When I previewed this game yesterday, I wrote that Nebraska’s best — nay, only — chance at winning was to make it a knock-down drag-out slugfest played in the low-60s. I didn’t think Nebraska would be successful at forcing their pace and style of play on the Jays, and figured the Jays would run-and-gun their way to a big win. Yet to their credit, for 30 minutes and change Doc Sadler and the Huskers controlled the tempo, slowed the game into a 60-point pace, and had the Jays completely flustered.
Though Creighton led wire-to-wire in the first half, it was far from pretty. They were out of sync from the beginning of the game, starting with Gregory Echenique being whistled for an offensive foul just 16 seconds into the game, and manifesting itself though an uncharacteristic 10 turnovers, many of them unforced errors and the result of sloppy play. Up 30-21 with three minutes to play in the half, instead of closing out the half by putting some distance between themselves and the Huskers they gave up an 8-2 run that sent the visitors into the locker room with momentum and just a three-point deficit.
Much like the halftime act, Quick Change, I hoped the Jays could make some quick changes in the locker room to counter what Doc and the Huskers were doing to them defensively. But as we discussed it in the line for a cold one at the half, I became convinced it wasn’t really anything schematically wrong in the first half, but a lack of energy and focus. Almost like a hangover from the big win three days earlier in San Diego — the one some folks worried about, and I tried to convince them would not be a problem. Oops.
The teams continued to slug it out in the mud for the first ten minutes after intermission. Nebraska tied the game at 37 with 15 minutes to play on a shot by Jorge Brian Diaz, and moments later took their first lead on a three-pointer from Caleb Walker. They ran the lead out to five, 42-37, on a pair of free throws from Toney McCray and with 14 minutes to play, it looked like the Jays were on the verge of falling victim to the dreaded trap game after all.
Doug McDermott stemmed the tide on the next possession, rebounding his own missed shot, then going back up with the ball for a tough basket to make it 42-39. The tough-nosed play got the crowd of 16,561 up on their feet, and they stayed there as McDermott produced a carbon copy of the previous possession — once again missing a contested shot from close range, once again getting his own rebound, and once again going back up with it for a tough basket. This one cut the lead to 42-41, and with the crowd at their loudest volume of the season so far, the Jays forced a turnover. McDermott again — and stop me if I sound like a broken record here — missed a hotly contested shot near the rim, and again got his own rebound. This time, he dished it off to Grant Gibbs, who floated under the basket for a reverse layup and a 43-42 Creighton lead.
Over the next 90 seconds, the teams traded baskets, but with the game still very much being played at Nebraska’s pace and style, you wondered if Creighton could win an ugly game where neither team scored 60 points. Well, I did anyway. I wouldn’t presume to know what you were thinking. ANYWAY, it was at this point where the game took a sharp right turn, thanks to Doc Sadler losing his composure, getting a technical foul, and swinging the momentum of the game irrevocably in Creighton’s favor.
With 9:14 to play and Creighton up by 1, 46-45, Grant Gibbs drove the ball to the lane and drew a hard foul from the Huskers’ Christopher Niemann. Behind the play, Nebraska’s Toney McCray gestured to the ref, protested the call, and was slapped with a technical foul. Was the ref being overly sensitive? Perhaps. Nonetheless, it was a big mistake in an emotional, tightly contested game, and a mistake that was compounded when his coach made it a double technical moments later.
After explaining the reason for the technical to an irate Sadler, the refs convened at the monitor to review the play. Because the monitor happened to be positioned on the Creighton bench end of the scorers table, Greg McDermott stood next to them sharing a few cordial words. Media reports state that Doc asked for, and received, permission to leave the coaches box in order to join the pow-wow. Everything’s fine so far — the officials shouldn’t have a conference at the monitor with one coach and not the other. But then Doc went bat crazy, sat on the scorers table next to McDermott, made a comment about what a game this was, and McDermott laughed a bit, putting his arm around Sadler at one point. It was an amusing moment. The officials didn’t think so.
Things got really nuts: he was t’d up, went ballistic, bumped official Kelly Self, and had to be restrained by his star player Bo Spencer so that he wouldn’t be ejected. As debatable as the technical on McCray was, the “T” on Sadler was a no-brainer. He showed up the official, made a smart-ass comment, and he paid the price. The scene of a coach being restrained by his players — one of which had received a technical of his own just moments earlier — was surreal. But don’t take my word for it; here’s video of the entire sequence from our friends at Ballin’ Is A Habit:
As you can well imagine, the crowd was whipped into a lusty frenzy by this point. Doug McDermott calmly went to the line and sunk two free throws for the original technical foul on McCray, then chuckled a bit at the absurdity of being handed back the ball for two more free throws due to Sadler’s technical foul. He made one of two this time, and then it was Grant Gibbs’ turn to take two free throws for the personal foul that had started all of this mess. He made both, and suddenly a 46-45 lead had turned into a 51-45 advantage. Nebraska never seriously threatened the rest of the way.
From there, the pace and the tempo quickened, as the bizarre six-free-throw possession seemed to energize both the players and the crowd. Passes had more zing on them. Shots started raining in from outside. And before you knew it, what had once threatened to be a game scored in the low 60s was a 76-66 Creighton victory.
All of the press on Monday will be about Sadler’s meltdown, and perhaps rightfully so. It was a completely ridiculous meltdown that swung momentum away from his team and cost them a chance to win. But that obscures some pretty impressive stuff from Creighton. On a day when they put forth far from their “A” performance, they found a way to lead most of the game and, ultimately, to win against a determined opponent playing their best basketball of the year.
With outside shots not falling and Echenique struggling again, they played good enough defense to make the points they did get be enough. Individually, Doug McDermott became the first Bluejay since Nate King in 1994 to get three consecutive double-doubles with his 24 point/12 rebound effort. Grant Gibbs had 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals in a truly remarkable 39 minutes of action. Antoine Young had 14 points and five assists, and went 10 for 10 from the free throw line. Remember two years ago when he struggled so badly from the free throw line that he barely drew iron a few times? Yeah, me neither.
It was the perfect cap on a great day for Creighton athletics — earlier in the day, the soccer team won 1-0 in overtime to earn a trip to the College Cup next weekend, punching their ticket to the final four on a golden goal from Ethan Finlay. While the women’s hoops team dropped a tough loss to #3 Notre Dame at Sokol Arena, getting two wins is pretty good. I think the incomparable Meat Loaf put it best when he sang, “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad.” Indeed, Meat. Indeed.
Now the 7-0 Jays take five days off to work on their own game after spending much of the season’s first three weeks preparing for opponents. It’s a crucial five days, as the next opponent is a much-improved St. Joseph’s team in Philadelphia. They’ll more than likely move up into the high-teens in the coaches poll for the first time since the Korver years tomorrow, and break into the AP poll somewhere in the twenties. Heady stuff for a team that still leaves many observers thinking they’re only scratching the surface of what they’re capable of.
You bet.