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Creighton advances to MVC final

Mar 4, 2012 - 4:01 AM St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Gregory Echenique scored a game-high 20 points to lead five Bluejays in double figures, and No. 25 Creighton rolled over Evansville, 99-71, in a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinal.

Doug McDermott netted 14 points, Antoine Young contributed 13 and Josh Jones had 12 for the Bluejays (27-5), who will face Illinois State in Sunday's final. Will Artino rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points.

"Today we dominated the game," said Creighton head coach Greg McDermott. "Tomorrow we have an opportunity [to win the conference championship], and we're going with great momentum. Today's win means a lot to us."

Kenny Harris paced the Purple Aces (16-15) with 17 points, and Colt Ryan added 13 in defeat.

Creighton scored the game's first seven points, but Evansville responded with the next 10, and held a 16-14 lead at the 12:22 mark of the first half.

Avery Dingman's three-pointer put the Bluejays back on top, sparking an 19-5 spurt to put Creighton up 12.

Ryan and Troy Taylor made baskets on consecutive possessions to cut UE's deficit to single digits, but CU scored the next five and 16 of the half's final 21 to take a 49-30 advantage into the locker room.

The Bluejays led by as many as 30 in the second half.

Game Notes

Creighton shot 60.4 percent (32-of-53) from the field and 52.2 percent (12- of-23) from beyond the arc...Ryan, Echenique, and Artino each received technical fouls...McDermott's 14 points made his season total 732. With seven points on Sunday, he can break Creighton's single-season points record, set in 1967-68 by Bob Portman.