Louisiana Lafayette’s Elfrid Payton walks off the court after losing to Creighton in the NCAA college basketball tournament. / AP

SAN ANTONIO — Wherever Doug McDermott went, for a large part of the afternoon, Elfrid Payton went there too.

Payton was on him, behind him, around him.

The Ragin’ Cajun point guard hounded the nation’s leading scorer relentlessly, so much so it ultimately may have worn him down on the other end.

And with McDermott scoring a game-high 30 points, no matter what else UL had — be it Payton’s 24 points, foul-plagued Shawn Long’s 15 or even a four-point lead for a short stretch in the second half — it would not be enough for the Cajuns’ to dance another day.

No. 16-ranked Creighton beat UL 76-66 in their Round of 64 NCAA Tournament West Regional game at the AT&T Center here.

“Well, it affected (Payton),” UL coach Bob Marlin said of the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year’s relentless effort on McDermott, who came into the tourney averaging 26.9 points per game. “We asked him if he wanted a rest or if he wanted to stay. He’s been an ironman for us down the stretch. He played a lot of minutes. Didn’t want to come out. He’s such a competitor.

“We didn’t execute the last couple of possessions. We broke a couple plays and didn’t get a bounce on a couple of shots. They hit some big shots on the other end and got some good bounces in the second half.

“But Elfrid was a little bit tired,” Marlin added. “I mean, chasing No. 3 around out there will make you tired. I got tired watching him.”

Even with all that McDermott was doing, moving all over the place without the ball and hitting a huge 3 when much-needed, UL did still manage to hang in and have a shot at the end in this matchup of a No. 3 seed from Omaha vs. a No. 14 seed from Lafayette.

The Cajuns, though, just didn’t have what it took to turn tables on Creighton like No. 14 seed Mercer did on No. 3 seed Duke earlier in the day’s madness.

“Yeah, it kinda went our way at a point in time,” UL shooting guard Xavian Rimmer said. “But we couldn’t get enough stops, and it’s probably what cost us the game.”

“I felt like, going into the game, we were very capable of beating these guys,” added Long, who picked up two quick fouls in the first minute of the season half and his fourth just a few minutes later. “We fought hard throughout the game, and they just hit some nice shots down the stretch.”

UL was still down by only four after Payton made two free throws with 2:27 remaining.

But McDermott slid away from Payton for a 3-pointer from the top of the key on the other end to make it 71-64, and after a timeout with 1:54 left Payton missed a trey try of his own.

“Maybe I could have gotten in the lane instead of pulling up for that 3,” Payton said. “It’s easy to say looking back now, but I really don’t know.”

McDermott came back for two more by driving on Payton, and after Payton missed two free throws with one minute left that was essentially that.

UL used everything and everybody from Rimmer Elridge Moore, Steven Wronkoski and even some zone on McDermott from the time to time, but Payton handled the bulk of the load as a point guard on a decidedly mobile power forward.

Eventually, it caught up with the Cajuns.

Creighton didn’t necessarily think so.

“I thought he (Payton) did a good job of controlling the tempo of the game,” coach Greg McDermott said. “I don’t think he expended any more energy than he usually does, because the kid plays his tail off every game that I’ve watched. So I’m not surprised at that.”

“Yeah, he (Payton) is an unbelievable player,” son Doug added McDermott added. “To do what he did on the offensive end … (and) I was trying to make it as hard as possible all night to get him tired or get him in foul trouble. … he’s got a motor like none other.”

Even Payton, though, acknowledged just how tough it was to keep it revved on both ends while stalking such a prolific scorer.

“I think I did a good job keeping him (McDermott) uncomfortable,” Payton said. “To his credit, he made some plays down the stretch, a big 3 and a tough 2.

“As far as on the other end, it kind of affected me having to run around so much on the other end. But no excuses.”