NORMAL - Lloyd Phillips went into the locker room at halftime 0 for 5 from the field, including 0 of 2 from 3-point range. The Illinois State junior point guard had two points and two turnovers.

"I was terrible," he said later.

Not to worry.

Phillips had been in this position earlier this season … seemingly every game.

As has been his pattern, he came alive in the second half Saturday night, scoring 11 points on 4 of 6 shooting to help ISU pull away to an 86-64 victory over Creighton at Redbird Arena.

Phillips finished with 13 points, seven assists and three turnovers while adding to his impressive second-half season totals. The 5-foot-10 junior college transfer has averaged 7.6 points in second halves this year, highest on the team.

"I don't know what it is. I'm a different person in the second half," Phillips said.

Saturday night, he sank a 3-pointer a minute and a half after halftime for his first field goal. The sellout crowd roared and Phillips let out a huge sigh.

"I was like, 'Finally,'" he said. "It was like the weight of the world off my shoulders."

Four minutes later, his team leading 46-42, Phillips connected again from 3-point range. On the next possession, he scored on a drive, was fouled and completed the three-point play. The six straight points put ISU ahead by 10 and Creighton did not get closer than seven the rest of the way.

"I probably get a little too amped up for the game. I'm pressing too hard, trying to score and make plays (in the first half)," Phillips said. "But nobody lost confidence in me tonight. Everybody said, 'Keep playing, it's going to come.'

"Some of my best games have come when I haven't done anything in the first half. I go in the locker room and Coach Jank (Tim Jankovich) says, 'Keep being aggressive, keep being aggressive.' It just opens up in the second half."

Phillips is now 35 of 66 from the field in second halves, including 12 of 24 from 3-point range. He averages 12 points per game despite his first-half struggles.

"I could play two halves in junior college, but this isn't junior college," he said. "I just have to get better and try to put a whole game together."

Until then, Phillips is not likely to tempt fate. Asked if he planned to alter his pre-game routine, in hopes of getting off to a better start, he smiled and said, "We're 14-0 the way I'm playing in the first half. I might as well keep playing that way in the first half."

Phillips' second-half surge helped ISU win easily after leading 35-31 at the half. A big part of the win was ISU's defense on Creighton's Booker Woodfox, who came in averaging 17.6 points and shooting 53 percent from 3-point range.

ISU senior guard Emmanuel Holloway was the primary defender against Woodfox, who finished 2 of 11 from the field (1 of 5 from 3-point range) and scored 11 points.

"I've learned that if you make it difficult for a player to score every time they touch the ball, when they get open shots they're going to rush and probably going to miss," Holloway said. "I think he went 1 for 3 on wide open ones. I thought I did OK against him."

Holloway said Phillips did more than OK in the second half. He has come to expect a boost from him after halftime.

"He gets the momentum of the game. He's a smart player," Holloway said. "Tonight in the first half he was trying to go fast and he realized he had to slow down and let the game come to him.

"I think all of our guards can give you a spark like that. He's more than capable of giving us a spark at any given moment."