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.

It's time to take my black & gold hat off for Iowa vs. Creighton

From 1974 to 1982, my loyalty was often to the Iowa Hawkeyes, in college basketball. But, in 1982, I enrolled at Creighton University, so on Sunday, November 20Th at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, its Creighton University (3-0) vs. the Iowa Hawkeyes (3-0).

It doesn't happen very often. The last time it happened was over ten years ago, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, with Iowa advancing that day with a 69-56 win. Iowa played the previous two seasons in a home and home vs. Creighton, with the Jays winning both of those games by two and nine points. An earlier game was played in the 1990 non-conference in the old Amana-Hawkeye Classic championship game in Iowa City, losing by six.

Now, it's time for Game 5, since my years at Creighton. It's another neutral court.

Iowa has played three home games. Creighton won on the road at UAB on Wednesday night, 70-60, in the Blazers season opener. It was the first loss at home in the non-conference for UAB, since the 2005 season.

Creighton played at Wells Fargo Arena last season. The Bluejays lost at the buzzer to Iowa State.
This will be the first of three non-conference games vs. Big Ten opponents for the Bluejays this season. First up is Iowa on a neutral court. Creighton will play @ Nebraska and vs. Northwestern at CenturyLink Arena, as well.

Scoring:
Creighton is lead by sophomore Doug McDermott at 20.3 ppg, while Iowa is lead by three year captain, senior Matt Gatens at 16.3 ppg.

Rebounds:
Creighton is lead by junior Gregory Echenique at 6.7 rpg, while Iowa is currently lead by a true freshman off the bench in Aaron White at 6.0 rpg.

Assists:
Creighton is lead by a former Linn-Mar prep, in Gonzaga transfer, junior Grant Gibbs, who is averaging 4.7 apg. Iowa is lead by senior co-captain Bryce Cartwright at 6.3 apg. Cartwright was very solid in assists last season in the Big Ten.

Head coaches:
Both programs are headed by second year coaches. Creighton hired former UNI and ISU coach Greg McDermott, an Iowa native, took replace sixteen year coach Dana Altman, who is now at Oregon. Altman and McDermott squared off to close out the 2011 postseason last year. Former Siena Coach Fran McCaffery took over Todd Lickliter at Iowa last season. McDermott is 5-4 lifetime as a head coach vs. Iowa. This is the first time he has faced McCaffery head to head.

It should be an interesting game. Both teams are playing better than last season, with a deeper roster for each. It will be Iowa's first real test. Creighton passed its first test at UAB on Saturday night, but Iowa is even bigger, since it is a neighboring state and both teams are looking to keep a win streak going.

Some of the players have faced each other before. Iowa's Gatens and Creighton's Gibbs both played against one another in high school in Iowa.

A Creighton win over Iowa would be a great start in Year 2 for coach Greg McDermott. The same can be said for Coach Fran McCaffery. Go Jays! On Iowa!