Gregory Echenique and Will Artino provided Creighton with a one-two combination at center Wednesday night that put a hurting on Illinois State.

They combined for 21 points and 10 rebounds in the No. 13 Bluejays' 102-74 victory at CenturyLink Center. Artino was especially impressive on the offensive end, making all three of his shots from the field and all five of his free-throw attempts to finish with 11 points, two shy of his career high.

"Will gave us another great lift tonight," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. "Sometimes when you're replacing a guy like Gregory, who's an all-conference-type player, you expect a little bit of a fall-off.

"In recent weeks, that hasn't been the case. Will has some ways elevated our play with his activity around the backboards. He has great hands and a great feel for the game, and he's just continued to improve."

After seeing little playing time early in Creighton's Missouri Valley season, the 6-foot-11 Artino has turned in several strong efforts in recent games. He had six points and four rebounds in a Jan. 21 win over Indiana State, then followed up that effort with six points and a career-high eight rebounds at Drake on Jan. 25.

Echenique scored 10 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds, but his greatest contributions came early on the defensive end. He matched up against 6-9 Jackie Carmichael, who earned Valley player of the week honors last week by averaging 22.5 points and 13.5 rebounds.

Carmichael was never able to get going against Creighton, finishing with six points and six rebounds before fouling out after playing 32 minutes.

"He was a big factor, and I thought he played very well in a lot of different ways," said Illinois State coach Tim Jankovich, referring to Echenique.

Echenique sat out 12 minutes of the first half after picking up his second foul. He did not commit a foul in the second half despite raising his level of intensity, McDermott said.

"The foul trouble hurt him the first half," McDermott said. "I didn't think he started the second half very well, but when he went back out a second time I thought he was throwing bodies around. That's the way we want him to play.

"I think he's as good of a defensive player as there is in the league. He neutralizes the opposing center. You look at Carmichael's numbers from last week and you look at them tonight, and the difference is Gregory Echenique."

Foes pick their poison

The phrase "pick your poison" has been tossed about frequently in describing the variety of offensive firepower possessed by the Bluejays.

The Bluejays got double-figure scoring from six players, led by Doug McDermott's 25 points. Whenever Illinois State started paying too much attention to McDermott and Creighton's other inside players, the Bluejays would retaliate with shots from beyond the arc.

They finished 13 of 25 from 3-point range, with McDermott and Jahenns Manigat each making three shots from beyond the arc and Josh Jones and Ross Ferrarini each making two.

"You know going in that you have to pick some poison," Jankovich said. "McDermott's a tough matchup, and this is one of the best shooting teams in America. You have a guy averaging 25 and you have all these shooters around him.

"Something's got to give, and we didn't play well enough to get it done tonight. That's disappointing but I do feel like they had a lot to do with it. That was one of their sharpest, best performances of the year."

More from McDermott

McDermott produced some of the loudest cheers of the second half with a three-play sequence that pushed Creighton's lead to 86-59 with 7:58 to play.

First, the sophomore forward scored on a nifty spin move that left Illinois State's John Wilkins defenseless. The Redbirds missed a 3-point shot on their next possession, which McDermott rebounded.

Seeing an open lane, he immediately pushed the ball up court instead of passing it. As he neared the 3-point line, he alley-ooped a pass to Artino, who laid the ball in, to the delight of the fans.

"That felt good," McDermott said. "I haven't done that in a while, and it was good that two Iowa boys made a little connection there."

Bits and pieces

• Among the fans in the announced turnout of 17,311 — Creighton's 10th largest all-time and fifth sellout of the season — was Jim Hendry, the school's former baseball coach who led the 1991 Bluejays to the College World Series. Hendry, fired last summer as the general manager of the Chicago Cubs, recently took a position as a special assignment scout with the New York Yankees.

• The crowd observed a moment of silence before the game for Missouri Valley Hall of Famer Charlie Spoonhour, who died Wednesday. Spoonhour coached at Southwest Missouri State and later became an analyst on the Valley's television broadcast.

• Creighton's 11-game winning streak is tied for sixth-longest nationally.

• Illinois State has lost 23 straight games to ranked opponents. The Redbirds' last win over a rated foe came against No. 14 Iowa on Dec. 29, 1987.

• Creighton improved to 7-0 this season against teams from the state of Illinois.

• McDermott moved into 27th place on the Creighton career scoring chart with 1,124 points.

— Steven Pivovar

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