The matchup of the two highest-scoring teams in the Big East, which drew a sellout crowd of 17,677 to the CenturyLink Center, came down to battle of nitty-gritty defense.

Butler held Creighton to 41.8 percent shooting and won the rebounding battle 44-39 but couldn’t match the Bluejays in toughness plays down the stretch.

“What makes Butler good is that you can punch them in their mouth, but they’re so tough, they don’t quit and they don’t get shook,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. “They really out-toughed us in the first half.

“I really challenged the guys at halftime to really win the toughness battle. I thought we did a much better job of that second half. This is a great win for our program.”

In its last home game, Creighton had a chance to upset then-No. 12 Providence but couldn’t make the plays on the defensive end in the stretch and lost by two points.

“Tonight, we were the tougher team in the second half,” Creighton forward Toby Hegner said. “We got the lead and did what we needed to do.”

Creighton erased a 34-29 halftime deficit by going on an 11-0 run to open the second half. A 3-point basket by Zierden gave the Bluejays a lead they never relinquished, but there were plenty of anxious moments.