Creighton University
Illinois State
Men's Basketball Routs Redbirds, 75-59
2/16/2011 9:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. -- Josh Jones was 6-for-6 from the field and scored a career-high 15 points as Creighton defeated Illinois State, 75-59, on Wednesday night before 14,702 fans at Qwest Center Omaha.
Creighton improved to 17-9 on the season and moved into sole possession of fifth place with a 9-7 Missouri Valley Conference mark. Illinois State lost its fifth straight to fall to 11-16 on the season and is 3-13 in league action.
Creighton and Illinois State exchanged the lead 12 times in a closely contested first half before CU pulled away with a 9-0 run in the final five minutes. Jones had eight points in 10 minutes off the bench, while Kaleb Korver scored six points including a buzzer-beating trey. Creighton shot 60 percent in the first half, while ISU shot 35.7 percent. All 25 of ISU's points came from its backcourt in the first half, including eight from Justin Clark and seven each by Austin Hill and Anthony Cousin.After five points by CU's Antoine Young to start the second half, ISU scored the next six during a five-minute Bluejay drought to get within 37-31. But the Jays scored the next four points and gradually pulled away, leading by as much as 19 points in the final 75 seconds.
Creighton shot 62.8 percent for the day, hitting 27-of-43 attempts from the field. That included 10-of-18 marksmanship from downtown (55.6 percent) and 11-of-14 at the line (78.6 percent). Doug McDermott led Creighton with 18 points and six rebounds, while Jones made all six of his attempts to score a career-high 15. Also in double-figures with 11 points was Young.
ISU was paced by a career-high 27 points by Hill, including 20 after intermission. Also in double-figures with 12 points was Clark. ISU shot 41.8 percent from the floor, 5-of-11 from downtown and was 8-of-12 from the line.
Creighton will step out of Missouri Valley Conference play to participate in the ninth annual Sears BracketBusters on Saturday, when it visits Akron for a 6 pm (Central) game. The game will not be televised, but can be heard on KXSP (AM 590 - Omaha's ESPN Radio). Illinois State will play Western Michigan on Saturday.NOTES: Creighton swept the season series with Illinois State for the first time since 2003-04 ... Creighton improved to 15-0 all-time at Qwest Center Omaha on games televised by NET Sports ... Creighton's win was its second in a row, the first it has won consecutive games since Jan. 7-9 ... Creighton improved to 52-0 all-time at Qwest Center Omaha against teams that enter with a record of .500 or worse ... Greg McDermott improved to 17-11, tied for second-most wins in Creighton history by a first-year coach with Thomas E. Mills (17-3 in 1916-17). Only Tom Apke (20-7 in 1974-75) has more ... Jackie Carmichael, who entered the night leading Illinois State in scoring (9.9 ppg.), did not make the trip ... Austin Hill was whistled for a technical foul with 15:43 left in the first half for taunting ... Austin Hill had 16 straight points for ISU in the second half at one point ... Jon Ekey set an ISU record for blocked shots by a freshman with one rejection ... The teams tied the rebounding battle at 26 all ... Creighton's 62.8 percent shooting from the floor was a season-high ... Illinois State has failed to score 60 points in each of its last five games, all losses ... Doug McDermott's streak of 14 straight games with seven or more rebounds was snapped, as he had six boards. Ironically both MVC games of fewer than seven have come vs. Illinois State. His streak had been the fifth-longest active streak nationally ... With 18 points, Doug McDermott now has 403 points and 215 rebounds. He is just the third player in MVC history on record with more than 400 points and 200 rebounds as a freshman, joining Cleo Littleton (1951-52) and Cliff Levingston (1979-80) ... Greg McDermott's 17 wins are tied for third-most nationally among first-year coaches, trailing only Tim Floyd (UTEP) and Hofstra's Mo Cassara ... Doug McDermott grabbed six rebounds and now has 129 at home this season, most in a single-season in Qwest Center Omaha history. His 45 offensive rebounds tie a Qwest Center Omaha single-season record.
