Saturday, April 4
Las Vegas, Nev.
4 p.m.
West Virginia University
20-14,9-9Big 12
87
vs
70
Creighton
16-18,9-11Big East
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | 43 | 44 | 87 |
| Creighton | 37 | 33 | 70 |
Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Mountaineers Down Creighton to Advance to Crown Championship Game
April 04, 2026 06:40 PM | Men's Basketball
Freshman DJ Thomas' 20 points led five double-figure scorers in West Virginia's 87-70 victory over Creighton at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, to advance to tomorrow's championship game of the College Basketball Crown.
Thomas made nine of his 14 field goal attempts, including two of five from 3-point distance for his game-high scoring total. West Virginia (20-14) converted 12 of its 30 3-point attempts, outrebounded Creighton 39 to 29 and never trailed in the game.
Treysen Eaglestaff tallied 16 points - 12 of those coming from 3-point range - Brenen Lorient contributed 15 points, Honor Huff had 13 and Chance Moore came off the bench to score 10 points and grab a game-best 13 rebounds.
The Mountaineers scored the game's first eight points and never looked back in recording their first 20-win season in six years.
West Virginia, which led 43-37 at halftime, extended its lead to 11 at the 14-minute mark of the second half on a Thomas layup, and then got it to 16 on Thomas' basket with 9:17 remaining. Creighton scored the next eight points to reduce West Virginia's lead to eight, but the Mountaineers answered with a Lorient free throw and then two Eaglestaff triples to push their lead back to 12.
A Huff 3, a Moore dunk and a Lorient layup with 3:40 left got the margin to 18. Eaglestaff's layup a minute later gave the Mountaineers a 19-point margin, their biggest of the game.
WVU shot 53% overall (35 of 66) in registering its highest point total since a 90-58 victory over Little Rock back on Dec. 9.
Nearly all of the specialty stats were in West Virginia's favor - points off turnovers (12 to 5); second chance points (11 to 0); bench scoring (30 to 24) and points in the paint (44 to 32).
All 10 players in Las Vegas for this weekend's tournament got into the game, including walk-on guard Niyol Hauet, making his first appearance since the Mississippi Valley win on Dec. 22.
Josh Dix led Creighton (16-18) with 18 points in coach Doug McDermott's final game coaching the Bluejays. He previously announced his retirement at the conclusion of the season.
West Virginia will meet former Big 12 foe Oklahoma (21-15) in Sunday's championship game at 5:30 p.m. EST on FOX.
The Sooners downed Baylor 82-69 in today's first semifinal game.
Thomas made nine of his 14 field goal attempts, including two of five from 3-point distance for his game-high scoring total. West Virginia (20-14) converted 12 of its 30 3-point attempts, outrebounded Creighton 39 to 29 and never trailed in the game.
Treysen Eaglestaff tallied 16 points - 12 of those coming from 3-point range - Brenen Lorient contributed 15 points, Honor Huff had 13 and Chance Moore came off the bench to score 10 points and grab a game-best 13 rebounds.
The Mountaineers scored the game's first eight points and never looked back in recording their first 20-win season in six years.
West Virginia, which led 43-37 at halftime, extended its lead to 11 at the 14-minute mark of the second half on a Thomas layup, and then got it to 16 on Thomas' basket with 9:17 remaining. Creighton scored the next eight points to reduce West Virginia's lead to eight, but the Mountaineers answered with a Lorient free throw and then two Eaglestaff triples to push their lead back to 12.
A Huff 3, a Moore dunk and a Lorient layup with 3:40 left got the margin to 18. Eaglestaff's layup a minute later gave the Mountaineers a 19-point margin, their biggest of the game.
WVU shot 53% overall (35 of 66) in registering its highest point total since a 90-58 victory over Little Rock back on Dec. 9.
Nearly all of the specialty stats were in West Virginia's favor - points off turnovers (12 to 5); second chance points (11 to 0); bench scoring (30 to 24) and points in the paint (44 to 32).
All 10 players in Las Vegas for this weekend's tournament got into the game, including walk-on guard Niyol Hauet, making his first appearance since the Mississippi Valley win on Dec. 22.
Josh Dix led Creighton (16-18) with 18 points in coach Doug McDermott's final game coaching the Bluejays. He previously announced his retirement at the conclusion of the season.
West Virginia will meet former Big 12 foe Oklahoma (21-15) in Sunday's championship game at 5:30 p.m. EST on FOX.
The Sooners downed Baylor 82-69 in today's first semifinal game.
Team Stats
WVU
CU
FG%
.530
.434
3FG%
.400
.240
FT%
.455
.783
RB
39
29
TO
4
7
STL
4
2
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
9
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballCollege Basketball Crown Recap
Thursday, April 16
Ross Hodge, Honor Huff & Brenen Lorient | Oklahoma Postgame
Sunday, April 05
Ross Hodge, Treysen Eaglestaff & Brenen Lorient | Creighton Postgame
Saturday, April 04
Ross Hodge & Honor Huff | Stanford Postgame
Thursday, April 02
