OMAHA, Neb. – Ryan Kalkbrenner recorded his 200th career block and Trey Alexander scored a game-high 20 points as the No. 8 Creighton men’s basketball team cruised to a 105-54 season-opener win over Florida A&M on Tuesday night.

With the win the Bluejays improved to 1-0 with their 29th straight home-opener victory, while Florida A&M fell to 0-1. 
 
Trailing 8-6 early, Creighton used a 19-2 run over a four-minute stretch to build a 25-10 lead midway the first half. A three-pointer from senior sharpshooter Steven Ashworth sparked the run while fellow senior Francisco Farabello capped off the flurry with a three-ball of his own.  
 
Moments later the Bluejays opened up a 39-16 lead with a trio of threes from Ashworth and Alexander. The lead grew to as much as 32 at 51-19 with 3:30 left in the first half as CU embarked on another 12-0 run, before taking a 56-27 lead into the break.
 
Alexander led the Bluejays with 18 first-half points as Creighton shot 56.8 percent from the field, knocking down 10 trifectas in the opening 20 minutes. 
 
Florida A&M made the first two shots of the second half before a 19-2 run by Creighton, including a pair of three’s from Mason Miller and five straight points from  Kalkbrenner pushed the Bluejays lead out to 42 at 75-33 with 14:32 remaining in the game. 
 
The lead would grow to 50 at 95-45 with 4:25 left on a layup by Farabello before a three by Isaac Traudt closed out the 51-point victory. 

Alexander led all scorers with 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting, while Ashworth added 17 points on five made three-pointers in his Bluejay debut. Baylor Scheierman contributed 15 points and eight rebounds, while all 10 Bluejays scored at least five points and grabbed at least one rebound in the win. The Bluejays closed the game shooting 56.7 percent (38-of-67) from the field, including 47.4 percent (18-of-38) from behind the arc and 68.8 percent (11-of-16) from the free throw line. Creighton outrebounded the Rattlers, 53-21, with Fredrick King grabbing a game-high nine boards. 
 
Florida A&M was paced with 16 by Keith Lamer and 12 points from K’Jei Parker. The Rattlers were just  1-for-7 from three and shot 35.9 percent from field in the loss. 
 
The Bluejays return to action on Saturday, November 11 when they host North Dakota State at 1 p.m. at CHI Health Center Omaha. 

NOTES: The only other player with 200 or more blocked shots at Creighton is Benoit Benjamin (411) … Ryan Kalkbrenner also moved into the top-30 in program history in scoring with nine points, giving him 1,176 in his career … The contest was also the 100th of Kalkbrenner’s career … Johnathan Lawson, who scored 99 points last season at Memphis, had seven points to move over 100 in his collegiate career … Creighton improved to 91-15 all-time on opening day with 14 straight victories … Greg McDermott has won 22 straight season-openers and has won 13-of-14 openers as Creighton coach by double-figures … Not counting 2019-20, when there was no postseason, Creighton has made the postseason each of the last 10 times it has made at least 50 percent of its field goal attempts in a season-opener …  Creighton’s 105 points were its most in a season-opener since scoring 107 vs. Alcorn State on Nov. 8, 2013 … Creighton is now 72-1 all-time in regular-season home games that take place on or before Nov. 26th … Creighton is 79-2 in its last 81 regular-season November home games … Baylor Scheierman has made a three-pointer in each of his last 48 games played, including a program-record 38 games in a row since transferring to Creighton … Steven Ashworth has made a three-pointer in 19 straight games .. Creighton reached the 75-point milestone for free Godfather’s Pizza for season-ticketholders with 14:32 left, fourth-fastest in the 21-year history of CHI Health Center Omaha … Creighton’s 18 three-pointers were its sixth-most in program history …  Greg McDermott improved to 12-0 against teams currently in the SWAC, including a 7-0 mark at Creighton … Creighton is 3-0 all-time against Florida A&M … Creighton’s 51 point win is tied for its eighth-largest in program history. Five of its 11 victories by 51 points or more have come in a season-opener … Creighton improved to 65-3 all-time when scoring 100 points or more and its 105 points were its most against a Division I team since a 116-62 win vs. USC Upstate on Dec. 20, 2017.