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Men's Basketball

Morning After: #13 Creighton 88, Providence 73

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[Box Score]

Key Stats: Creighton outrebounds Providence 32-31, including 22-15 in the first half when the game was still being decided. CU makes 8-14 three-pointers in the first half, while PC makes just 2-12.

Favorite Moment: How do you pick a favorite moment on a night like this? Memories were being made everywhere from the moment the players came out onto the court for warmups. There was Warren Buffett, festooned with Bluejay temporary tattoos on his face, having a one-on-one discussion with Doug McDermott during shootaround. There was the standing ovation as the Creighton players left the court after shootaround, a louder noise 30 minutes before the game than you used to hear during actual games seven or eight years ago. There was “Oh Canada” being played before the US national anthem, as an obviously touched Jahenns Manigat sang along, choking back both tears and a giant grin. There was public address announcer Jake Ryan introducing Manigat as “The Canadian Red Bull” and Ethan Wragge as “The Lumberjack” and Doug McDermott as…something inaudible, as the roar of the largest crowd to witness any event ever at CenturyLink was so loud no one could hear anything.

And that was before the ball was even tipped.

Once the game started, the memories kept coming. Ethan Wragge’s final three-pointer at home, fittingly a long-range three from in front of the visiting bench. Jahenns Manigat playing the most inspired defense of his career, holding the Big East’s second-leading scorer Bryce Cotton to just three shots and no points in the first half. Doug McDermott’s breakaway slam dunk early in the second half. The roar every time the scoreboard showed an industrious fan who had made a sign with updated point totals tracking Doug’s distance from 3,000 points. The anticipatory roar when that sign was shown during a timeout and “2,998” was next to Doug’s name. Doug surpassing 3,000 points on an absurd step-back three-pointer from 28 feet, holding up three fingers as he ran down court to the loudest noise I’ve ever heard in a sporting venue. The timeout after the next possession when the standing ovation was still continuing, oblivious to the action on the court, so that Coach Mac — Dad — could give Doug — his son — a hug. A determined Doug coming back into the game, intent on setting the arena scoring record, then ratting off nine more points to come within a whisker of breaking Colt Ryan’s record. The crowd singing “Sweet Caroline”, serenading Doug with an acapella version while he shot free throws. A having-the-time-of-his-life Doug yelling to radio analyst Nick Bahe in the middle of the next possession “Here comes Dakota!”, telling him that they were about to run a play they’d executed countless times over the last four years.

The curtain calls. My goodness, the curtain calls. One by one, Greg McDermott subbed out his seniors, getting each of them their own well-earned final standing ovation from the 18,800 fans in attendance, none of whom had departed early. Wragge, the final player on the roster not recruited by Coach Mac, getting a long, emotional hug from his head coach. Manigat getting down on his hands and knees to kiss the Bluejay logo at center court before leaving it for the last time. Gibbs following suit. McDermott exiting for the final time as grown men openly wept. The speeches after the game, with four well-spoken young men articulating so well what Creighton has meant to their lives and how thankful they are to everyone that helped them along the way.

Favorite moment? Can the entire night be a favorite moment?

Quick Recap: The first five points of the game were scored by Doug McDermott on a nifty layup and Grant Gibbs on a three-pointer, two of Creighton’s seniors seizing the moment and getting their team off to a fast start. After Avery Dingman made a basket at the 15:10 mark to give Creighton an 8-5 lead, they proceeded to make 11 — ELEVEN — straight field goals over the next seven minutes. First McDermott made a basket, then a second, and then a three-pointer, and then a second three-pointer. After those ten straight points by McDermott, it was clear that this was a man on a mission. He wasn’t content with just making sure Creighton won the game. He was going to get 34 points so that he could surpass 3,000 for his career in front of his home fans.

His teammates soon joined in the fun. First, a steal and a fastbreak layup by Avery Dingman. Then a bucket at the rim by Will Artino. Then two free throws by Dingman. Then a three-pointer by Ethan Wragge from in front of the Providence bench. Next, a jumper by Austin Chatman. And finally, another basket from Doug McDermott. Eleven straight field goals without a miss. It was a 26-9 run that obliterated any hopes Providence had of spoiling Creighton’s Senior Night; when Jahenns Manigat missed a three to end the streak of 11 straight buckets, his team led 34-14. They’d tack on six more points before Providence scored again, all totaled a 32-9 run with McDermott scoring 18 of the 32 points. They took a 45-22 lead into the half, with Doug McDermott scoring as many points by himself as Providence did as a team.

They’d done more than score almost at will, though. Manigat played such tremendous defense on Bryce Cotton that the Big East’s second-leading scorer, a player some foolish people believed was a viable candidate for Big East Player of the Year, took only three shots and scored zero points. Providence missed 22 shots, but was able to get an offensive rebound on just three of them, and Creighton led them overall 22-15 on the glass. It was a complete and total domination of a good, NCAA Tournament-worthy opponent. A statement performance after a week in which the Jays dropped two straight road games.

So complete was the domination that the second half was less about competition than it was about a celebration. A coronation, actually — of Doug McDermott, of four special seniors the likes of which have rarely been seen at Creighton, capping off a journey from the Missouri Valley to the Big East with a perfect 16-0 home record in which they never trailed in the second half of any of the 16 games.

There’s unfinished business for this group. The Big East Tournament awaits, and then the NCAA Tournament, where the desire to advance beyond the first weekend is palpable. With Doug McDermott as their leader, playing at a level like he was on Saturday night — a manchild doing absolutely anything he wanted to against a really good defense that he dismissed with the indifference only the truly great ones can summon — maybe the second weekend of the tournament is setting their sights too low.

What Others Are Writing:

The excellent Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com was in Omaha covering the game, and he turned in an amazing piece of writing for the site. His ability to convey the emotion of the night is amazing; I had chills reading it.

“That’s the most fun I’ve had watching a basketball game,” one NBA front-office exec in attendance told Bleacher Report’s C.J. Moore in another good read.

“It was a special night for them,” Providence coach Ed Cooley told the Providence Journal in their game recap.

GoLocalProvidence.com’s John Rooke writes that “With McDermott’s talents leading the way for his teammates – who were only too glad to accept the ride alongside greatness, the Friars really weren’t in it after the first five minutes.”

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