Legs kicked out, arms folded. Bruce Rasmussen settled into a courtside seat at CHI Health Center and took a good, long look around.

Former Creighton Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen has seen the school build its footprint and brand since he arrived on campus in 1980 as the women's basketball coach.

The NCAA tournament and Big East banners in the rafters, the crowd trickling in early, the very building he was sitting in. None of this seemed possible.

“One of the values of athletics is that the inconceivable is conceived then achieved,” Rasmussen said. “We can do so much more than we thought we could do.”

Twenty-five years into the 21st century — a transformative time in college athletics — few universities have changed more than Creighton.

The Bluejays moved out of the Civic Auditorium and into an 18,000-seat arena they pack on a regular basis. CU ranks sixth nationally in attendance, among some of college basketball's blue bloods, over the past decade.

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It built its on-campus infrastructure from the ground up and embedded itself into its community.

Then there was the transformational leap from the Missouri Valley Conference to the Big East.

CU’s programs went from playing in Carbondale, Illinois; Wichita, Kansas; and Evansville, Indiana; to playing in Chicago, New York City and Washington D.C. From practicing in public parks to state-of-the-art arenas. From a conference with an outreach of 4.3 million people to one with more than 14 million.

Remember what Creighton athletics looked like 25 years ago? The Bluejays played basketball games at the Civic Auditorium with few amenities nearby, battling for Missouri Valley Conference championships to ensure a spot in the NCAA tournament. But Creighton was in for a big expansion.

All in the past 25 years.

Nowadays it’s hard to tell that Rasmussen, formerly Creighton’s athletic director for the better part of three decades, is nearly four years into retirement. Not every 74-year-old shows up to the arena some 90 minutes before a late tipoff on a Tuesday.

But there he sat, in the buildup to the Jays’ win over Providence in January, stopping every few minutes to look around and take it all in.

It’s a special place.

“Yeah,” he said. “It is.”

It amazes Rasmussen, there for it all, when he thinks about where the school came from.

Sometimes he worries about where it's going.

How does a small, private Jesuit school — the westernmost member of an eastern basketball-centric conference — survive in an ever-changing landscape driven by big spenders and football powerhouses and turn The Hilltop turn into The Mountain Top?

“Everything’s changed,” Rasmussen said, “and it’s scared the hell out of me.”

Building from an idea: The pitch to play in a basketball palace

Hal Daub didn’t know what he was walking into, but he wasn’t about to turn down lunch.

The Civic Auditorium was home to Creighton basketball before the now CHI Health Center was built. “We were actually the second tenant,” Bruce Rasmussen said. “UNO hockey was selling out the Civic. They got the prime locker room, they got the prime dates, and we had to schedule around that."

It was early 1995 and Daub had just been elected Omaha's mayor — winning a special election after P.J. Morgan resigned midway through his second term — when some of the city's most influential people invited him to the old Omaha Club.

Lunch turned into a lengthy conversation with Union Pacific CEO Drew Lewis, ConAgra CEO Phillip Fletcher and Bruce Lauritzen, the catalyst behind the rise of First National Bank of Omaha and key benefactor for Lauritzen Gardens.

They followed Daub’s mayoral campaign centered on the idea that if the heart of the city dies, the city dies. Downtown Omaha was dying, Daub said.

Lewis said Union Pacific already had operations running in Kansas City and St. Louis. Fletcher said there were plenty of other places ConAgra could go. (Eventually, ConAgra went.) FNBO had just purchased land in Boys Town.

“I’m sitting there as this young, new mayor just taking all of this in,” Daub said, laughing.

He made grand, visionary statements during his campaign. Those included a new convention center/arena combination, and Lewis, Fletcher and Lauritzen wanted to know how he would turn that into reality. They wanted to help make it happen.

Daub, a Republican who was six years removed from four terms representing Nebraska in the U.S. House, asked for time to develop a plan to revitalize downtown and the riverfront.

Four months later, they all met again at the Omaha Club.

“They approved it,” Daub said, “and we were off to the races.”

In 2000, midway through Daub’s first full term as mayor, voters approved a $216 million bond issue — with another $291 million coming from the private sector — to start building the Qwest Center, which later became the CenturyLink Center, then CHI.

But the building alone wasn’t enough. It needed an anchor tenant or two to help make it what Daub wanted it to be, what he thought the city needed it to be.

Daub turned to UNO hockey and Creighton men’s basketball. It wasn’t easy to convince the latter, though.

CU’s administration was skeptical about how a mid-level, non-power conference program could successfully move into what was then a 15,500-seat arena when it had just begun to consistently fill the Civic Auditorium, a 9,300-seat gym the Bluejays called home for more than 40 years.

“We were actually the second tenant,” Rasmussen said, smiling. “UNO hockey was selling out the Civic. They got the prime locker room, they got the prime dates, and we had to schedule around that. I had to go to our board three times to get them to agree to move to the CHI.”

Creighton has packed the CHI with an average of 16,907 fans per game the past decade. Above, fans cheer after Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner dunks the ball against Marquette on Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton has packed the CHI with an average of 16,907 fans per game the past decade. North Carolina, Syracuse, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas are the only schools that averaged more, according to NCAA records.

“We could not have done the project without Creighton signing on,” Daub said. “Could you imagine Omaha without the CHI Health Center? Can you really imagine Omaha without that building?”

Creighton played its last men’s basketball game at the Civic, a Larry House-led blowout of longtime conference rival Wichita State, in March 2003. Its played its first at the Qwest Center eight months later, while women’s basketball and volleyball stayed at the Civic.

The product on the court was taken care of.

Dana Altman was at the helm, All-American Kyle Korver had just graduated and the Jays were coming off their fifth consecutive NCAA tournament.

Then Rasmussen and his staff had to figure out how to get people in the door — and, more importantly, keep them coming back.

They turned to season ticket holders.

Some Jaybackers — donors to the athletic department — had the exclusive option to buy up to 10 seats in the lower bowl. This meant they could share extras with friends, who would, the school hoped, spread the word about the new arena.

For the upper bowl, which arena operators initially wanted to curtain off, Creighton sold adult season tickets at $8 a game. Student season tickets were $4 with half-priced tickets for kids under 16. It was the same price as most high school games.

Creighton even partnered with Catholic schools in the area to sell season tickets as a fundraiser. In return, it would receive half of the money.

“You were hoping that once they saw it, they would keep coming,” Rasmussen said. “That’s how we really got the snowball rolling. We just had to get them there.”

Once fans experienced the Qwest version of Creighton, they couldn't stay away. That hasn’t changed in the CHI era.

Gone are the days when the Jays would host other mid-major teams in an old gym. Or practically give tickets away.

They now host the likes of Alabama, Kansas and back-to-back national champion UConn in a state-of-the-art arena. The CU staff is always thinking of ways to sell more of what's become one of the hottest tickets in town, like teetering with chair heights to squeeze in an extra row of courtside seats.

"You're only as good as your product," Rasmussen said. "Even now, when I look at our product, I'm really proud about it."

In November, roughly 70% of voters passed a $146 million bond package with $100 million of that going to renovating CHI and expanding the convention center — mostly the latter.

Six million will go to replacing the video boards at the arena, including the main scoreboard, ribbon boards and outside marquee at 10th and Capitol Streets. That’s expected to be done by September.

It will be the third renovation for the arena. A $5.7 million project in 2006 added 1,500 seats, another $6 million in 2009 went toward a general facelift.

When the latest construction is completed — estimated to be summer 2027 — CHI will be the same size Daub originally proposed 30 years ago.

That's OK with him, though. He's glad it's happening now.

Building greatness in the heart of urban campus

Morrison Stadium was better than Johnny Torres could’ve imagined.

During Johnny Torres' playing days, the Bluejays didn't have an on-campus soccer facility, playing nearly 30 minutes from downtown. It wasn't just soccer, other programs were using high school gyms and parks. That began changing when Morrison Stadium opened — in the heart of campus — in 2003.

Certainly better than what Creighton soccer had when he left years earlier.

Torres, who graduated from CU in 1997, departed as a two-time national player of the year who led the Jays to their first College Cup appearance. He was the first men's soccer player inducted into the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame.

He spent a decade playing professional across different leagues, including Major League Soccer. His career took him from New England to Miami to Milwaukee to Chicago, yet he always felt his roots were embedded in Omaha.

Creighton soccer media and fan appreciation night at Tranquility Park in 1998.

During Torres' time with the Bluejays, they played at Tranquility Park off 120th and Maple Streets — nearly 30 minutes from campus — and trained in public parks and grass fields that are now parking lots.

“Anywhere we could take our goals with us,” Torres said, laughing.

Morrison Stadium opened in August 2003 while Torres, Creighton’s men’s soccer coach the past six seasons, was midway through his pro career. He first saw the soccer-only stadium when he was inducted into the Jays’ Hall of Fame a year later.

“I was astonished. I was blown away,” said Torres, who returned as a grad assistant in 2007 and spent 12 seasons on staff. “When I played, you didn’t migrate too much east of 24th Street.”

Now a few blocks over, that area is the heartbeat of Creighton athletics.

First it was Morrison, then Sokol Arena, Rasmussen Center, the McDermott Center (formerly the Championship Center) and the Ruth Scott Training Center. None were around before 2000.

Creighton women's basketball takes on DePaul on Jan. 18, 2025, in Sokol Arena. The arena opened in 2009.

The investment into the school’s athletic infrastructure cost $61 million, a large portion donated by longtime donors Bill and Ruth Scott.

The Scotts started supporting CU, particularly its women's teams, because they wanted to see student-athletes become role models for the next generation. That included paying for a lounge for women's basketball and volleyball to use — with the caveat that Rasmussen made sure it was nicer than the lounge men's basketball has in the McDermott Center.

“It’s been one dramatic change after another," volleyball coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth said.

Booth, hired six months before Morrison opened, is coming off her 22nd season in Omaha.

She has led the Jays to 502 wins, 12 regular-season conference titles, 11 league tournament titles and 14 NCAA tournaments with two trips to the Elite Eight and two to the Sweet 16. Few coaches on campus have had as much success as Booth has.

Before she arrived — before Sokol opened in 2009 to house volleyball and women's basketball — volleyball played in high school gyms across the city, primarily Omaha South.

But Booth wasn’t having that, even as a 28-year-old whose only previous head-coaching experience was three years at Kirkwood Community College in the middle of Iowa.

Sokol Arena during a 2024 NCAA volleyball tournament match between Creighton and Ole Miss.

“That was one of the commitments they made when I took the job, was to move to the Civic, which was not a great facility,” Booth said. “But for us, it was an improvement.”

And it has been improvement ever since. CU can’t afford to do anything but improve.

Not if the Bluejays want to keep their place in the national spotlight.

Athletic Director Marcus Blossom, Rasmussen’s successor, wants the facilities to match the lofty expectations the Jays have for themselves. Blossom said they have to keep investing in the on-campus infrastructure that started with Morrison and hasn’t stopped.

It’s why he has been adamant about building a new softball stadium, baseball practice field and indoor practice facility for both.

Once those projects are done, Blossom will figure out what's next.

Building for the Big Time — in the Big East

Rasmussen remembers as far back as 1980 — right after he was named women’s basketball coach — longtime boosters wanting to jump to a bigger, better conference.

Preferably one full of Catholic schools in the Midwest.

“It was hard to do,” Rasmussen said. “Without football, it wasn’t very possible.”

Some 30 years later, the opportunity presented itself.

Seven schools — Georgetown, Villanova, Marquette, DePaul, St. John’s, Providence and Seton Hall — announced in December 2012 they were breaking away from the Big East to form a new, basketball-centric version of the conference.

It was a scary time, Rasmussen said, because he wasn’t sure how many teams those seven — deemed the Catholic Seven — would take in the new Big East after they bought naming rights from the football schools.

The size of the old Big East — 16 teams — meant not every team played each other twice every season, and that’s what those seven were looking for in a conference. Being at 10 or fewer allowed the new Big East to play every team twice per year.

It was clear that Butler and Xavier would be invited, Rasmussen said.

Once it became clear Creighton would receive the final invite out of 50-plus applicants — “I couldn’t tell you exactly why,” he said — Rasmussen asked around about successfully transitioning.

Internally, Rasmussen said, he and his staff emphasized they could not be another DePaul, which struggled mightily — and still is.

So he called Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick.

The Irish left the Midwestern City Conference for the Big East in 1995. Swarbrick, named A.D. more than a decade later, was an Indianapolis-based attorney who was plugged into Notre Dame.

“He said, ‘Do you realize, Bruce, the first four years we were in the Big East, we finished in the bottom three in the league?’” Rasmussen said. “I stopped for a second and said, ‘No way! Notre Dame? With the national recognition and brand Notre Dame has?’”

Then Rasmussen called Marquette Athletic Director Larry Williams. The Golden Eagles joined the original Big East in 2005, two years after its men’s basketball team went to the Final Four.

“He told me they were able to make the jump for one reason: Dwyane Wade,” Rasmussen said. “It worked for us because we had Doug McDermott.”

Rasmussen learned the transition wouldn't be easy.

Not if it took prestigious Notre Dame time to settle in. Not if it took an eventual NBA hall of famer to help Marquette. Not if DePaul, something of a basketball force in the 1970s and again in the 1980s, hadn't found its footing.

He was confident, though.

One key to Creighton's successful transition to the Big East was Doug McDermott, who came to Omaha to play for his dad, Greg. Doug would leave his name all over Bluejay and NCAA record books as well as his imprint on CU's trajectory.

Their culture was established, and Rasmussen wouldn't let that waver. They had the facilities, the resources.

"And, again, we had Doug McDermott."

Creighton accepted an invite to the Big East on March 20, 2013, going from a conference with a combined four men’s basketball national titles to one that has won four of the past eight.

It helped that McDermott, committed to Northern Iowa until Rasmussen hired his dad Greg, was a sensation before Creighton’s transition.

Through his first three seasons, "Dougie McBuckets" was a first-team All-American, finalist for the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy and two-time Valley player of the year, including the first sophomore to win the award. He became the CU’s all-time leading scorer as a junior.

But his historic farewell tour — another All-America honor, Big East player of the year and winner of the Wooden and Naismith — paved the way for a smooth transition.

Doug McDermott, along with seniors Grant Gibbs, Ethan Wragge and Jahenns Manigat, went on one of the best runs in program history to put Creighton on the map.

In Greg McDermott's fourth season, his last coaching his NBA-bound son, the Jays finished 27-8, second in the Big East and made it to a third straight NCAA tournament before a loss to Baylor in the first round.

That group set the tone and proved Creighton, as a whole, belonged in the league.

“When we moved to the Big East, everything went to a whole different level,” said Greg McDermott, now in his 15th season in Omaha. In November he passed Altman, his predecessor, to become the winningest coach in program history.

“It sounds like a great idea. But are your resources good enough? Are your facilities up to speed to be competitive in recruiting? Fortunately for us, they were.”

That's how moving to the Big East changed everything.

The CHI Health Center has seen its share of big moments — like Creighton's Damien Jefferson and coach Greg McDermott hoisting the Big East trophy in 2020.

Greg McDermott's program hosts — and beats — perennial national title contenders. The Jays' NCAA tournament fate now comes down to three months, not two hours in a BracketBuster or three days at the Valley's tournament.

Creighton plays nationally televised games on Fox and CBS in some of the biggest cities in the country and lands highly ranked recruits.

All thanks to a conference that helped the Bluejays soar as high as ever.

Creighton welcomed a record freshman class of 1,068 in 2015, broke that with 1,076 in 2019, broke it again with 1,138 in 2021 and brought in 1,130 this past fall, its third-largest class.

There hasn't been a freshman class of fewer than 1,000 since the school moved to the Big East.

The leap of faith came and the success that followed led to a larger footprint, expanding the outreach for a school nationally renowned for its health sciences and business programs.

"It was a monumental change for the university," said Blossom, the associate A.D. at Providence when CU joined the Big East. "It was a game changer."

Men’s basketball has since finished fourth or better in the Big East all but twice. Greg McDermott has taken them to an Elite Eight, two Sweet 16s and seven NCAA tournaments in 11 years.

Jim Flanery led women’s basketball to the NCAA tournament six times, including an Elite Eight. Volleyball is a postseason mainstay. Torres led soccer to the College Cup as a player and coach.

There have been conference titles, players and coaches of the year.

When Booth was hired, her goal was to make the NCAA tournament. Now her program is coming off an Elite Eight run.

“Sometimes as a coach, you spend a lot of time being disappointed you didn’t go further,” Booth said. “But when I reflect on when I started — like, oh my goodness. I couldn’t have dreamt it.”

It’s not enough, though.

Everyone — Rasmussen, Blossom, Greg McDermott, Booth, Torres, Flanery — knows that.

Creighton has built a brand and thrust itself onto the national scene.

Now it’s about staying there.

Building a department that can last in a new era

Blossom doesn't think Creighton is done building, growing, winning. If anything, he thinks the Jays are just getting started.

“We have another gear,” Marcus Blossom said. “We want to thrive in the next era of college athletics.”

“We have another gear,” he said. “We want to thrive in the next era of college athletics.”

That begins with great coaches who fit what Creighton is all about, Blossom said. Rasmussen started that when he hired Greg McDermott and Booth and Flanery, among others. Blossom continued it by recently signing those three to long-term extensions.

Then they have to win and continue to invest in infrastructure.

All of that is easier said than done.

Everything is different now, enough for a retired 74-year-old to notice.

“We’re in an age where it’s M and Ms — money and minutes,” Rasmussen said. “Can we make that adjustment? I can’t tell you we can. I don’t know. But what we built our brand on doesn’t work anymore.”

That’s what Blossom has been trying to figure out in his four years as A.D..

Creighton has mostly kept up in an era run by the ever-changing transfer portal, always-expensive name, image and likeness and football-driven conference realignment.

Blossom is aware he and his department aren’t on a level playing field. They don’t have what other bigger schools do.

Two years before Creighton opened Sokol, Kentucky spent $30 million — half of what CU's athletic infrastructure cost — on its men’s basketball facility alone.

It’s hard to hang with the Indianas, Dukes and North Carolinas of the world.

The Bluejays will try to anyway. What else would they do?

“We’re not going to be a school that pays the most or that kind of stuff, but we want to be competitive to make sure we can reach our goals,” Blossom said. “If we want to be Big East champions, we have to resource it to that level."

And they’re thankful to even talk about, and have realistic expectations of, perennially being among the Big East's best.

That transformative leap of faith more than a decade ago gave Creighton a seat at the table.

“You’re seeing teams like us that are trying to find their way,” Greg McDermott said. “It’s hard, at that level, to maintain and sustain. Then to build it more and sustain that is very difficult. … Everything’s not perfect here, but I think we’ve given ourselves a chance.”

The NCAA is on the verge of the revenue-sharing era beginning in July, allowing schools to give teams and athletes a share of the money they bring into the athletic department.

Creighton won’t feel the effects against similar-sized, similarly funded schools in the Big East. It will be at a disadvantage against power-conference schools with more money coming in and, in return, more money to throw around.

The question remains: How does a small, private Jesuit school — the westernmost member of an eastern basketball-centric conference — survive in an ever-changing landscape driven by big spenders and football powerhouses? How does The Hilltop turn into The Mountain Top?

The same way the Jays always have.

They didn’t blink when they moved from the Civic to CHI. Or had to find the funding and build an adequate infrastructure from the ground up. Or when they left the Valley for the big, bad Big East.

"I'm excited about the next 25 years," Blossom said. "I think they'll be just as special as the past 25 years."

All of which never seemed possible — until it was.

Photos: Creighton men's basketball hosts Marquette

Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) dunks the ball during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Billy Bluejay waves a flag during player introductions before the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) wins the tipoff over Marquette's Ben Gold (12) during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Steven Ashworth (1) shoots the ball against Marquette during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Steven Ashworth (1) dribbles the ball against Marquette during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Fedor Žugić (7) dribbles the ball against Marquette during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Fans cheer after Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) dunks the ball against Marquette during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) reachers for pass over Marquette's Ben Gold (12) during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Mason Miller (13) looks to pass the ball away from Marquette's Kam Jones (1) during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Mason Miller (13) looks to pass the ball away from Marquette's Kam Jones (1) during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) blocks a shot from Marquette's Zaide Lowery (7) during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) shoots a free throw during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Jasen Green (0) looks to pass the ball away from Marquette's David Joplin (23) during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Fedor Žugić (7) dribbles the ball against Marquette during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) defends Marquette's Kam Jones (1) during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton head coach Greg McDermott starts at an offical during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Steven Ashworth (1) passes over Marquette's Ben Gold (12) during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Marquette's Chase Ross (2) fouls Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Marquette head coach Shaka Smart yells to his team during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Jasen Green (0) looks to pass the ball away from Marquette's Chase Ross (2) during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Jamiya Neal (5) shoots the ball during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Marquette's Damarius Owens (10) fouls Creighton's Fedor Žugić (7) during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Steven Ashworth (1) dribbles the ball against Marquette during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Marquette's Stevie Mitchell (4) passes around Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) during the second half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) looks to pass the ball during the second half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton head coach Greg McDermott signals three-point basket as he watches a shot during the second half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) tries to shoot around Marquette's David Joplin (23) during the second half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Marquette's Zaide Lowery (7) tries to stop Creighton's Jasen Green (0) as he dunks during the second half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton manager Jahenns Manigat tries to get the crowd to cheer late during the second half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) and Marquette's Damarius Owens (10) fight for a rebound during the second half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) shoots around Marquette's David Joplin (23) during the second half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Jasen Green (0), Marquette's David Joplin (23) and Marquette's Royce Parham (13) fight for a rebound during the second half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Jasen Green (0), Marquette's David Joplin (23) and Marquette's Royce Parham (13) fight for a rebound during the second half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Jamiya Neal (5) shoots in front of Marquette's David Joplin (23) during the second half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Isaac Traudt (41) pulls down a rebound during the second half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) and Creighton head coach Greg McDermott pose for a photo after Kalkbrenner was honored for his 1000 rebound during a ceremony before a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) and Creighton head coach Greg McDermott share a moment after Kalkbrenner was honored for his 1000 rebound during a ceremony before a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.