Drake stuns No. 17 Creighton 74-69

DES MOINES, Iowa — Richard Carter scored 20 points and Drake stunned No. 17 Creighton 74-69 on Wednesday night, handing the Bluejays their first consecutive losses of the season.

Ben Simons added 13 for the Bulldogs (9-10, 3-5 Missouri Valley Conference), who blew a 16-point lead before rallying for their first win over a ranked opponent in five years.

Grant Gibbs brought Creighton within 71-69 with 32 seconds left, and the Bluejays got the ball back on a steal. But Gibbs missed a layup and Simons sealed the win with a steal and two free throws with 0.5 seconds left.

Doug McDermott had 19 points to lead Creighton, which shot just 24 percent from 3-point range. But McDermott had just two points in the second half and didn’t touch the ball on Creighton’s last two possessions.

Four days after losing by three points to No. 20 Wichita State, the Bluejays opened with perhaps their worst half of the season.

Drake’s substantial lead didn’t last long, though.

Will Artino’s dunk off an alley-oop pass preceded two layups by Grant Gibbs that brought Creighton within 53-51 with 12:03 left. Creighton finally retook the lead, 62-61, with 7:10 to go on McDermott’s first basket of the second half.

Gibbs added 18 points for the Bluejays, who outscored Drake 41-30 in the second half but couldn’t get it done in the final minutes.

Creighton pounded Drake by 30 points in their meeting in Omaha two weeks ago.

The Bulldogs seemed intent on returning the favor in the first half.

Consecutive 3s by Carter gave the Bulldogs a 25-20 lead, riling up a home gym that was much more packed than it usually is. With everyone but McDermott struggling for Creighton, Drake pushed its lead to 41-28 on a layup by Seth VanDeest.

McDermott then got called for a sloppy travel under the basket, and Chris Hines drilled a 3 from the elbow that put the Bulldogs ahead by 16 at halftime.

McDermott, who entered play as the nation’s second-leading scorer at 24.1 points per game, had 17 at halftime. But his teammates chipped in with just four baskets in 20 minutes.