Jaylin Sellers powers Providence to sweep of Creighton
Jaylin Sellers scored 20 of his game-high 27 points in the second half and Jason Edwards added 18 points as the Providence Friars won their third straight game and swept the season series over the Creighton Bluejays with an 85-82 victory on Saturday afternoon in Omaha, Neb.
Ryan Mela had 11 points and six rebounds for Providence (14-15, 7-11 Big East Conference), which has won five of seven. Jamier Jones scored nine points, and Oswin Erhunmwunse just missed his sixth double-double of the season with eight points and 11 rebounds.
Josh Dix and Austin Swartz each scored 18 points to lead Creighton (14-16, 8-11), which lost for the eighth time in 10 games. The Bluejays have now dropped three in a row. Dix went 4 from 8 from beyond the arc to lead the team, and Swartz had seven rebounds.
Jasen Green had 12 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds, while Nik Graves, who shot just 1 for 12 from the field, went 8 for 10 from the foul line and contributed 10 points and six assists for Creighton.
Sellers, who was 0 for 7 from the field and scored a season-low four points in last month's 93-88 victory over the Bluejays in Providence, shot 61.1% (11 for 18) from the field, including 62.5% (5 for 8) from beyond the arc this time around for the Friars.
Edwards, who's second on the team and just behind Sellers in scoring with 17.6 points per game, missed last month's Creighton contest. He scored 10 points in the first half and added another eight after the break in a balanced performance.
Providence controlled the majority of the first half, holding the lead for all but roughly two minutes. The Friars led by as much as eight points in the opening frame before Creighton started chipping away.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Hudson Greer and Dix evened the game at 28. Edwards' driving layup, with 13 seconds remaining in the half, gave Providence a two-point advantage at the break.
A Mela floater with 1:11 left in the game gave Providence a 77-71 advantage. Dix made two free throws, and Swartz converted an and-1 to get the Bluejays within one, but Sellers provided the final margin with a driving layup with 15 seconds to play.
Swartz missed a three-point attempt to tie the game as time expired, giving Creighton two losses by a total of four points in four days.
Fedor Zugic, who averaged 12 points in three games since being inserted into the lineup, was held scoreless for the Bluejays.