LAS VEGAS (AP) — DJ Thomas helped lead West Virginia over Creighton on Saturday with 20 points off of the bench in an 87-70 victory in the College Basketball Crown.
West Virginia plays Oklahoma, which beat Baylor 82-69 in the other semifinal, for the CBC title on Sunday.
Thomas shot 9 for 14, including 2 for 5 from beyond the arc for the Mountaineers (20-14). Treysen Eaglestaff scored 16 points, going 6 of 11 (4 for 7 from 3-point range). Brenen Lorient shot 6 for 10 (2 for 4 from 3-point range) and 1 of 4 from the free-throw line to finish with 15 points.
Josh Dix led the Bluejays (16-18) in scoring, finishing with 18 points. Creighton also got 15 points from Hudson Greer. Jasen Green also had 14 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks.
West Virginia took the lead for good 18 seconds into the game and the score was 43-37 at halftime, with Thomas racking up 12 points. West Virginia pulled away with an 8-0 run in the second half to extend an eight-point lead to 16 points. The Mountaineers outscored Creighton by 11 points in the final half, as Lorient led the way with a team-high 13 second-half points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.