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McDermott’s run stops Bears

— Doug McDermott scored a season-high 39 points, including all 18 for Creighton in the first 7:12 of the second half, and the 13th-ranked Bluejays beat Missouri State 74-52 on Friday night.

McDermott, the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, made his first 10 field goal attempts in the second half as he led the Bluejays to their 10th consecutive victory.

Creighton (16-1, 5-0) led 32-27 after a sluggish first half in which Missouri State (5-12, 3-2) deliberately ran a slow, half-court offense and then took advantage when the Bluejays left an opening.

McDermott outscored Missouri State 18-5 over the first 7:12 after halftime. He finally missed from the field with about five minutes left and soon his night was done.

McDermott shot 15 of 19 from the floor and 6 for 7 at the free-throw line. He also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. His 39 points were five more than he had against California last month and five shy of his career high set a year ago.

Jahenns Maniget scored 11 points for the Bluejays, who shot 57 percent (27 of 47) for the game.

Keith Pickens scored 11 points and Anthony Downing added 10 to lead the Bears, who shot 11 of 31 in the second half as Creighton scuttled their surprising start to the conference season.

With McDermott putting on a show, the Bluejays stifled Missouri State and benefited from the Bears’ impatience. They were 3 of 15 on threepointers after halftime.

Sports, Pages 24 on 01/12/2013

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