No. 23 Creighton 71, Evansville 68: Doug McDermott tallied 21 points and 10 rebounds as the visiting Bluejays overcame a huge first-half deficit and snapped a three-game losing streak.
Austin Chatman added 12 points and was the only other player to score in double figures for Creighton (21-6, 10-5 Missouri Valley), which won for only the second time in its last six road contests.
Ned Cox had 18 points to lead Evansville (14-13, 7-8), which fell to 12-3 at home this season. Colt Ryan recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 10 assists.
The Purple Aces connected on their first six field goal attempts to race out to a 14-3 advantage less than four minutes into the contest. Creighton closed the gap to 16-15 with 12:48 left in the first half, but Evansville rolled off 15 unanswered points and established a 31-15 cushion.
The Bluejays managed to rally within five points by intermission, took their first lead with 16:28 remaining and extended the margin to 65-56 on a layup by McDermott. The Purple Aces rallied, cutting the deficit to one twice over the last 1:55, but four free throws by Creighton in the final 1:02 preserved the win.
GAME NOTEBOOK: McDermott became the first junior in conference history to surpass 2,000 career points. ... Ryan saw his five-game streak of scoring at least 21 points come to an end. … Creighton has won nine of its last 10 meetings against Evansville.
Creighton | Evansville | |
Doug McDermott 21 | Scoring | Ned Cox 18 |
Grant Gibbs 6 | Assists | Colt Ryan 10 |
Doug McDermott 10 | Rebounds | Egidijus Mockevicius 8 |
Doug McDermott 6 | Free Throws Made | Colt Ryan 7 |
Gregory Echenique 1 | Steals | Ned Cox 1 |
Will Artino 1 | Blocks | Egidijus Mockevicius 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Creighton | 71 | 52.2 | 9-18 | 14-17 | 17 | 24 | 1 | 3 | 11 |
Evansville | 68 | 40.0 | 9-21 | 11-15 | 17 | 34 | 1 | 4 | 11 |