Your inbox approves Men's coaches poll Women's coaches poll Play to win 25K!
SPORTS
Arizona State University

Doug McDermott leads Creighton past Arizona State

AP
Creighton coach Greg McDermott speaks to forward Doug McDermott during a timeout in the second half against Arizona State at the Wooden Legacy tournament  in Fullerton, Calif.
  • Creighton beat Arizona State%2C 88-60
  • The Bluejays went ahead early on a 14-2 run
  • Jahii Carson led the Sun Devils with 15 points

FULLERTON, Calif. (AP) — Creighton knows how to learn from its mistakes.

The Bluejays took an early lead over Arizona State in the championship game of last year's Las Vegas Invitational, only to watch the Sun Devils creep back into contention. This time, Creighton didn't give ASU that opportunity.

Doug McDermott scored 27 points, Devin Brooks added a season-high 23 and the 20th-ranked Bluejays beat Arizona State 88-60 on Thursday night in the opening round of the Wooden Legacy.

Creighton (5-0) used an early 14-2 run to take control and then pulled away with 3-point shooting in the second half.

"They trickled their way back into the game but we didn't let it happen this time," McDermott said. "We were clicking on all cylinders. The start we got off to was huge."

If the Sun Devils had a legitimate comeback in them, it never showed. Arizona State (6-1) shot 39 percent from the field and went a woeful 7 of 18 at the free throw line.

Jahii Carson led the Sun Devils with 15 points. Jermaine Marshall and Richie Edwards scored 12 apiece.

"We were outplayed in every facet of the game," Arizona State coach Herb Sendek said. "I thought Creighton was really good, as I expected they would be.

"We're very disappointed in our performance."

Creighton will play San Diego State in the second round of the eight-team tournament. ASU faces the College of Charleston.

McDermott, selected the Big East player of the week for the second consecutive week, did most of his damage in the first half and had a hard time finding open shots thanks to Arizona State's defense.

The Sun Devils scored the first three points of the game, but McDermott led the early run that gave the Bluejays the lead for good.

McDermott had 12 points through the first 8 minutes, then was held to four free throws the rest of the first half. That was partly due to Jonathan Gilling, who spent most of the half shadowing Creighton's top scorer.

The Sun Devils were certainly aware of McDermott's ability. He scored 29 points against them in Las Vegas last year in a game won by the Bluejays.

Likewise, the Bluejays knew what the Sun Devils had in Carson, who put up 30 points in that game.

Brooks picked up some of the slack Thursday for Creighton and had 13 points by the break. He finished 4 for 4 from 3-point range after entering 0 for 2 all season.

"I cringed a little for the first one," said Creighton coach Greg McDermott, father of the star forward. "To Devin's credit, he's been in the gym, working on his shot a lot. He made Arizona State pay for that.

"Devin gave us a very productive 19 minutes on the offensive side and he did a good job on defense as well."

Doug McDermott said he'll be more than happy to share some of the scoring duties with Brooks.

"If teams are going to let him shoot and he hits those, he's going to be really hard to guard," Doug McDermott said. "That's a huge game for Devin and it's huge for his confidence. We're so lucky to have him."

Creighton went into halftime with a 45-31 lead and Jahenns Manigat opened the second half with a 3-pointer from the right wing to increase the margin to 17.

Arizona State turned the ball over on its next possession, leading to two free throws by Austin Chatman. Gilling was called for traveling, and the turnover resulted in a reverse layup by Chatman. That made it 52-31 just 2 minutes into the second half.

"I'm not sure we could play much better," Greg McDermott said. "We were really good on both ends of the court. We took advantage of some mismatches early, especially when we went with Ethan (Wragge) and Doug together when they were on defense."

Arizona State responded with a 10-0 run that was helped by a missed 3-pointer by McDermott, and Shaquielle McKissic's steal of McDermott's cross-court pass.

Creighton used an 11-1 spurt to stretch the lead back to 63-42 before Arizona State rattled off seven unanswered points. The Bluejays followed with a 12-2 run to open a 75-51 cushion.

Featured Weekly Ad