Creighton has two wins against No. 1s in less than a year, with the most recent being a loss to the Jayhawks in Omaha

OMAHA, Nebraska — Creighton has played eight No. 1 teams in its basketball history, and the first six of those games weren’t close. All resulted in losses.

The last two? The Bluejays posted blowout wins at CHI Health Center.

Creighton beat top-ranked Kansas 76-63 on Wednesday night, in a game in which the unranked Bluejays never trailed and led by as many as 17 points.

Ten months ago, they beat No. 1 Connecticut 85-66. That was UConn’s last loss before it rattled off 13 straight wins to reach its second consecutive national championship.

Five of the Creighton players on the court against the Jayhawks also played against the Huskies, including 7-foot-1-inch center Ryan Kalkbrenner. The Big East preseason Player of the Year returned from injury and scored 17 points, outperforming Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson. Kalkbrenner scored 15 points against UConn last February.

“Obviously, both teams feel great,” Kalkbrenner said. “Both teams, UConn and Kansas, are elite, high-level programs. We were able to execute the game plan in both games and play at a high level. You feel good about those wins.”

The raucous crowd was involved from the opening tip against KU, with the noise level increasing each time Pop Isaac sank one of his six 3-pointers and Kalkbrenner lobbed a pass for a dunk. At the final buzzer, students surged onto the court from the end zone seats with flames shooting out of the goal standards.

“This has never happened to me in college,” Isaac said. “I’ve played against the No. 1 team in the country. I’ve played against No. 2 and No. 3. It was awesome. The students came out and there was a lot of excitement. This wasn’t the first court storming I’ve been a part of. This was the biggest.”

Isaac was well acquainted with the way Kansas plays defense from the two seasons he played at Texas Tech, and he said that was an advantage. He scored 27 points, 13 points behind his season high.