Creighton Races To CBI Semifinals With 102-92 Win

box score

OMAHA, Neb. – Doug McDermott had a career-high 31 points and Josh Jones a career-best 21 points as Creighton topped Davidson, 102-92, in the highest-scoring game in the four-year history of the College Basketball Invitational, presented by Zebra Pen.

With the win, Creighton (21-14) advances to the semifinals of the CBI, and will host UCF (21-11) on Wednesday night at 7 pm Central. Davidson sees its season end with an 18-15 mark.

The teams lit up the scoreboard to the tune of 99 points in the first half, with Davidson owning a 50-49 lead at intermission. McDermott had 21 points for the Jays in the first half, while Antoine Young added 13 points and five assists. Davidson got 12 points off the bench from De'mon Brooks, while three other starters had nine points each. Davidson shot 57.6 percent from the field, including 6-of-13 from downtown, while the Jays were 53.1 percent and 2-of-6 from deep.

Creighton led 72-64 at the midpoint of the second half, but Davidson went on a 19-10 run to take its final lead at 83-82 on a three-pointer by JP Kuhlman with 4:21 to go. From then on, it was all Bluejays, as the hosts closed the game on a 20-9 run. A three-point play by Young triggered the flurry. Gregory Echenique threw down a monster jam while drawing a foul, and Jones followed with a corner three-pointer to put CU up six with 2:08 left. After two foul shots by Manigat with 1:52 left, the Jays got a stop and Jones sank a dagger three-pointer to put CU up 96-86 with 1:01 left.

Creighton cracked the 100-point barrier on Kenny Lawson's three-point play with 12 seconds left. The hoop also moved Lawson past baseball great Bob Gibson and into 18th on CU's all-time scoring list.

Brooks led Davidson with a career-high 21 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench. Kuhlman (19) and Jake Cohen (16) also reached double-digits in the scoring column. The Wildcats shot 53.1 percent for the game, including 7-of-22 from distance, and were 17-of-24 at the line.

Creighton had three men with 20 or more points, as McDermott had 31 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Jays, and Young (22) and Jones (21) also poured in the points. Echenique was limited to just 12 minutes before fouling out, but did score 10 points. Young had nine assists on the evening as CU had 18 assists and nine turnovers overall. The Jays shot 51.7 percent for the game, including 6-for-15 from deep and 36-of-43 at the line.