NEW YORK (AP) — Doug McDermott put on a dazzling shooting display in his Big East tournament debut, scoring a record 27 of his 35 points in the first half for Creighton during a victory over DePaul.
The nation’s leading scorer hit six of his first seven 3-point attempts, sending the second-seeded Bluejays (25-6) into the semifinals Friday night against third-seeded Xavier or No. 6 seed Marquette.
Jahenns Manigat added 14 points for Creighton, which left the Missouri Valley Conference for the new-look Big East this season, and Austin Chatman had 11. Led by McDermott, the league’s player of the year and a heavy favorite for several national awards, the Bluejays shot a sizzling 14 for 22 from 3-point range (63.6 percent) against 10th-seeded DePaul (12-21).
Brandon Young had 22 points in his final college game for the Blue Demons.