• Box Score: Creighton 88, Southern Illinois 69
• Video: CU-SIU postgame press conference, Feb. 14
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CARBONDALE, Ill. — Creighton broke out of its shooting slump Tuesday night in record-setting fashion.
After shooting 41 percent in losing their previous three games, the Bluejays made a school- and conference-record 77.5 percent of their field-goal attempts in posting a confidence-building 88-69 Missouri Valley victory over Southern Illinois.
The hot-shot performance broke the conference record of 74.5 percent set 28 seasons ago by Bradley against West Texas State. Creighton also set a school record for 3-point percentage by making 12 of 14 shots (85.7 percent) from beyond the arc.
“We haven't been shooting the ball the best this past three games,” Creighton forward Ethan Wragge said. “I think all of us kind of took that personally. We went in and got some extra shots up on our own time.”
The extra work paid off as Creighton improved to 22-5 with the victory before a subdued turnout of 3,408 at SIU Arena. The Bluejays improved to 12-4 in the Valley in snapping the three-game skid that had knocked them out of first place in the league.
Creighton shot 75 percent in the first half in making 15 of 20 field-goal attempts, then converted 16 of its 20 attempts in the final 20 minutes. The Bluejays made 6 of 7 shots from beyond the arc in each half.
“When we didn't turn the ball over, we got the shots that we wanted,” Creighton guard Jahenns Manigat said. “We got the shots we've been shooting the past week, and they just happened to go in tonight.”
That was the frustrating part of the shooting woes that had contributed to the losing skid. In the first two losses — at Northern Iowa and Evansville — Creighton got the same kind of shots that the Bluejays had been making in getting off to a 21-2 start.
Those shots didn't go in, producing back-to-back defeats for the first time this season. Wichita State then hung a third straight loss on Creighton with last Saturday's dominating performance that led the Bluejays' worst home loss since 1995.
“The shots we had tonight were the same shots we had at Evansville and some of the same shots we had at Northern Iowa,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. “We missed those shots.
“Wichita State was a game that was an aberration. They were outstanding and we weren't very good. I'm not sure we lost that game as much as they beat us.”
Regardless, McDermott's team was in need of a victory heading into Tuesday night's game to get it headed back on track in the final two weeks of the regular season. The Bluejays got it by flashing the offensive efficiency that had put them among the national leaders in scoring and shooting this season.
There were some rough spots to other aspects of Creighton's game — the Bluejays allowed Southern Illinois to shoot 50 percent for the game and 60 percent in the second half, and Creighton committed 16 turnovers.
But as they have throughout the season, the Bluejays showed they can be a tough team to keep up with when the offense starts humming.
“There hasn't been anything wrong with them the last three games, but they just shot the ball badly,” said Southern Illinois coach Chris Lowery, whose team dropped to 8-19 and 5-11. “They came here and played as if their postseason depended on it.”
Lowery said his team contributed to the Bluejays' torrid shooting with defensive breakdowns on the perimeter.
“Our last two games, our guarding has been horrendous,” Lowery said. “The issue with us is that we can't keep anyone in front of us. It's disappointing to play well offensively but allow them to shoot 77 percent.
“That's astronomical.”
Creighton's five starters made 24 of 29 shots (82.8 percent) from the field. The Bluejays got 18 points from Doug McDermott, 17 from Manigat and 15 from Gregory Echenique and Antoine Young. Wragge came off the bench to also score 15.
He and Manigat each made 5 of 6 shots from 3-point range. They had combined to go 8 of 28 from beyond the arc in the previous three games.
“We got some early ones to go down, and that makes it easier as the game goes on to keep knocking them down,” Wragge said. “Our shooters got their confidence back. The last couple of games we've been struggling.
“To see some go in, it helps everyone. It makes you more comfortable and more relaxed and not uptight. I think that's been part of our problem these last few games.”
Wragge buried back-to-back 3-point shots and Manigat made one from the wing as Creighton took control in the closing minutes of the first half. The Salukis had taken advantage of turnovers on four consecutive possessions to take just their second lead of the game at 25-24.
Young made jumpers on Creighton's next two possessions and assisted on Wragge's second 3-pointer. After Manigat's 3-point shot, Young finished off a 15-5 surge with a basket to help Creighton take a 39-30 halftime lead.
“I took it a little personal when they took the lead, and I just felt I had to get some things going,” said Young, who had 12 of his 15 points before halftime. “I forced the issue a little bit with my aggressiveness and got us going a little bit.”
The Bluejays opened the second half with an 11-6 spurt to build the lead to 14 points. Southern Illinois got back as close as nine points before Josh Jones and Wragge connected on 3-point shots to make it 60-45 with 11:57 to play. The Salukis never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.
Creighton's final basket of the night, fittingly, was a 3-pointer by Manigat.
“We knew we would bounce back eventually,” Doug McDermott said. “It definitely doesn't hurt when you shoot 12 of 14 from the 3-point line.”
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