No. 15 Creighton 71, North Texas 51: Doug McDermott had 21 points and 11 rebounds as the host Bluejays opened with a convincing victory against the Mean Green.

McDermott, a preseason All-American and the nation’s third-leading scorer last season, scored 12 points in the first half, when Creighton (1-0) built a 14-point lead. Austin Chatman contributed 11 points and Avery Dingman had 10 for the Bluejays.

Tony Mitchell, the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year last season for North Texas, scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

The score was tied 13-13 midway through the first half when Creighton senior center Gregory Echenique made a jump shot to spark a 16-6 run.

North Texas (0-1) cut the deficit back to single digits once more in the half, but the Bluejays closed on a 10-4 surge to go up 39-25.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Creighton drew 17,139, the largest crowd to watch a home opener. … The Bluejays were ranked No. 222 in the nation in defensive field-goal percentage last season, but limited North Texas to 22-for-69 (31.9 percent). … North Texas coach Tony Benford made his head coaching debut after leading Marquette to the Sweet 16 the last two seasons as the associate head coach.