Ok, everyone take a deep breath and exhale. It’s okay, I will wait…….There doesn’t that feel better?
Wednesday night was to be what many considered to be Creighton’s biggest test of the season–a game at San Diego State as a part of the MVC/MWC Challenge. Like Max Univers said in his primer, the “tough” games that the Bluejays had played already had some kinks based on those team’s performances after the Bluejays played them. So another test on the road was just what was needed.
McDermott leads the way again, but it was a total team effort (Creighton Athletics)
Fans gathered at local hot spots throughout the Omaha metro as the game had a late 9:30 start and the major cable carrier in the metro, Cox Communications, did not carry The Mtn network. My choice of the evening was with Max at Aksarben Cinema where Creighton Athletics was hosting a viewing party for season ticket holders. It was just great. There was food for the snacking. The biggest theater in the place was sectioned off for the party and it was a packed house. The Creighton Pep Band and Billy Bluejay were there. They were even throwing out shirts during the game. It almost felt like a home game, but it wasn’t. The Creighton men’s basketball team was clear out in San Diego at Viejas Arena full of Aztec fans. Creighton Otter and Panon from WBR were out there along with a few handfuls of Creighton fans in an arena that is known for being rowdy and putting on “The Show.”
Things started off rocky for the Bluejays. San Diego State was on fire from the field, and Creighton looked like they were still on the Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier that they took a tour of yesterday. With 11:32 left to go in the first half, the Bluejays only had 7 points. By the 6:42 mark of the first half, Creighton was down 31-14. The buzz that was in the air at Aksarben Cinema had dwindled. I turned to Max and said, “I’m thinking this is going to get ugly. It is going to be a long night.”
While the fans held their heads down, the Bluejays did not. Everything changed. Antoine Young scores a quick basket and then Ethan Wragge scores a basket, his first two point attempt of the season, and gets the foul. The Bluejays started inching back into the game and went on a 21-8 run to finish the half and are within four points. After Doug McDermott struggled in the first half of the second half, he found a way out of the Aztec double, and sometimes triple, teams and still hit the half with 14 points and 8 rebounds.
Creighton came out of the second half with the same energy as they did in the first and San Diego State looked like they were the ones that were lost. The Aztecs were able to get to the basket pretty easily to start the game, but for the last 26 minutes, they started relying on jump shots. At the same time, Creighton’s defense tightened. The Bluejays finally got their first lead with 6:43 left in the game on a Young 3-pointer. Although San Diego State would tie the game right after that, Grant Gibbs hit an awkward reverse layup and gave the lead back to the Bluejays that they would never relinquish again. They showed their toughness with a score on their final eight possessions of the game and sealed it after Jahenns Manigat missed a free throw with five seconds left, but still found the moxy to jump to the floor on the loose ball to secure it with two seconds left. The Bluejays escape with an 85-83 win.
The final twenty minutes was a complete team effort by the Bluejays. Somehow everyone got involved. Young found ways to drive to the basket to score. Austin Chatman dished out 6 assists and only one turnover while giving some rest to Young. Josh Jones hit some shots, Will Artino had some great minutes getting a dunk, Gibbs dished out 6 assists, and even though Gregory Echenique struggled mightily in the first half, he battled back in the second hitting some big shots down the stretch. McDermott found different ways to score again to finish with 25 points and 12 rebounds.
But in the waning minutes, the night belonged to Ethan Wragge. Wragge came of the bench to throw in 19 points and 5 rebounds. He had three baskets in the final four minutes that saved the game for the Bluejays. He drained a three pointer, his fourth of the night, to break the 69-69 tie. He then followed up on a miss by McDermott to put Creighton up 76-74. His final basket came on a Manigat drive to the basket who found Wragge while he was in the air for a layup to put Creighton up 84-81. Wragge also came up with some big rebounds. There is definitely a lot more strength to his game this season, and it showed on Wednesday night.
Ultimately, what you see here is a team that is special. To be able to come from 17 points down and with all the players mentioned, it took a total team effort to get this win. It could have been easy to just pack it in and give up, but they didn’t. That’s what makes it special. They all want to win. It was another great showing of unselfishness with 18 assists on 31 baskets. They were able to score 71 points over the final 26 minutes of the game. That just does not happen on its own.
Creighton now heads back to Omaha for a Sunday afternoon battle against in-state rival Nebraska. I’m sure the CenturyLink Center will be packed for that one and I’m sure we will all be holding our breath again to see what kind of magic the Bluejays can make.
