No. 12 Creighton 87, Evansville 70: Doug McDermott had 29 points and 10 rebounds and the Bluejays won their Missouri Valley Conference opener comfortably over the visiting Purple Aces.
Evansville, which lost despite a triple-double from senior guard Troy Taylor, jumped on top 2-0 but the lead didn't last long as Creighton answered with a 19-3 run to take control. The Purple Aces scored six of the first nine points of the second half to pull within eight but could never get any closer.
Gregory Echenique notched his third double-double in five games, finishing with 13 points and 13 rebounds, as Creighton (12-1) outboarded Evansville 43-23.
Guard Avery Dingman finished with 11 points and seven boards for the Bluejays.
Evansville (7-6) was paced by Colt Ryan's 25 points while Taylor finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple-double.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Evansville dropped to 2-6 when being outrebounded this season. The Aces are 5-0 when outboarding their opponent. … Creighton shot 50 percent from 3-point range, hitting 12 of 24 attempts. … The Purple Aces play their first conference home game of the season Wednesday when they host Missouri State. The Bluejays hit the road to take on Illinois State in their next game Wednesday.
Evansville | Creighton | |
Colt Ryan 25 | Scoring | Doug McDermott 29 |
Troy Taylor 10 | Assists | Austin Chatman 8 |
Troy Taylor 10 | Rebounds | Gregory Echenique 13 |
Colt Ryan 6 | Free Throws Made | Doug McDermott 10 |
Troy Taylor 2 | Steals | Jahenns Manigat 2 |
Troy Taylor 1 | Blocks | Gregory Echenique 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Evansville | 70 | 43.1 | 3-14 | 11-11 | 17 | 23 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
Creighton | 87 | 49.2 | 12-24 | 15-19 | 18 | 43 | 3 | 4 | 13 |