Young sparks Creighton past Evansville 75-69

OMAHA, Neb. – Antoine Young scored a game-high 21 points and sparked a second-half surge that helped Creighton defeat Evansville for the second time this season, 75-69 on Saturday.

Young, the Missouri Valley Conference leader in assists coming into the game, added seven assists and made 9 of 16 shots. He scored seven straight points, capped by a 3-pointer with 11:48 remaining, to give the Bluejays (5-10, 7-6) a 55-38 lead.

Colt Ryan led the Purple Aces (13-10, 7-6) with 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting, but last season's MVC freshman of the year missed all four 3-point attempts.

Creighton maintained a double-digit lead for most of the second half, and Evansville was only able to pull as close as 71-65 on Ryan's layup with 34 seconds left and were again within six at the final buzzer.

Freshman forward Doug McDermott, the son of Bluejays coach Greg McDermott, dominated play inside with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Creighton outrebounded Evansville 35-24.

Denver Holmes scored 15 points for the Purple Aces, who dropped a 74-69 decision to the Bluejays on Jan. 9.