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McDermott scores 30 to power Creighton past Louisiana

Mar 21, 2014 - 11:39 PM San Antonio, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Doug McDermott had 30 points on 13-of-23 shooting and the third-seeded Creighton Bluejays held off the 14th-seeded Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, 76-66, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

McDermott, the nation's leading scorer, also pulled down 12 rebounds for the Bluejays (27-7), who are making their 19th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Austin Chatman and Ethan Wragge added 16 and 12 points, respectively.

Creighton, which lost to Duke in the Round of 32 last year, will face sixth- seeded Baylor in the third round on Sunday. The Bears beat 11th-seeded Nebraska, 74-60, earlier Friday.

"It feels great to be back in this position," McDermott said. "We've been in this position, this will be our third straight year where we've gotten to this game. We failed the last two years to get past this round. It's what I came back for."

Elfrid Payton ended with 24 points and eight boards for the Cajuns (23-12), who won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. Shawn Long donated 15 points and seven boards.

"I think I did a good job keeping him uncomfortable," Payton said of guarding McDermott. "To his credit, he made some plays down the stretch, a big three and a tough two he made. As far as on the other end, it kind of affected me having to run around so much on the other end, but no excuses."

Louisiana used a 9-0 run to grab a 50-46 lead with 12:15 to play, but the Bluejays scored the next 10 points. Wragge made a pair of 3-pointers before Grant Gibbs drained two free throws to make it a 56-50 contest.

The Cajuns got within three twice before Creighton pulled away. Wragge made another 3-pointer with 5:21 remaining to spark a 9-4 spurt. Chatman capped the flurry with a trey to make it 68-60.

After Louisiana cut the gap to four, McDermott scored five straight points to put the game out of reach.

Trailing 17-13 with 11:53 left in the first half, the Bluejays went on a 16-3 run. McDermott tallied 11 points during the burst that Avery Dingman capped with a layup for a 29-20 edge.

Creighton took a 39-33 lead into the locker room.

Game Notes

Creighton leads the all-time series by a 3-2 margin ... The Bluejays improved to 12-19 in the NCAA Tournament ... Louisiana hadn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2000 ... Creighton shot 51.9 percent from the floor and went 9-of-23 from beyond the arc.