Another big performance from McDermott pushes Creighton past La.-Lafayette

Doug McDermott scored 17 points in the first half in another clinical offensive performance. (Tom Pennington/Getty) SAN ANTONIO — Doug McDermott saw plenty of

Doug McDermott scored 17 points in the first half in another clinical offensive performance. (Tom Pennington/Getty)

SAN ANTONIO — Doug McDermott saw plenty of different looks. Initially, it was physical, smothering man-to-man with some face guarding. Then a junk box-and-1 and even a 2-3 zone. But the different defensive schemes used against the Creighton star by 14th-seeded LouisianaLafayette on Friday afternoon hardly slowed him down.

Fed up with it, a member of the Ragin' Cajuns' band finally let his team coming out of a timeout early in the second half.

“Stop number 3,” he yelled, a reference to McDermott’s jersey number. “Stop number 3.”

Alas, that didn’t work either. McDermott had game-highs in points (30) and rebounds (12) in the process of powering the third-seeded Bluejays to a gritty 76-66 victory in the second round of the West Region. It was a nervy performance, and it left the senior small forward shaking his head afterward, seemingly in relief, after having played 39 minutes.

Junior guard Austin Chatman added 16 points for Creighton, which lost an eight-point lead in the second half before responding with a decisive 10-0 run to put away Louisiana Lafayette (23-12). McDermott delivered the final blow, a dagger three-pointer with 2:06 remaining in the game that extended the Bluejays lead to 71-64. On Sunday Creighton (27-7) plays sixth-seeded Baylor, which won a sloppy game against Nebraska earlier on Friday.

McDermott, as he has throughout his career, put on a clinic with his exacting offensive game. The likely national player of the year got his first six points on layups, blowing past overeager Ragin' Cajuns guard Elfrid Payton on cuts to the basket.

As the teams shook hands after the game, Payton made sure he got a stop against McDermott. He hugged him.

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