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Drake holds off second-half run to upset Doug McDermott, No. 17 Creighton

Drake Creighton

In line with Wednesday’s theme of Top 25 upsets, unranked Drake used 20 points from guard Richard Carter to beat No. 17 Creighton, 74-69, at Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

Trailing by five with 0:33 remaining, Creighton senior Grant Gibbs drove to the basket and absorbed a foul, finishing the layup and hitting the ensuing free throw to pull Creighton within two points, 71-69.

On the Drake in-bound, the ball was stolen by sophomore Will Artino, who called a timeout. Gibbs couldn’t finish a layup with 9.2 seconds to play and Creighton fouled.

Carter hit one of two free throws to put Drake up by three, 72-69. Creighton brought the ball up for a final possession, looking to tie, but a pass to the left wing was stolen by Ben Simons to seal the game.

Creighton trailed by 17 points at halftime, but used an 18-4 second-half run to pull within two points, 51-49, with 12:24 to play. It was the ultimate “bend but don’t break” game for Drake.

Creighton star Doug McDermott finished with 21 points and six rebounds while battling flu-like symptoms. Reports were that he vomited at halftime. Likely because of that, he struggled with just four points in the second half, despite the Bluejays’ comeback.

For Creighton, the Bluejays have lost two in a row, including this one to previously 8-10 Drake.

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_