Indiana State coach Kevin McKenna knew Creighton's Antoine Young has been struggling from the free-throw line.

So it wasn't a tough choice when McKenna had the option to send one Bluejay to the line late in Friday's 70-64 win. He picked Young, who missed both attempts to drop to 18 of 36 from the line this season.

“No offense. I like Antoine Young and I like his family,'' said McKenna, a former Creighton assistant coach. “He's a nice kid, but I was just going with percentages. I watch film and know what happened in their last game. That's why I picked the guy I picked.”

Young had been 1 of 6 from the line in his last two games. He made his first two free throws Friday but missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with 11:11 remaining before he misfired on his last two attempts with Indiana State lead 63-57 with 4:37 to play.

Young went to the line after teammate Justin Carter was fouled on a breakaway layup attempt after a steal. Carter twisted his ankle and had to leave the game.

In the past, Creighton coach Dana Altman could have substituted one of his best free-throw shooters to replace Carter. Under a rule change this season, the opposing coach now gets to pick one of the players already in the game to go to the line.

“I think it's a really good rule,'' McKenna said. “In the past, guys haven't been hurt and the coach on the bench decided to take his 40-percent shooter and have him sit and bring in his 90-percent shooter.

“This eliminates that little game some guys might play on occasion.''

Although it worked against him, Altman, too, likes the rule.

“Justin twisted it pretty good and he couldn't go,'' Altman said. “It's probably not good for the team with the injury to pick who they want to shoot it. This is something that's good for the game.”

‘Desperate' Altman tweaks lineup

Altman juggled his starting lineup Friday, replacing P'Allen Stinnett and Darryl Ashford with Cavel Witter and Casey Harriman.

Stinnett, who had struggled scoring in his previous two games, came off the bench to lead the Bluejays with 19 points in 27 minutes, while Ashford added seven in 18 minutes. Stinnett made 8 of his first 10 shots but missed his final three attempts.

Harriman missed his only shot but did grab three rebounds in 18 minutes.

Witter, coming off two games in which he scored 35 points and made 9 of 12 3-point attempts, played 23 minutes and scored seven points, all on free throws. He missed five of his shots from the field.

“I think Coach is desperate to find an answer,'' Harriman said. “Going with what we had been wasn't working, so I think he just tried something else.''

Sycamores step up after Kelly injury

Friday's game was the first that Indiana State played without guard Jake Kelly, the junior transfer from Iowa who had been averaging 9.0 points per game. He suffered a torn knee ligament in Tuesday's game at Southern Illinois and is out for the season.

“With Jake gone, someone has to step up,'' said Indiana State guard Rashad Reed, who scored 18 points, 11 more than his average.

McKenna said he was encouraged by how his players have reacted to Kelly's loss.

“We told them at our first practice without Jake that our expectation level hasn't changed about where this season is going,'' McKenna said. “We still expect them to fight and scratch and claw their way to as many wins as we can get, with or without Jake.

“Unfortunately, Jake got hurt but we can't worry about that. It's a bad deal, but someone else is going to have to step up.''

Quick hits

Creighton center Kenny Lawson recorded his second double-double with 13 points and a career-high 14 rebounds ... Stinnett made 2 of his 4 3-point attempts, but his teammates were 1 of 15 from beyond the arc. Last season, Creighton made 15 of 24 3-point shots in a 79-61 win at the Hulman Center. ... Altman's son, Jordan, is a graduate assistant on McKenna's staff. ... Walk-on Taylor Stormberg, a freshman from Omaha Creighton Prep, suited up for the first time this season. ... Koang Doluony, a redshirt freshman from Omaha Bryan, played nine minutes for Indiana State and scored three points.

— Steven Pivovar

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