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McDermott paces Creighton over Houston Baptist

Dec 18, 2011 - 4:24 AM Omaha, NE (Sports Network) - Doug McDermott scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed six rebounds, leading No, 25 Creighton to a 97-62 thrashing of Houston Baptist on Saturday night.

Gregory Echenique netted 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to go with five blocks, while Ethan Wragge added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Bluejays (8-1), who bounced back from an 80-71 defeat at the hands of Saint Joseph's last Saturday.

"I thought we competed hard and beat them to spots," Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said. "Obviously Gregory's aggressiveness was apparent. It was plain to see that he was impacting the game on both ends of the floor."

Art Bernardi paced the Huskies (4-7) with 16 points, while Anthony Hill added 16 points on 6-of-10 from the floor. Houston Baptist had its two-game winning streak halted.

Creighton began the game with a 10-0 run before a free throw by Hill got Houston Baptist on the board 4 1/2 minutes into the game.

Creighton then used a 18-5 run over the next nine-plus minutes of action to take a commanding 28-6 lead. The Bluejays continued to pour it on and a pair of free throws by Wragge put them up 37-10 with just over three minutes to go in the opening half.

Creighton took a very comfortable 46-23 lead into the break.

The Bluejays scored 12 straight points early in the second half to go up 58-25, before Hill put in a layup.

Creighton never trailed in the game and led by as many as 39 points with 10:37 to go in regulation. The result was never in doubt for the Bluejays.

Creighton shot 45.6 percent from the field and dominated Houston Baptist on the glass, outrebounding them, 56-36.

Game Notes

Creighton has won all three of its meetings with Houston Baptist...Creighton poured in 22 second-chance points, to only six for the Huskies...The Bluejays turned 19 Houston Baptist turnovers into 26 points...Creighton dominated inside, scoring 44 points in the paint to only 26 for Houston Baptist.