EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Evansville came away from Tuesday's victory over Creighton feeling pretty good about the way it played defense against the two players who scored 31 of the Bluejays' 57 points.

Doug McDermott led Creighton with 21 points and Gregory Echenique added 10 in the 65-57 loss at the Ford Center. But the undersized Purple Aces were relieved that the two Creighton inside players didn't do even more damage.

"Echenique and McDermott, that's a tough frontcourt to handle," Evansville's Colt Ryan said. "They're both very big and very skilled. McDermott demands a lot of attention.

"I thought our post guys did a great job, and as guards, we were trying our best to keep it from getting in there and to get back out on their shooters."

Kenny Harris, a 6-foot-6 senior, drew the primary assignment of defending McDermott. Freshman Ryan Sawvell gave up an inch and 70 pounds in matching up against the 6-foot-9, 270-pound Echenique.

Of course, both players had plenty of help as the Purple Aces often doubled-teamed McDermott and Echnique when they got the ball.

"I just tried to front him and depend on my teammates for backside help," said Harris, when asked how he tried to defend McDermott. "I did what I could to keep him off the glass.

"He's a great player with good hands."

McDermott finished 7 of 16 from the field but managed to grab eight rebounds. Echenique also had eight rebounds, and he made all four of his shots from the field.

Three of his baskets came early in the second half, and McDermott also had a layup as the Bluejays made their first five shots after halftime. But Evansville's inside defense stiffened as the second half progressed, and McDermott and Echenique rarely found open space when they got the ball inside.

"Our guys didn't panic," Evansville coach Marty Simmons said. "They never got away from what we wanted to do. Our guys hung in there and battled."

3-point shots don't fall for Jays

Evansville's inside defense also was aided by Creighton's inability to make shots from the outside. The Bluejays, shooting a nation-leading 44.8 percent from beyond the arc coming into the game, converted just 4 of 22 3-point attempts (18.2 percent).

"They plugged it up, and teams have done that in the past and we've scored 100 points on them," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. "Tonight, we missed 18 3-point shots.

"The shots Ethan Wragge got and the shots Jahenns Manigat got, we'll take those every night. Unfortunately tonight, they didn't go in."

Offensive execution lacking on road

Creighton won eight of its first nine road games and nine of its first 10 games away from Omaha before dropping back-to-back road games to Northern Iowa and Evansville.

McDermott said he hasn't noticed anything drastically different in Creighton's effort in the past two road games.

"I'm not sure defensively there is a ton of difference," he said. "But our offensive execution, and the ability to hit shots to loosen up the defense, hasn't been there these last two games.

"We have two guys in there scoring pretty well, but it's tough to get it in there when there are three guys waiting for them when they catch it. I think that's the biggest difference."

Chatman provides spark off the bench

Creighton got a big lift from freshman guard Austin Chatman, who finished with 11 points, one shy of the career-high 12 he scored in the second game of the season against Chicago State.

Chatman made 4 of 6 shots from the field and energized the Bluejays' spurt in the closing minutes of the first half that cut a 31-21 deficit to two at halftime.

With Creighton trailing by five in the final minute of the first half, the Bluejays were working for a good shot. Suddenly, Chatman found himself with the ball on the perimeter with the shot clock approaching zero.

He drove and put up an off-balance jumper that hit the rim and ricocheted away. Chatman stayed with the play, outjumping several taller Evansville players for the rebound and then banking in an off-balance shot. Fouled on the basket, Chatman completed the three-point play to pull the Bluejays within 33-31.

Bits and pieces

Evansville snapped a six-game losing skid to the Bluejays. Four of the six losses had been decided by eight points or less. ... This was Creighton's first trip to the Ford Center, which replaced Roberts Stadium as the Purple Aces' home court. ... Doug McDermott set a school record for points by a sophomore. His 21 points pushed his season total to 582, one more than Rodney Buford had as a sophomore in 1996-97. McDermott scored in double figures for the 26th straight game. ... Creighton outrebounded Evansville 37-30 and held a 16-9 edge in second-chance points, but the Purple Aces matched the Bluejays in points in the paint (26). ... Creighton wing players Grant Gibbs and Josh Jones went scoreless for the second straight game. They are 0 for 12 from the field in the back-to-back losses.

— Steven Pivovar

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