The Creighton Blue Jays had a couple of things work against them last night against the Houston Cougars, but they also had a couple of nice surprises in an 80-72 victory.

Creighton played at an unaccustomed fast tempo and leading scorer Nate Funk had a sub-par game. But the Blue Jays were able to compensate with two players who had career-highs in points as they advanced to the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic final.

Dane Watts, a junior forward, scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and freshman guard Isacc Miles added 16 points.

Creighton (6-3) got some breathing room by going on an 11-2 run, which made it 74-62 with three minutes remaining. The Blue Jays held off the Cougars by hitting their final six free throws.

The game was played at a frenetic pace, which favored the high-scoring Cougars — ranked 10th in nation with 85.0 points per game heading into last night.

"It was a little faster than I really wanted to play," Creighton coach Dana Altman said. "We hit some shots in the first half. I thought our guys were aggressive and I didn't want to pull them back too much."

The most aggressive offensively was Watts, who averaged 8.4 points prior to last night. He finished 6 of 11 from the field, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range.

"In the beginning they were sagging off of me a lot and trying to make me make plays," Watts said. "I tried to be patient and knock down some shots early and that worked out for us tonight."

Miles was 4 of 6 from the field, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range, and also hit all six of his free-throw attempts. He was averaging 7 points per game.

"It doesn't matter about the points, it just matters about the 'W,' " said Watts of his career high.

The duo helped pick up Funk, who scored eight points last night. He was averaging 15 points per game.

Houston (5-4), as usual, lived and died by the 3-point shot. The Cougars, who average 31 3-pointers per game tied a Rainbow Classic record by firing up 39. They made 12, and the 31 percent accuracy rate was below their season average (37 percent).

The Blue Jays were much more efficient, hitting 10 of 18 from long range.

"Creighton is an outstanding basketball team. They are well coached and they knocked down the open looks and we didn't," Houston coach Tom Penders said.

The Blue Jays applied some back-court pressure, which slowed down the Cougars somewhat.

"That's kind of the way we're supposed to play, with some kind of pressure," Altman said. "I thought it was fairly effective. It gave us an opportunity to get our defense set up and get matched up."

There were 14 lead changes and three ties in the first half. The Cougars' largest lead was four, while the Blue Jays' largest advantage was seven.

CREIGHTON 39 41 — 80

HOUSTON 41 31 — 72

CREIGHTON (6-3)

Watts 6-11 5-7 21, Tolliver 3-8 4-8 10, Miles 4-6 6-6 16, Funk 3-6 2-2 8, Dotzler 2-2 2-2 7, Porter 3-5 3-4 9, Hibma 0-1 0-0 0, Morrison 1-3 0-0 3, Gakou 0-2 0-0 0, Nengsu 0-1 0-0 0, Bahe 2-4 0-0 6. Totals 24-49 22-29 80.

HOUSTON (5-4)

Dowell 5-14 4-5 15, Young 1-1 0-0 2, Lee 6-16 0-0 16, McKiver 4-12 4-7 14, Lafayette 4-11 0-0 11, Malone 2-6 0-0 6, Thorpe 3-5 2-2 8. Totals 25-65 10-14 72.

3-Point Goals—Creighton 10-18 (Watts 4-6, Bahe 2-3, Miles 2-3, Dotzler 1-1, Morrison 1-1, Hibma 0-1, Nengsu 0-1, Funk 0-2), Houston 12-39 (Lee 4-11, Lafayette 3-8, Malone 2-6, McKiver 2-8, Dowell 1-6). Rebounds—Creighton 34 (Watts 10), Houston 35 (Dowell 11). Assists—Creighton 15 (Funk, Watts 4), Houston 11 (Dowell, Lafayette, Lee, Malone, McKiver 2). Total Fouls—Creighton 15, Houston 20.

CONSOLATION GAMES

CHARLOTTE 74, VALPARAISO 62

DeAngelo Alexander scored 24 points and the 49ers (4-6) held off the Crusaders (3-8) in a consolation game.

VALPARAISO 34 28 — 62

CHARLOTTE 34 40 — 74

VALPARAISO (3-8)

Igbavboa 2-4 2-2 6, Huff 1-10 2-2 5, Mbaye 0-1 0-0 0, Diebler 1-3 0-0 3, McPherson 7-10 5-5 24, Haanpaa 6-10 4-4 21, Loyd 1-2 0-0 3, Frye 0-0 0-0 0, MacLeod 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-40 13-13 62.

CHARLOTTE (4-6)

Coleman 1-4 1-2 3, Drayton 5-12 1-1 12, Andersen 1-6 0-0 3, Goldwire 4-9 0-0 11, Alexander 9-15 3-4 24, Co.Williams 3-6 4-4 10, Booker 0-1 2-2 2, Ca.Williams 3-7 2-2 9. Totals 26-60 13-15 74.

3-Point Goals—Valparaiso 13-27 (McPherson 5-7, Haanpaa 5-9, Loyd 1-1, Diebler 1-3, Huff 1-6, Igbavboa 0-1), Charlotte 9-23 (Alexander 3-6, Goldwire 3-7, Drayton 1-1, Andersen 1-4, Ca.Williams 1-5). Fouled Out—Coleman. Rebounds—Valparaiso 24 (Diebler, Haanpaa, Mbaye 4), Charlotte 31 (Drayton 8). Assists—Valparaiso 9 (Igbavboa 3), Charlotte 9 (Goldwire 3). Total Fouls—Valparaiso 18, Charlotte 19.

WYOMING 84, SAN FRANCISCO 81

Brad Jones scored seven of his 26 points in overtime to lead the Cowboys (9-3) over the Dons (4-9).

SAN FRANCISCO 30 43 8 — 81

WYOMING 43 40 11 — 84

SAN FRANCISCO (4-9)

Watkins 4-10 1-5 9, Wiggins Jr. 8-12 5-5 21, Dukes 1-7 1-2 3, Kellogg 8-18 6-7 22, Surratt 4-12 0-0 8, Quezada 4-13 1-2 10, Polakovic 0-3 4-6 4, Hernandez 0-0 0-0 0, Byrd 0-0 0-0 0, Cavic 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 31-78 18-27 81.

WYOMING (9-3)

Spencer 5-10 0-0 13, Taylor 5-5 3-3 13, Brown 3-6 2-2 8, Jones 8-17 9-12 26, Ewing 4-12 4-4 13, Okoye 1-3 0-0 2, Platt 0-3 0-0 0, Nelson 2-2 0-0 4, Anderson 1-3 3-5 5. Totals 29-61 21-26 84.

3-Point Goals—San Francisco 1-12 (Quezada 1-3, Kellogg 0-4, Surratt 0-5), Wyoming 5-17 (Spencer 3-7, Jones 1-3, Ewing 1-5, Platt 0-2). Fouled Out—Brown. Rebounds—San Francisco 43 (Wiggins Jr. 11), Wyoming 41 (Taylor 14). Assists—San Francisco 8 (Surratt 3), Wyoming 11 (Ewing, Jones, Spencer 3). Total Fouls—San Francisco 22, Wyoming 22.

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.