The Associated Press

Reserve Booker Woodfox scored 16 of his career-high 20 points in the first half and P'Allen Stinnett added 14 to lead the Bluejays to a 72-53 victory over Southern Illinois the Bluejays' first regular-season win against the Salukis in five years.

Creighton (17-6, 8-5) beat SIU in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament championship game last year but had been winless in 10 straight regular-season meetings with the Salukis (12-12, 7-6). It was the Bluejays' first win over Southern Illinois at home since moving into the Qwest Center in 2003. The Salukis had been 4-0 at the Qwest Center while the rest of the Missouri Valley Conference had gone 4-34.

"Prior to the game, our seniors poured their hearts out to us and let us know they hadn't had a good record against these guys at the Qwest," said Stinnett, a freshman. "They wanted to go out with a bang and get this done. I think we just all came together as a team, really fought for each other and pulled this out."

The Bluejays won their third straight game and took sole possession of third place in the Valley. Southern Illinois lost for the ninth time in 10 true road games after committing a season-high 23 turnovers. The Bluejays avenged a 48-44 loss in Carbondale, Ill., on Jan. 26.

Kenny Lawson had 11 rebounds to go with his nine points for Creighton.

Bryan Mullins led Southern Illinois with 11 points, but the point guard also committed seven turnovers after entering the game with a 5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Matt Shaw had eight points and 10 rebounds. Randall Falker, coming off back-to-back 20-point games against Northern Iowa and Indiana State, was held to seven points and one rebound.

The Salukis scored the first basket of the game, then Stinnett and Dane Watts hit consecutive 3s as Creighton reeled off 10 straight points to take command.

Nick Bahe's free throws gave Creighton a 20-point lead in the final minute of the first half, and a Lawson layup made it a 24-point game, 63-39, with 8:24 left.

Woodfox, a junior-college transfer, made 5 of his 6 shots in the first half.

"He was the X-factor," SIU coach Chris Lowery said. "He basically single-handedly got them to where they needed to be. He always kept us at bay with big shots."

CREIGHTON 72, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 53

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (12-12)

Falker 3-4 1-3 7, Shaw 3-10 2-2 8, Mullins 3-7 3-4 11, Green 3-5 3-3 9, Clemmons 1-1 0-0 3, Bone 2-6 0-0 6, Coopwood 0-0 0-0 0, Boyle 2-5 0-1 4, Fay 2-4 0-0 5. Totals 19-42 9-13 53.

CREIGHTON (17-6)

Watts 2-4 1-2 6, Lawson Jr. 4-5 1-3 9, Stinnett 5-9 3-4 14, Dotzler 1-4 3-4 5, Bahe 0-3 2-2 2, Witter 3-7 0-0 8, Millard 0-4 0-2 0, Woodfox 7-10 4-5 20, Korver 0-0 0-0 0, Hibma 0-2 1-2 1, Harriman 1-2 4-4 7, Walker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-50 19-28 72.

HalftimeCreighton 45-26. 3-Point GoalsS. Illinois 6-14 (Mullins 2-2, Bone 2-6, Clemmons 1-1, Fay 1-2, Shaw 0-3), Creighton 7-18 (Woodfox 2-3, Witter 2-4, Watts 1-2, Harriman 1-2, Stinnett 1-3, Hibma 0-1, Millard 0-1, Bahe 0-2). Fouled OutFalker, Watts. ReboundsS. Illinois 30 (Shaw 10), Creighton 29 (Lawson Jr. 11). AssistsS. Illinois 13 (Clemmons 5), Creighton 15 (Dotzler, Witter 4). Total FoulsS. Illinois 20, Creighton 18. TechnicalS. Illinois Bench. A15,834.