OMAHA, Neb. — Pop Isaacs helped unranked Creighton defeat No. 1 Kansas 76-63 on Wednesday night, scoring a season-high 27 points and tying his career-high with six 3-pointers.
Kansas cut a 13-point deficit to one early in the second half, but Isaacs hit back-to-back 3-pointers to rebuild the lead as the Bluejays (6-3) pulled away for their second win over a higher-ranked opponent. They beat Connecticut 85-66 in Omaha in February.
The Jayhawks (7-1) lost a regular-season game against an unranked non-conference opponent for the first time in three years. Creighton had been in 16 consecutive Associated Press polls before bowing out this week after losing three of its previous four games.
Students ran onto the court as the final bell rang as flames shot up behind each backboard.
Isaacs' shooting display overshadowed what was supposed to be the marquee matchup between two of the nation's best big men, the Jayhawks' 7-foot-1 Ryan Kalkbrenner and the Jayhawks' 7-2 Hunter Dickinson.
Isaacs was 10 of 15 from the field, including 6 of 9 on 3-pointers, and added seven rebounds and four assists in his best performance since transferring from Texas Tech in the offseason.
“They wore us out,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “Pop was great. We've known Pop since he was 5 years old. I've known his dad forever and I coached against him the last two years at Tech. He was fantastic tonight.”
Kalkbrenner, who had missed the Bluejays' previous game due to a lower-body injury, and Steven Ashworth, still feeling the effects of a sprained ankle from two weeks ago, scored 17 points each.
The Jayhawks struggled offensively and never led. Dajuan Harris scored 15 points and AJ Storr and Zeke Mayo each added 12 for Kansas, which shot 36% from the field.
The game marked Kansas' 105th game against an opponent not ranked as the AP No. 1 team. Only two other times before Wednesday had the Jayhawks lost by double digits in such cases.
Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.
