Creighton University
Southern Illinois
MVC Record Shooting Lifts Men's Hoops Over SIU
2/14/2012 9:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Creighton snapped a three-game losing streak by putting on a shooting clinic in Tuesday night's 88-69 win at Southern Illinois on Tuesday. The Jays torched the nets to the tune of a 77.5 percent mark from the field, breaking a 28-year-old MVC record, and were also 85.7 percent (12-14) from downtown.
With Doug McDermott sidelined by two fouls in the first 10 minutes of the game, Creighton used its long-range proficiency to build a 39-30 halftime lead. Jahenns Manigat, who came in mired in a 2-for-12 slump his previous three games, made his first three three-point attempts to score nine points. Likewise, Ethan Wragge was 3-for-4 from downtown to score nine points at half, while Antoine Young had a game-high 12 at the break. Creighton shot 75 percent in the first half, and were 6-of-7 from deep.
Creighton (22-5, 12-4 MVC) went inside to start the second half, and it paid off. McDermott scored CU's first seven points and Echenique the next four as part of an 11-6 surge that handed the Jays their largest lead to date at 50-36.
The reserves then checked in and joined the offensive party, as Josh Jones and Wragge each sank triples to put CU up 60-45 at the 11:57 mark, and CU's lead stayed in double-figures the rest of the night.
Five men scored in double-figures for Creighton, a group paced by McDermott's 18 points on 7-of-7 shooting. Manigat had 17 points on 5-of-6 marksmanship from downtown, while Wragge had 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from deep as well. Also finishing wiht 15 were Gregory Echenique and Young.
Creighton's 77.5 percent shooting broke the previous Valley standard of 74.5 percent (38-51) by Bradley vs. West Texas State on Jan. 28, 1984.
Creighton outrebounded SIU 33-16 for the game and dished 21 assists on 31 buckets.
SIU was led by 16 points from Mamadou Seck, who made 8-of-14 shots. The Jays made 50 percent from the field, but were just 2-of-10 at the line.
Creighton will take a break from MVC play on Saturday night when it hosts Long Beach State in a Sears BracketBusters game. Tip-off on ESPN2 is scheduled for 9:00 pm from CenturyLink Center Omaha.
NOTES: Creighton's 75 percent marksmanship from the field in the first half was a season-best for any half ...After Indiana State made 12-of-12 three-pointers vs. SIU on Saturday to set an NCAA record, Creighton made 6-of-7 shots from deep in the first half ...Doug McDermott became the 10th different player in Creighton history with 600 points or more in a season, and just the ninth sophomore in MVC history with 600 points or more ...Creighton snapped a three-game losing streak, avoding its first four-game skid in MVC play since 1995 ...Creighton is now 2-0 all-time against Southern Illinois on Valentine's Day. Both games took place in Carbondale ...Creighton has won four straight games in Carbondale for just the second time ever ...Creighton has won nine straight games against Southern Illinois ...Creighton won road games against Bradley, Illinois State and Southern Illinois in the same season for the first time ever in 29 tries ...Creighton improved to 8-0 vs. teams from Illinois this season and is searching for its first season without a loss to an Illinois team since 1973-74 ...Creighton improved to 9-3 in true road games this year ...Since the 2002 MVC Tournament final, Creighton is 11-0 when scoring 70 points or more, but 2-10 when scoring less than 70 against SIU ... ...Doug McDermott moved into ninth place for field goals in a season with 241, which is also the most in a season by any Bluejay since 1990 ...Each of Creighton's previous two trips to Carbondale were overtime victories ...Southern Illinois is 0-15 when trailing at half this season ...Creighton's shooting was also tied for the 20th-best mark in NCAA history and the top mark in the country this year.
