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Long ball helps Creighton rout No. 4 Villanova

Jan 21, 2014 - 4:12 AM Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Ethan Wragge netted a career-high 27 points, Doug McDermott scored 23 and unranked Creighton shocked No. 4 Villanova with a 96-68 drubbing on Monday.

Wragge hit 9-of-14 from behind the arc, matching Kyle Korver's school record for 3-pointers in a game set in 2003, as Creighton (16-3, 6-1 Big East broke a conference record with 21 treys in the rout.

"It was a start like I've never seen before," said Creighton head coach Greg McDermott," but I can't say I'm surprised because I've seen it in practice. I've seen this kid do this before and I've said to a lot of people I think he's as good a shooter as there is in the country. Now I think people may believe me."

This was Creighton's third win over a top-5 team in program history

McDermott added five triples and Jahennis Manigat had four en route to a career-best 19 points for the Bluejays, who came back stronger than ever after their first conference loss on Saturday at Providence. Austin Chatman had 10 assists in the triumph.

James Bell paced Villanova (16-2, 5-1) with 19 points, while JayVaughn Pinkston and Darrun Hilliard contributed 11 and 10, respectfully.

Creighton got off to, quite literally, the perfect start. The Bluejays led 21-5 at the first media timeout after hitting seven 3-pointers without a miss, including five from Wragge. Wragge hit the first two outside shots of the game for a 6-0 lead. Manigat then joined the action with a trey from the right wing, McDermott hit his try from the left wing and Wragge added three more, two of which were from well beyond NBA range.

"They were outstanding," said Villanova coach Jay Wright. "They were really on top of their game. Getting behind the team like that, the way they moved the ball and with their quickness, was really tough to overcome."

The onslaught continued out of the break, with McDermott assisting on two more Wragge 3-pointers. Pinkston then scored four in a row to make it 27-12, but Creighton wasn't finished. McDermott potted another 3, then hit a fadeaway jumper before Manigat canned his second 3-ball of the contest for a 35-14 edge less than nine minutes in.

The lead ballooned to 47-19 before Ryan Arcidiacono's 3-pointer capped a 13-0 Villanova run. Wragge's eighth triple halted the surge, but the Wildcats scored nine of the final 13 points of the half as Hilliard's running layup as the buzzer sounded cut Nova's deficit to 54-41 at the break.

The second half was dominated by the visiting Bluejays. Manigat's make from long range just over four minutes in sparked a 14-0 surge to seal the outcome midway through the period. Chatman's heave from distance made it 74-45.

Creighton's advantage reached 40 points on Wragge's backdoor alley-oop for Will Artino with 6:35 to play.

Game Notes

Creighton had lost the previous three meetings with Villanova, the last of which occurred in 1952 ... McDermott has scored at least 19 points in 18 of 19 games this season ... Wragge has made at least two 3-pointers in all but one game this season ... Creighton improved to 25-1 when Manigat hits three-or- more triples, and 39-3 when he has three or more assists ... The Bluejays scored 1.45 points per possession, the most in a "major" conference game since Syracuse had 1.50 PPP against DePaul on March 5, 2011.