Creighton's Grant Gibbs, right, tries to steal the ball from Northwestern's John Shurna (24) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Omaha, Neb., Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011.
Creighton's Grant Gibbs, right, tries to steal the ball from Northwestern's John Shurna (24) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Omaha, Neb., Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011. Dave Weaver, Associated Press

By Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. — Doug McDermott scored 18 of his 27 points in the second half and No. 23 Creighton defeated a Big Ten opponent for the third time this season with an 87-79 victory over Northwestern on Thursday night.

McDermott's performance trumped that of Northwestern's Drew Crawford, who scored 34 points to tie an opponent record at the CenturyLink Center.

Jahenns Manigat rattled in a 3-pointer from the corner to break a 58-all tie. JerShon Cobb committed a turnover on the other end then fouled Ethan Wragge as he made a 3. Wragge converted the four-point play for a 65-58 lead.

Antoine Young scored 13 points, Gregory Echenique and Manigat had 11 apiece, and Wragge added 10 for Missouri Valley Conference favorite Creighton (10-1), which also has wins over the Big Ten's Iowa and Nebraska.

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John Shurna had 18 points and Davide Curletti added 10 for Northwestern (10-2).

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