UNI Puts Up Fight But Falls to No. 12 Creighton

What could have been.

Doug McDermott could have been wearing the purple and gold last night. Instead, the all-American poured in 31 points, including 14 in a row, as his No. 12 Creighton Bluejays dropped the Northern Iowa Panthers, 79-68 in Omaha on Tuesday night.

McDermott, a junior, is one of the top college basketball players in the country, and is leading his nationally ranked team to another NCAA Tournament birth.

The national player of the year candidate initially planned to attend Northern Iowa, where his dad Greg McDermott used to coach. But, McDermott wound up following dad when he left Iowa State to coach Creighton in 2010.

Oh well. We can still root for one of our own, right?

The Panther kept it close for most of the game. They were down by just five at half-time, 37-32, and it was still a game at 60-50 with eight minutes to go in the second half. But, that is as close as the Panthers got.

The Bluejays pulled away, but a few late baskets left a respectable final score of 79-68, with Creighton on top.

Creighton improved to 17-1, while the Panthers fell to 9-9.