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Hunter Dickinson, No. 1 Kansas Upset by Unranked Creighton in Big 12-Big East Battle

Andrew Peters

College basketball's top teams have fallen.

No. 1 Kansas lost to unranked Creighton 76-63 on the road Wednesday, marking the Jayhawks' first loss of the season. Later in the night, No. 2 Auburn lost to Cooper Flagg and No. 9 Duke on the road 84-78.

Creighton shut down Kansas star Hunter Dickinson, who had just six points on the night. The Bluejays used a huge night from Pop Isaacs, who had 27, to pick up the win.

Taking down the No. 1 team in the country is starting to become a trend for Creighton. Last February, the Bluejays defeated UConn, which was ranked No. 1 at the time. Head coach Greg McDermott joked about his team's record against No. 1 teams after the game.

"What can you say? This is the building No. 1 teams go to die evidently," he said.

McDermott also praised his squad for pulling off the massive upset despite several players dealing with injuries and illnesses.

"It was going to take special effort on our part on both ends of the floor," he said. "Guys are beat up, guys are sick and we found a way. I'm really proud of my team."

Things hadn't gone well for Creighton to start the season following last year's Sweet 16 run. The Bluejays already had three losses on their schedule and looked far from a championship-contending team.

McDermott believes Wednesday's seismic win can help change the trajectory of Creighton's season.

"I think with every team, you're selling a dream. You're selling a plan," he said. "Until you're able to validate that plan with a victory like this, I'm not sure the buy-in is what it's going to be now. Now they know what they're capable of and we've got to hold ourselves to that standard.

Kansas already has a handful of big wins under its belt, taking down North Carolina and Duke early this season, but Bill Self and the Jayhawks will spend the rest of the week trying to figure out what went wrong before Sunday's rivalry matchup against Missouri.

   

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