OMAHA, Neb. -- Creighton turned to its defense Saturday night to preserve its undefeated season with a 66-65 win over Oral Roberts.

The No. 10-ranked Bluejays, best known for their prolific offense, needed several key stops in the final two minutes to escape with their 11th win of the season before an announced crowd of 16,489 at CenturyLink Center.

Oral Roberts led 65-60 following a 3-pointer by Albert Owens with 6:08 remaining in the game. Those were the final points the Golden Eagles (2-10) would score.

A layup and dunk by 7-foot redshirt freshman Justin Patton got the Bluejays within 65-64 before Marcus Patton (team-leading 22 points) made a jumper from the top of the key to give Creighton a lead it wouldn't lose.

Maurice Watson added 13 points and 10 assists for the Bluejays while Patton finished with 10 points and tied Marcus Foster for team-high honors in rebounds with six.

Owens led all scorers with 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting. Nebraska native Jalen Bradley added 16 points for the Golden Eagles.

"I'm not shocked that it was a close game," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. "I've been coaching a long time, and I've yet to experience a good week of practice during finals week, and this week fell right in line with the others."

This game was the first the Bluejays have shot below 50 percent from the field. They made 28 of their 58 field goals (48.3 percent) and scored on just six of their final 29 possessions but still managed to squeak out the win.

Oral Roberts coach Scott Sutton said the Golden Eagles had plenty of quality chances to put the game away in those final six minutes, but just couldn't finish.

"To beat a team like this on the road, you have to step up and make plays," Sutton said. "The last five or six minutes offensively we had some really good looks. You've just got to make them if you're going to be a team that's ranked in the Top 10 on the road."

It took just 50 seconds for Creighton to flash its fast-pace style and race to a 6-0 lead before the Golden Eagles could get a shot. Thomas fit a layup off a steal between a pair of baskets by Foster.

Oral Roberts wasn't intimidated, bouncing back to cut the lead to 6-5 before the Bluejays got rolling again and upped their lead to 19-9. The closest the Golden Eagles got in the final 12 minutes before halftime was 21-18.

Foster led the way with 16 points before intermission to lead Creighton to a 45-38 halftime advantage. Watson added nine points and six assists.

The Golden Eagles didn't back down coming out of halftime as Kris Martin - who had 10 points in the first half - hit a 3-pointer from the left side to get Oral Roberts within four at 45-41.

Creighton ran off nine unanswered points to go up 54-41 but the Golden Eagles didn't back down. Oral Roberts went on a 12-2 run to pull within 56-53 eight minutes into the second half.

Bradley led the charge with six of those points.

A 3-pointer from the left side by Darian Harris got Oral Roberts within two at 58-56 before a layup by Owens tied the game at 58 for the first time since the opening tip-off.

Another layup by Harris with 8:54 remaining in regulation gave the Golden Eagles their first lead at 60-58, then a tip-in by Harris two minutes later put ORU up 62-60. Harris surprised even himself with a 3-pointer from the left wing that went in after if caromed off the backboard.

Creighton lost its shooting touch through the first 15 minutes of the second half, making just 7 of 21 after an 18-of-31 performance in the first half before rallying for the win.

NOTES: Oral Roberts head coach Scott Sutton is the son of former Creighton head coach Eddie Sutton. Creighton was the first of four schools Eddie Sutton led to the NCAA tournament; Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma State were the other three. In the 1974 tournament, Sutton's Bluejays fell 55-54 to No. 14 Kansas before defeating No. 16 Louisville 80-71 at Oral Roberts' Mabee Center. Scott Sutton was born in Omaha on June 3, 1970. ... This was the first of two trips this season to Omaha for the Golden Eagles. Oral Roberts returns to Omaha Feb. 16 to play the University of Nebraska-Omaha in a Summit League game. ... Creighton has won 97 straight home contests against teams that entered the game with a record of .500 or below.