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Creighton’s basketball players might have difficulty grasping the historical significance of their 10-game winning streak in Missouri Valley Conference regular-season play.

They wouldn’t be alone.

None of the Bluejays were born the last time CU ran off 10 straight regular-season league wins in the same season. For that matter, neither were their parents.

The last Creighton team to win 10 straight regular-season league games in the same year was the 1942-43 squad, which won all 10 of its Valley games. Since then, Creighton’s longest winning streak in regular-season Valley play in the same season was nine by the 1997-98, 2001-02 and the 2008-09 teams.

Antoine Young was a freshman on the latter team, which stretched its streak to 10 Valley wins in a row by beating Wichita State in the quarterfinals of the league tournament.

"It's tough to win, on the road or at home," Young said. "The schedule makes it physically and mentally hard on the body. We've gotten through this together, and that's what good teams do."

Creighton's latest win, a 73-59 victory against Bradley on Saturday, improved the Bluejays to 20-2. It also left them 10-1 in the Valley and holding a one-game lead on Wichita State, which lost a triple-overtime game at Drake.

The 10-game streak is tied for 10th in program history. Creighton could move into a tie for the eighth-longest overall streak with a win Wednesday at home against Illinois State.

"There's really not time to reflect on what we're doing," Creighton guard Grant Gibbs said. "We're just moving on to the next game. When you're in the midst of something like this, you just get so focused on next game, next practice.

"Maybe when it's all done, you think about the fact that we played well for a long stretch of time. It's a really good accomplishment but when you're in the moment, you really don't have time to dwell on things."

Complicating matters is that at this point, the grind of the regular season starts to take a toll. Starting guard Jahenns Manigat played 13 minutes against Bradley because of fluid on the knee. Manigat said Sunday that he's continuing to get treatment on the knee and expects to be ready for the next game.

Gibbs played 29 minutes despite strep throat and spending the previous two days in bed. Young injured his wrist when he took a hard fall late in the game. Probably every Bluejay has some ache or pain.

"We're banged up right now," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. "Hopefully, we can get some guys healed up in the next couple of days and get back to where we need to be."

Creighton also put together a seven-game winning streak to start the season before losing to St. Joseph's. The Bluejays followed that with a three-game winning streak before they opened Valley play with a 12-point loss to Missouri State.

They haven't lost since, winning five on the road and five at home.

The five straight road wins also marks the first time since the 1942-43 season that Creighton won its first five league road games.

"It's definitely been tough," center Gregory Echenique said. "Now, being ranked, we have a bigger target on our backs. We usually get the other team's best shot, and now we know for sure we'll get it."

The toughest win in the streak might have been the first. After losing to Missouri State, the Bluejays had to play at Wichita State, their prime challenger in the league, three days later.

"What we've done says a lot about us and this team," Young said. "I think the crucial point was winning at Wichita State. That could have made or broke our season. Lose that one and we're 0-2 in the league and we're chasing them.

"That game was a huge turning point for us."

Contact the writer:

402-679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com

twitter.com/PivOWH

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