Creighton advances to 4-0 on young season, after solid 82-59 win over Iowa in Des Moines

From Creighton University Sports Information
Box Score
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Creighton's first match-up with Iowa since 2001 was a lopsided affair, as the Jays drained 9-of-19 three-pointers to post a 82-59 win over the Hawkeyes before 12,746 fans at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

Creighton is now 4-0 on the season, while Iowa dropped to 3-1. The game was the third for both teams in the Dale Howard Classic, as both teams will host unbeaten Campbell in the coming days.

Doug McDermott scored 13 of Creighton's first 18 points and the Jays used a 10-0 run to build up a 22-10 lead with 8:09 left in the first half. CU's lead reached 31-18 on a three-pointer by Grant Gibbs. The Jays kept up their hot shooting, moving ahead 45-26 after consecutive treys by CU's Avery Dingman and Josh Jones. Dingman (pictured to right) made three trifectas, while McDermott had 18 points, as the Jays headed to halftime with a 45-29 lead.

Creighton went inside early and often to start the second half, a major reason they outscored the Hawkeyes 40-16 in the paint for the night. Gregory Echenique scored the first five points, while McDermott and Antoine Young also scored in the paint to bring CU's lead to 56-36 with 14:48 to go. That started a 14-0 run that saw CU lead by as much as 66-36.

Creighton led by as much as 33 points (74-41 with 6:16 left) before settling for the final margin.

McDermott led CU with 25 points and nine rebounds, while Echenique added 15 points and nine rebounds and Dingman had a career-best 14 points on 4-of-4 shooting from long-range. Creighton shot 55.2 percent in the game, including 9-of-19 from deep (47.4 percent), while outrebounding the Hawkeyes 43-27 and dishing twice as many assists as Iowa (20-10).

Iowa was paced by 14 points from Josh Oglesby and 13 points from Matt Gatens.

Creighton returns to action on Friday when it closes out play in the Dale Howard Classic with a 7:05 pm game against unbeaten Campbell (3-0).

NOTES: This was the 25th all-time meeting between Creighton and Iowa, but first since the 2001 NCAA Tournament ... Doug McDermott became Creighton's first player with three straight games of 20 points or more since Kyle Korver in 2003 ... Greg McDermott is now 6-4 against Iowa ... Greg McDermott is now 52-4 in his Division head coaching career when scoring 80 or more points, and is 19-1 when his Creighton teams score 70 or more points ... Each of Creighton's last seven teams to start 4-0 or better have reached the postseason ... Creighton's first 12 points came from Iowa natives Doug McDermott and Grant Gibbs ... Creighton has won each of its first four games by double-digits ... Creighton outscored Iowa 18-3 in second-chance points ... Avery Dingman's career-high 14 points came in just 11 minutes ... Gregory Echenique's 15 points were a season-high ... Creighton is now 4-1 in the regular-season since 1998 against Big Ten competition, including a 3-0 mark against Iowa.