LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Behind a combined 62 points from Ryan Kalkbrenner, Baylor Scheierman and Trey Alexander, sixth-seeded Creighton advanced to its first Elite Eight since 1941 with an 86-75 win over 15th-seeded Princeton on Friday, March 24.

The victory pushed the Bluejays to 24-12 on the season, while Princeton's season came to a close at 23-9. Creighton advances to face No. 18 San Diego State on Sunday, March 26 at 1:20 p.m. Central on CBS.

After starting the game 2-of-5 with a pair of turnovers, Creighton caught fire as the Bluejays hit their next eight shots to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 24-16 lead.  Scheierman was the engine for the Bluejays' early surge as the Nebraska native delivered eight points on a pair of three-pointers and a driving layup.

Princeton, however, answered Creighton's challenge, making 9-of-11 shots from the field as the Tigers climbed in front 37-33. Creighton responded with a 12-1 run behind five points from Kalkbrenner to reclaim the lead, 45-38 with under one minute left in the first half. The Tigers refused to give ground, scoring the next five before a pair of free throws by Kalkbrenner sent the squads to the locker room with Creighton holding a 47-43 edge at the half.

The Bluejays asserted their will early in the second half with a 9-2 run to push their lead to 56-45. Kalkbrenner delivered the Bluejays' first five points of the half, while Ryan Nembhard and Scheierman capped the early run. Creighton's lead grew to as much as 16 at 68-52 (12:28), but Princeton continued to fight as the Tigers trimmed the Bluejay edge to 73-65 with 4:59 remaining.

Down the stretch Alexander put the game away with a critical three-ball, giving Creighton a 76-65 advantage, and four free throws in the final minute.

Kalkbrenner led Creighton with 22 points, while Scheierman delivered 21 and Alexander had 19.  The Bluejays closed the game 32-of-55 from the field (58.2%), including 23-of-31 from inside the arc (74.2%). CU also shot 81.8 percent from the line, sinking 13-of-16 attempts.

Princeton got a game-high 26 points from Ryan Langborg and center Tosan Evbuomwan added 24 points and nine assists. Princeton shot 30-of-65 (46.2), but just 11-of-28 (39.3%) in the second half.

NOTES:  Greg McDermott won his 300^th game as Creighton head coach, improving to 300-149 in 13 seasons on the Bluejay sideline … Creighton improved to 18-24 all-time in the NCAA Tournament while reaching the final eight for the first time since 1941, when only eight teams made the field  …  Greg McDermott is now 9-7 in eight NCAA Tournament appearances at Creighton, making him responsible for half of CU's NCAA Tournament wins in program history … Creighton tied a program record with its sixth neutral site win of the season … Creighton is now 2-0 all-time against Princeton, having won 63-54 on Dec. 29, 1961 in the only previous meeting …  The BIG EAST is now 49-2 all-time in NCAA Tournament games against teams seeded No. 15 or worse, with the losses coming in 1991 (Richmond over Syracuse) and in 2013 (Florida Gulf Coast over Georgetown) … BIG EAST teams have now won eight straight NCAA Tournament games played in the state of Kentucky, and BIG EAST teams are also 8-0 against Ivy League teams (5-0 vs. Princeton) in the NCAA Tournament at all sites  … Princeton fell to 1-6 all-time in the Regional Semifinal, while playing in that round for the first time since 1965 ... Creighton is the first No. 6 seed to reach the Elite Eight since USC in 2021 …  Creighton is 5-3 all-time against San Diego State, including a 72-69 overtime win over the Aztecs in the First Round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament in Fort Worth, Texas ... Creighton made a three-pointer for the 984^th straight game, while Princeton made one for the 1,019^th straight game. Those figures rank 13^th and 10^th-longest nationally among active streaks  ..  Baylor Scheierman had a three-pointer for the 46^th straight game dating to last year, and extended his Creighton record streak to 36 in a row … Creighton (47) scored 40+ points in the first half of an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since March 12, 1978, when it had 48 vs. DePaul … Ryan Kalkbrenner has scored 10 points or more in each of CU's last 20 games, the longest streak by any Bluejay since Marcus Foster did it 33 games in a row in 2017-18 ...