Omaha, NE (SportsNetwork.com) - Doug McDermott scored 29 points as No. 11 Creighton survived to take a 72-71 win over Seton Hall on Sunday.
Grant Gibbs scored 16 points while Ethan Wragge gave nine points for the Bluejays (23-4, 13-2 Big East), who have won their past four games to move a half-game ahead of Villanova for first place in the conference.
McDermott now has 2,917 points in his college career as he passed Alfredrick Hughes for 10th on the NCAA all-time scoring list.
"It was a tough, hard-fought victory for us. It says a lot about our maturity," McDermott said.
Fuquan Edwin had 21 points, Gene Teague added 14 points and 11 boards, while Patrik Auda had 12 points and five rebounds for the Pirates (14-13, 5-9), who have dropped four of their last five.
McDermott hit a jumper with just over two minutes to play to give Creighton a 72-67 lead, but Brian Oliver missed a 3-pointer at the other end. Edwin, though, stole the ball off of Wragge and made two free throws to make it a three-point game.
Following missed 3-pointers at both ends of the court, McDermott missed both his free throws with 21 seconds to play and Edwin made his two attempts with 8.2 seconds showing.
A loose ball after the inbounds near the Creighton net was grabbed by Wragge, but he missed both his free throws with four seconds showing.
Edwin, though, was only able to get off a desperation shot from deep and it hit off the backboard and stayed out as the Bluejays hung on for the victory.
The first half was tight until Creighton scored six straight points for a 27-22 lead on a Gibbs layup with under six minutes to play.
Consecutive 3-pointers from the Bluejays a bit later made it an eight-point game before Seton Hall ripped off nine straight points.
Gibbs, though, made a 3-pointer in the closing seconds to give the Bluejays a 38-36 lead at the break.
Creighton scored the first eight points of the second half for a 10-point lead, but an 11-5 swing for Seton Hall saw the team close the gap to two, as Edwin's 3-pointer with just over nine minutes to play made it a 57-55 game.
Game Notes
Creighton plays at Xavier on Saturday ... Seton Hall plays at DePaul on Tuesday ... Creighton took a 79-66 win over Seton Hall on Jan. 4, but still trails the series, 6-3 ... Creighton made 51.2 percent of its shots, while Seton Hall hit on 48.1 percent. The Pirates, though, dominated the boards, 34-20.
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