The top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks were handed their first loss of the 2024-25 season, falling to Creighton 76-63 on Wednesday night in Omaha.

Pop Isaacs scored a season-high 27 points and matched his career high with six 3-pointers.

Kansas cut a 13-point deficit to one early in the second half, but Isaacs hit back-to-back 3s to rebuild the lead as the Bluejays (6-3) pulled away for their second straight victory over a top-ranked opponent. They knocked off Connecticut 85-66 in Omaha in February.

“I actually thought we came out of halftime and were pretty good for a stretch,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said. “I thought we did some good things, considering we weren’t very good and they were really good. I thought we could have put some real game pressure on them and we never really did that.”

The Jayhawks (7-1) lost a regular-season game against an unranked nonconference opponent for the first time in three years. Creighton had been in 16 straight Associated Press polls before dropping out this week following losses in three of its previous four games.

Isaacs’ shooting display overshadowed what was supposed to be the featured matchup between two of the nation’s best big men, the 7-foot-1 Ryan Kalkbrenner and the Jayhawks’ 7-2 Hunter Dickinson.

Kalkbrenner, who had missed the Bluejays’ previous game because of a lower-body injury, and Steven Ashworth each scored 17 points.

The Jayhawks struggled offensively and never led. Dajuan Harris Jr. had 15 points and AJ Storr and Zeke Mayo added 12 apiece for Kansas.

Takeaways
Kansas: The Jayhawks could never find a rhythm offensively. Dickinson had difficulty getting touches and took only four shots, making two.

Creighton: When the Bluejays make their 3-pointers, they’re tough to beat. They came into the game shooting 32% from distance but were 12 of 29 against the Jayhawks.

Key Moment
Issacs’ back-to-back 3s early in the second half stemmed Kansas’ comeback attempt, putting the Bluejays up 49-40.

Key Stat
Greg McDermott, the Bluejays’ career coaching wins leader and a former coach at Iowa State, won for the first time in his 11 games against Kansas.

Up Next
Kansas: At Missouri on Sunday.

Creighton: Hosts UNLV on Saturday.