The Northwestern Wildcats played a competitive first half on the road against the No. 21 Creighton Bluejays, but couldn't quite keep up in the second half of a 87-79 defeat. The Wildcats were losing by just one point, 37-36, going into halftime on Thursday night, but the Bluejays were able to hold a comfortable lead around ten points for the last few minutes of the game.
Northwestern played well on offense, but allowed Creighton to play even better. Creighton shot 53 percent from the field, but the real damage was made from beyond the three-point line, where the Bluejays knocked down 12 of 21 shots. The Wildcats shot 50 percent from the field and knocked down nine three-pointers, but they struggled with some foul trouble.
Bluejays star forward Doug McDermott had another big game on Thursday night, scoring 27 points on 10-for-14 shooting while grabbing five rebounds and dishing five assists. Grant Gibbs was also big for Creighton despite failing to make a single shot during the game, adding 8 rebounds and 12 assists at the point guard position.
Northwestern, on the other hand, got big games from its star players in John Shurna and Drew Crawford. Crawford finished the game with 34 points on 13-for-17 shooting, while Shurna added 18 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and a block.
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