After the Jays dropped their conference opener to the Missouri State University Bears, head coach Greg McDermott said merely playing well in Wichita would not be enough. They needed to win.The Creighton men’s basketball team spent its New Year’s Eve on the road as the team traveled to Wichita, Kan., to take on the Shockers of Wichita State University.

The Jays responded to their coach’s plea and got the win they needed, defeating the Shockers 68-61 despite a season-low 12 points from sophomore forward Doug McDermott, the nation’s second-leading scorer.

The first 10 minutes set the tone for the entire game as points were hard to come by. Creighton went inside early and often, and behind eight points from junior center Gregory Echenique the Jays built up a 17-9 lead after 10 minutes of play.

The Bluejays had all the momentum on their side, until a personal foul was whistled on freshman center Will Artino, which elicited a reaction from the Creighton bench that resulted in a technical foul. The Shockers hit three of four free throws, cutting the lead to four and turning the tide in their favor. Wichita State closed out the half on a 24-12 run and took a 39-31 lead into halftime.

Echenique paced the Jays in the first half with 10 points and five rebounds, while senior point guard Antoine Young chipped in nine points and two assists.

Wichita State was led by nine points and six rebounds from forward Carl Hall and nine points from guard David Kyles.

The Shockers maintained their lead through the first five minutes of the second half until Hall picked up his third foul and was forced to take a seat. Hall had 13 points and 10 rebounds at that point and had been a force on the offensive glass all night. With Hall out of the game the Jays took control behind the play of junior guard Grant Gibbs. Gibbs had a hand in 18 of Creighton’s next 23 points, either scoring himself or assisting a teammate, to help Creighton take a 60-51 lead.

Wichita State made a late surge and cut the margin to just three points with 1:28 remaining, but the Jays weathered the storm and knocked down their free throws to secure the 68-61 win.

Hall finished the game with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Guard Joe Ragland and Kyles rounded out Wichita State’s double figure scorers with 12 and 11, respectively.

Young lead the Jays with 19 points, while Doug McDermott and Echenique each chipped in 12. Gibbs scored 11 points, all in the second half, and finished with six assists and four rebounds. But the most impressive stat about Gibbs is that Creighton outscored Wichita State 50-25 with the junior on the court. Creighton held Wichita State to just 28.6 percent shooting from the field in the second half.

Creighton then returned home to face the Drake University Bulldogs on Tuesday night in front of 15,134 fans at CenturyLink Center Omaha.

The Jays scored the first 11 points of the game and never looked back as they won in a blow-out, 76-59.

The Jays put forth one of their best defensive efforts of the season as Creighton held the Bulldogs to just 36.8 percent shooting for the game. The 59 points given up tied a season low for the Jays, matching the total the University of Iowa Hawkeyes were held to when Creighton faced them on a neutral floor.

“Defensively, we came strong,” Echenique said.

The Jays locked down Drake’s star guard and the Missouri Valley Conference’s third-leading scorer, Rayvonte Rice, holding him to just six points on 2-10 shooting,

“I’m pleased with the outcome, especially the job we did defensively on Rayvonte Rice,” Greg McDermott said.

Unlike its opponents, Creighton was on fire all night long. The Jays shot 60 percent from the field, including 45.5 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. However, the Jays were a bit careless with the ball, turning it over a season-high 20 times compared to just 16 team assists.

“We were just too casual with the ball and not being very sharp out there, and I think, at times, we were playing the scoreboard, which we can’t allow,” Doug McDermott said about the turnover woes.

After going 1-1 during the week Creighton fell to 24 in the USA Today Coach’s Poll and 26 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll.

Creighton’s next game is on the road against Bradley on Saturday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The game will be aired on KMTV.