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McDermott plays hero as Creighton nips St. John's

Jan 29, 2014 - 4:49 AM Omaha, NE (SportsNetwork.com) - Doug McDermott's 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left lifted No. 20 Creighton to a 63-60 win over St. John's at CenturyLink Center Omaha.

The Red Storm (12-9, 2-6 Big East) rallied from 18 down to tie the game at 58-58 with 1:22 left on a JaKarr Sampson layup. Ethan Wragge then found McDermott on the right side on the other end and McDermott dribbled past his defender and got a tough left-handed floater to fall to give the Bluejays (18-3, 8-1) a 60-58 edge.

St. John's freshman Rysheed Jordan was called for a charge at the other end, but another tough shot from McDermott drew iron, and Jefferson was fouled away from the basket.

Jordan calmly converted a pair of free throws with 11.1 seconds showing to knot things up yet again.

McDermott was wide open from well behind 3-point line at the top of the key and buried the game-winner.

Phil Greene IV launched a desperation heave from halfcourt at the buzzer, but it was nowhere near the rim as Creighton held on.

McDermott, who went 5-for-9 from 3-point range, finished with a season-high 39 points. He was the only player in double figures for Creighton, winners in three straight.

"I don't spend much time thinking about that, don't think Doug does either," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said of Doug McDermott's national player of the year consideration. "He came back for a reason, he wanted to accomplish something with these guys. This will be a night he will never forget.

"He's made strides, he continues to improve. He's made strides defensively. I'll have to fight him a little to make sure he gets rest for this stretch run."

D'Angelo Harrison scored 15 points, while Jordan and Chris Obekpa scored 11 points apiece for St. John's, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.

The Bluejays outscored the Red Storm 19-5 over the first eight minutes of the second half to build a 48-30 lead. St. John's went a dismal 1-of-11 from the field over that stretch.

Harrison's layup with 10:42 left ignited a 22-8 run to make it a two possession game, 56-52, with just 3:22 left. Harrison scored 11 points on the run on 4-of-4 shooting from the field.

Jahenns Manigat's layup made it 58-52 moments later, but St. John's scored six unanswered points to tie the game at 58-58.

Creighton used a 16-4 run to take a 20-10 lead with 9:33 left in the first half. Max Hooper and Obekpa hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it a six-point game, but the Bluejays stretched the lead back to nine, 27-18 on McDermott's 3-pointer at the 4:59 mark.

St. John's closed the half on a 7-2 run to make it 29-25 at the break.

Game Notes

McDermott has seven games this season with at least 30 points ... McDermott's career-high is 41 points ... Creighton committed a season-high 17 turnovers leading to 21 St. John's points ... The Bluejays have not trailed at home in the second half this season ... Sampson scored 10 points and pulled down six rebounds ... Jordan and Harrison had three steals apiece.