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Late Night Snacks: Creighton, Duke win Wednesday’s marquee games

Grant Gibbs Gregory Echenique Jahenns Manigat Jackie Carmichael

Creighton’s Grant Gibbs (10), Gregory Echenique (00) and Jahenns Manigat (12) fight for the ball against Illinois State’s Jackie Carmichael (32) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013, in Normal, Ill. Creighton won 79-72. (AP Photo/Stephen Haas)

AP

Game of the Day

No. 16 Creighton 79, Illinois State 72: Ethan Wragge had 18 points and hit six of Creighton’s 13 threes as the Bluejays won a shootout against the Redbirds. Illinois State hit 13 threes of their own, but it was a missed three from Jackie Carmichael with ISU down three and less than 20 seconds left on the clock that ended up being the back-breaker.

Grant Gibbs was once again a killer for Creighton against ISU. In the MVC tournament title game a year ago, he had 20 points as the Redbirds dared him to shoot. On Wednesday, he finished with 16 points and seven assists.

Important Outcomes

No. 1 Duke 67, Davidson 50: The Blue Devils shook off an off-night from Mason Plumlee to knock off a scrappy Davidson team that looked primed -- for 20 minutes, at least -- to remind the country why they were picked as one of the nation’s best mid-major. The Wildcats pounded the offensive glass in the first half, collecting 14 second-chance points en route to a 29-all tie at the break. But Duke used a 19-4 run to open the second half to put away the Wildcats.

Purdue 68, No. 11 Illinois 61: Illinois is not built for the road.

No. 7 Syracuse 78, Rutgers 53: Boeheim got his 903rd win.

Missouri Valley: In addition to Creighton’s win at Illinois State, Wichita State knocked off Drake on the road and Indiana State beat Northern Iowa at Northern Iowa. I think it’s safe to say that the Sycamores are the third-best team in the Valley, behind Creighton and Wichita State. But what has happened to the Panthers?

Wyoming 59, SMU 56: The Cowboys remained undefeated with a win at SMU despite playing without second-leading scorer Luke Martinez.

Starred

Tymell Murphy, Florida International: Murphy became the second player this season to post a 20-20 games, finishing with 24 points and 20 boards in a win over FAMU. Towson’s Jerelle Benimon had 20 points and 21 boards in a win over Oregon State on Saturday.

Troy Daniels, VCU: Daniels. He’s so hot right now. Daniels.

Ryan Harrow, Kentucky: It was a 52 point blow out, I know, but Harrow but together another impressive performance. He had 15 points and eight assists.

Kendall Anthony, Richmond: The 5-foot-8 Anthony was a spot start for the Spiders, but the move paid off; he had 31 points and hit seven threes in a 91-68 win over Air Force.

Stunk

Florida State: The Seminoles lost 78-72 to Auburn despite shooting 48.3% from the floor and getting 18 points and 12 boards from Michael Snaer.

Xavier: Travis Taylor had 18 points and was 9-10 from the floor. The rest of the Musketeers were 12-39 from the field and managed just 41 points in a 66-59 loss to Wake Forest.

Marshall: I know the Thundering Herd are playing without Deandre Kane, but Marshall was supposed to be the second-best team in Conference USA. They just lost at home to Delaware State.

The rest of the top 25


  • No. 8 Ohio State 70, Nebraska 44
  • No. 17 Butler 70, Penn 57
  • No. 19 San Diego State 72, Cal St. Bakersfield 57

Other notable scores


  • Colorado State 62, UTEP 58
  • Miami 76, La Salle 59
  • Loyola (IL) 63, Valpo 54

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.