Creighton University
Tulsa
Men's Basketball Blows Out Hurricanes, 83-64
12/19/2011 9:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball
TULSA, Okla. -- Doug McDermott had his ninth straight game of 20 or more points, this time a career-high 35, to lead Creighton to an impressive 83-64 road win at Tulsa on Monday evening. McDermott's 35 points tied a Reynolds Center record for points by a Tulsa opponent with Appalachian State's Omar Carter last season.
Ranked 23rd in the Associated Press poll and 21st by the coaches, Creighton improved to 9-1 with the win. Tulsa dropped to 5-7, including an 0-3 mark against MVC foes this winter.
Creighton fell behind 5-4 in the opening minutes before a 10-0 run that included scores from four different men. The Golden Hurricane would storm back to take their second lead of the game at 20-19, only to have CU reel off the next eight points to move up 25-20 with 8:20 left in the first half. With Gregory Echenique and Ethan Wragge on the bench with two fouls, freshman center Will Artino came up big, scoring five points and blocking a shot as Creighton went ahead 36-26.
McDermott dominated down low during the final four minutes of the half, scoring on five lay-ups and hook shots to give CU a 42-34 lead at the break. McDermott had 19 points in the first half, and was joined in double-figures by 10 points from teammate Antoine Young. Tim Peete led TU with nine points in the first half.
Creighton wasted no time getting the ball inside to start the secodd half, as Echenique provided all the scoring during CU's 9-0 run that extended its lead to 51-34. The Bluejay lead reached 20 for the first time at 57-37 on a McDermott lay-up with 14:08 to go.
McDermott had 16 of Creighton's next 20 points to put him past his previous best of 31 points, done once last year and earlier this season vs. Campbell.
The Golden Hurricane chipped away at CU's lead, drawing within 75-64 with 2:10 left, but Grant Gibbs scored the next four points as part of a game-ending 8-0 spurt to lift the Jays to victory.
McDermott had 35 points and seven rebounds, making 16-of-23 shots from the floor. Young had 14 poins and a career-high five steals, while Grant Gibbs had nine points and a career-high 10 assists. Creighton dominated the paint 46-26 and outrebounded Tulsa, 37-29.
Tulsa was paced by 14 points from Jordan Clarkson, while Peete finished with a dozen.
NOTES: This was the 76th all-time meeting in the series, but first since the teams met in Tulsa exactly 11 years ago ...Doug McDermott had his ninth straight game of 20 or more points, Creighton's longest streak in at least 30 years ...Antoine Young had five steals, a career-high and the most by any Bluejay since December of 2008 ...Creighton won the rebound battle, 37-29, against a Tulsa team that was outrebounding foes by an average of 7.9 caroms per contest ...Doug McDermott's 35 points were the most by a Bluejay since Cavel Witter had 42 vs. Bradley on March 1, 2008 ...Tulsa has lost 19 straight games against ranked teams since beating No. 16 Dayton on March 20, 2003 ...Creighton improved to 3-1 in true road games this year ...Creighton beat two Conference USA teams in the same season for the first time ever ...Ethan Wragge made his 100th career three-pointer.
