Creighton University
Southern Illinois
Men's Hoops Beats SIU For Sixth Straight Win
1/15/2012 8:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. -- Sophomore Doug McDermott had 25 points and 11 rebounds while surpassing 1,000 career points as the No. 23 Creighton men's basketball team defeated Southern Illinois, 90-71, on Sunday night. McDermott leads all active sophomores nationally with 1,018 career points.
Creighton improved to 16-2 on the year and is tied for first in the MVC with a 6-1 mark, while Southern Illinois dropped to 6-12 (3-4 MVC).
The host Bluejays never trailed in the game and used a steady diet of free throws to take control. CU made 20-of-22 foul shots in the opening half, maintaining a double-figure lead over the final eight minutes.
Creighton led 48-36 at the half, then withstood a Saluki rally early in the second half as the lead dipped to 59-55 with 12:38 left.
But Josh Jones ended SIU's rally with two free throws to start a 6-0 rally that ended with a powerful Gregory Echenique slam off a pretty feed from Antoine Young. CU's lead reached as large as 23 in the final two minutes before settling for a 19-point margin of victory.
In addition to McDermott's 25 points, Antoine Young had 14 points and six assists while Grant Gibbs added 10 points and five rebounds. Echenique also had his fourth straight game with 10 or more rebounds, tying McDermott for game-high honors with 11. Creighton, which entered the day ranked second nationally in both field goal percentage and three-point percentage, once again shot well. CU made 55.1 percent of its field goals and 44.4 percent from downtown, in addition to sinking 28-of-34 free throws.
T.J. Lindsay led SIU with 13 points. He was joined in double-figures by Jeff Early (11) and Mamadou Seck (10). The Salukis shot 41.2 percent from the floor, 28.6 percent from three-point range and 57.9 percent in 18 free throw attempts.
Creighton returns to the road for a Wednesday night game at defending MVC regular-season champion Missouri State. The contest will begin at 7:05 pm at JQH Arena.
NOTES: Doug McDermott is the 36th player in Creighton history to score 1,000 or more points, reaching the milestone in his 57th career game on a basket that made it 31-18 late in the first half. By comparison, CU's all-time leading scorer, Rodney Buford, reached the mark in his 59th contest ...Creighton improved to 56-0 all-time at CenturyLink Center Omaha against teams with a record of .500 or worse, and has won its last 66 home games versus teams .500 or worse ...Creighton is now 16-0 all-time at CenturyLink Center Omaha in games televised by NET Sports ...Creighton has won eight games in a row against Southern Illinois for the first time ...Creighton improved to 9-0 all-time in Sunday games that start after 4 pm at CenturyLink Center Omaha, including a 3-0 record vs. Southern Illinois ...Creighton has won at least 16 of its first 18 games for the fourth time in program history (also 2003-04, 2002-03 and 1921-22) ...Since the 2002 MVC Tournament final, Creighton is 10-0 against Southern Illinois when scoring 70 points or more ...Doug McDermott owns 14 games of 20 or more points this season ...Grant Gibbs threw down his first dunk of the season in the first half.
