By MICHAEL MAROT
AP Sports Writer

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) -- Evansville finally figured out how to
close out a game Tuesday night -- with timely shooting and near
perfect defense.



The Purple Aces almost held No. 17 Creighton scoreless over the
final 5 minutes and broke a 56-56 tie on Colt Ryan's 17-foot
jumper with 3:08 left, rallying from a seven-point deficit in
the second half for a 65-57 upset of the Bluejays.



It was such a stunning turnaround for a team that had lost three
of four that hundreds of students rushed the court in
celebration.



"We had lost so many games because we were not listening," said
senior swingman Kenny Harris, who scored 15 points. "Tonight, we
just came out and paid attention to the details."



Evansville (12-12, 7-7 Missouri Valley Conference) had lost six
times this season by three or fewer points and was coming off an
abysmal loss Saturday at Southern Illinois.



The response couldn't have been better.



Evansville delivered one of its strongest defensive games
against the nation's best shooting team.



Creighton entered the game with the nation's No. 1 field goal
percentage (51.2), No. 1 3-point percentage (44.8) and was
ranked in the top 10 in scoring per game (81.0). It also had the
nation's No. 3 scorer in Doug McDermott (23.4) and a six-game
winning streak over the Purple Aces.



On Tuesday, though, Evansville kept Creighton out of sync by
forcing nearly half of its shots from 3-point range and limiting
the number of Bluejays possessions to a season-worst 57.



"We just couldn't get that separation we needed," Creighton
coach Greg McDermott said. "I thought we made some
uncharacteristic foolish plays tonight, but Evansville played
pretty well, too."



The biggest reason, of course, was Evansville's defense.



The Aces limited Creighton to 44.4 percent shooting in the first
half, and after the Bluejays opened the second half by going 5
of 5, they ran into a stone wall.



Creighton (21-4, 11-3) went 4 of 20 over the final 15:52 and
finished the game with a season-low 18.2 percent (4 of 22) on
3s. Even worse, Creighton was outscored 13-1 over the final
5:23, which led to a season-low point total and their first
consecutive losses of the season.



It wasn't a perfect game for Evansville.



Ryan finished with 14 points on 3-of-12 shooting, none from
3-point range. Ryan Sewell had 12 points and seven rebounds, and
there were the two stretches where Creighton looked like, well,
its usually strong shooting self.



But Evansville coach Marty Simmons couldn't quibble with the
results.



"Our execution could have been better, but I'm not sure our
effort could have been," Simmons said after beating a Top 25
opponent for the second time in two seasons. "I thought we made
a lot of plays out there with extra effort and that's what it
takes to win.,"



Doug McDermott scored 21points for Creighton, and Austin Chatman
had 11 but missed three of four free throws in the final minute.



Creighton never really looked like itself.



After a 12-4 first-half run left Creighton in a 31-21 hole with
3:27 to play, the Bluejays closed the half on a 10-2 run and had
a chance to take the lead with a 60-foot heave that fell short.



They finally took the lead when McDermott knocked down a
5-footer early in the second half and used a 6-0 run to make it
48-41.



Then the Aces cranked up the pressure.



They scored five straight points to stay close and tied it at 50
when Ned Cox picked off a rebound and drove in for a layup with
8:18 left.



Creighton rebuilt a 56-52 lead with 5:23 to go, but the Aces had
an answer for that, too.



"Something just wasn't there tonight." Doug McDermott said.
"There were times we got stops and we couldn't do anything with
it. It was frustrating."



Evansville's three-man show led it back.



Harris' 15-footer tied the score at 56, Ryan's shot gave the
Aces a 58-56 lead and the only point Creighton scored the rest
of the way came on Chatman's free throw with 58 seconds left.



"They're a very difficult team to defend anywhere," Simmons
said. "They're great shooters and we were fortunate they missed
some shots we know they're going to hit. But tonight our guys
really battled."