Creighton University
UAB
Men's Basketball Takes 70-60 Road Win at UAB
11/16/2011 9:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Doug McDermott had 27 points and Creighton snapped UAB's 38-game non-conference regular-season home win streak with a 70-60 victory at Bartow Arena on Wednesday night.
Creighton improved to 3-0 for the 12th time in 14 seasons, while UAB dropped its season opener for the first time since 2001.
The first half was tightly contested before Creighton's defense prevented UAB from feeding the paint. The Jays, who at one point trailed 19-13, closed the first half by holding the Blazers without a field goal over the 11:21. Doug McDermott spearheaded the run with eight of CU's points in the 19-6 run to close the half on a dizzying array of post moves, pump fakes and putbacks.
The Jays owned a 24-14 scoring advantage in the paint in the opening half while also outrebounding the Blazers, 19-17. McDermott led CU with 13 points and five rebounds at intermission.
UAB turned over the ball in two of its first three possessions of the second half and CU capitalized with two Jahenns Manigat free throws and a McDermott thre-pointer. UAB ended its long drought without a hoop at just over 13:30 when Jekore Tyler scored the first of four straight field goals that got UAB within six points.
The Blazers continued their furious run, moving ahead 42-41 with 13:05 left after Tyler hit both free throws after a steal. The Jays answered with a Grant Gibbs drive to go ahead by one, and could have made it three but missed a dunk in transition the following possession. UAB snared the long rebound and got its own fast break, and Preston Purifoy drained a trey to put the Blazers up 47-45 and get the crowd roaring.
Down 48-44, Creighton responded with the subsequent six points. Antoine Young had two free throws, Gregory Echenique scored inside, and the Jays took the lead when Austin Chatman drove into the land of giants and scooped in a lay-up, making it 50-48 with 8:09 remaining.
Creighton went ahead 53-50 with 5:09 to go on a pull-up three-pointer by Grant Gibbs, then extended its lead to 57-52 on a dunk in transition by Echenique. The Jays made it 59-52 on two McDermott free throws, then pushed the margin to 62-52 on McDermott's dagger trey with 3:11 left.
But UAB got no closer than five points the rest of the way, as Creighton earned its first non-conference true road win since 2008.
McDermott led Creighton with 27 points and added seven rebounds. Young scored nine of his 13 points after halftime. Echenique had eight points and 10 rebounds, while Gibbs had five pionts, seven assists and seven rebounds without a turnover. CU shot 42.9 percent from the floor, including 5-of-17 from long range, while making 11-of-19 (57.9 percent) at the line. Creighton won the glass 41-35 and outscored UAB 40-28 in the paint.
UAB was paced by 14 points each from Jordan Swing and Tyler, while Ovie Soko had 10 points and eight rebounds. Cameron Moore, preseason Conference USA Player of the Year, had seven points, 12 rebounds and a career-high seven blocked shots. The Blazers shot 41.8 percent from the field and 9-of-15 at the line.
Creighton will resume play in the Dale Howard Classic on Sunday with a 3 pm game vs. Iowa. The contest will be held at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa and be televised on the Big Ten Network.
NOTES: This was the first meeting between Creighton and UAB ... Creighton debuted its new road uniforms, which are still primarily blue with white and silver trim ... Grant Gibbs was the first Creighton player with at least five points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the same game since Kyle Korver on Feb. 1, 2003.
