to score 40 points or more and only one scored 49 points, Denver’s Tommy Bruner. Kalkbrenner’s 49 points is the second most since Houston Christian’s Darius Lee scored 52 in the 2021-22 season.
“We’ve definitely got to clean up some things on defense,” Kalkbrenner said Wednesday. “But yeah, I mean, I’m proud of the way we fought and stayed in it even though everything wasn’t going our way.”
Kalkbrenner also had a team-best 11 rebounds, three blocks and two assists.
Creighton’s only two other players in double figures were point guard Steven Ashworth, who had 25 — and made all 17 of his free-throw attempts — and forward Isaac Traudt, who finished with 11. The Bluejays were without top transfer newcomer Pop Isaacs, who missed the game with an undisclosed injury. Isaacs had hip surgery in the spring.
No. 15 Creighton doesn’t play until Sunday when it hosts Fairleigh Dickinson.
According to The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie, Kalkbrenner is projected to be a second-round pick, but if he can show consistently he’s able to stretch the floor and hold his own in pick-and-roll situations defensively, the fifth-year senior could see a slight bump in his draft projection.
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(Photo: Mitchell Layton / Getty Images)
