Ryan Kalkbrenner single-handedly saved the Bluejays in their season opener on Wednesday night.

Kalkbrenner dropped a career-high 49 points to beat No. 15 Creighton UT-Rio Grande Valley 99-86 at the CHI Health Center in Omaha. In the end, he fell just two points shy of Creighton's single-game record set in 1967, and he became the first player in Big East history to drop 40 points or more in a season opener.

The 7-foot-1 center also shot a near-perfect 20 of 22 from the field and was 7 of 8 from the free throw line with two 3-pointers. The Bluejays and even coach Greg McDermott all tried to get him to do so on their last few to score one last time on a few possessions to also reach the 50-point mark, but Kalkbrenner didn't seem interested.

The last player to make 20 field goals at 90% or better in a Division I game was Bill Walton, who did so in the 1973 national championship game with UCLA.

“Talk about a statement … He’s one of the best players to ever play here,” McDermott said. via Jon Walker of the Omaha World Herald.

However, without a record performance from Kalkbrenner, McDermott's group would have been in trouble. The Vaqueros stuck with Creighton throughout, scoring 48 points in the second half to keep the game within single digits the entire way.

Steven Ashworth was the only other Creighton starter to score in double figures. He added 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, with 17 of his points coming from the free throw line. They were without Pop Isaacs, who transferred from Texas Tech, on Wednesday night. Isaacs is recovering from a hip injury and wasn't quite ready to play. He averaged 15.8 points per game with the Red Raiders last season.

Hasan Abdul Hakim led the Vaqueros with 26 points and 11 rebounds, and both Cliff Davis and DK Thorn added 17 points each. UT-Rio Grande Valley went just 6-25 last season, reaching the WAC finals before making the jump to the Southland Conference this season under new head coach Khalil Fennell.

Kalkbrenner, a three-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year, announced in May that he would return to Creighton for his final season of eligibility. Last season, he averaged 17.3 points and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting nearly 65% ​​from the field. He also had a total of 107 blocks, which was the second highest production in the country. Kalkbrenner also played a big role in Creighton's back-to-back runs to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, despite being eliminated in the Sweet 16 last season.

Creighton is back in action on Sunday against Fairleigh Dickinson (5 p.m. ET, FS1). The Bluejays will face No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 1 Kansas and No. 2 Alabama in a tough nonconference schedule before Big East play begins in December. Conference play will likely be a three-team battle with No. 18 Marquette and two-time reigning national champion No. 3 UConn. Kalkbrenner will undoubtedly play a big role in Creighton's quest to win its first conference title since 2020. To get there, however, the Bluejays will need a much more balanced attack. Otherwise they could get into trouble.