One week from today when Creighton opens the 2023-24 season against Florida A&M, it will mark the beginning of their 21st season at CHI Health Center Omaha. That’s hard to believe, but it’s true!
It opened for college hoops as Qwest Center Omaha almost exactly 20 years ago to the date (November 9, 2003) with an exhibition against Nebraska-Omaha, a 72-66 overtime win. Two weeks later, they won the first regular-season game in arena history over San Diego 79-44. As we wait restlessly for the season to begin a week from now, we thought we’d take a look back at the 20 greatest Bluejay moments from those 20 years.
20. Creighton rallies from a 12-point deficit in the final 3:10 to beat Rhode Island, 74-73, in the first round of the NIT on a last-second shot by Cavel Witter (March 18, 2008)
With 3:14 to go, it was 70-58 Rhode Island and most figured the Jays were headed for spring break. Instead, Booker Woodfox buried a pair of threes and P’Allen Stinnett hit another in a dizzying 11-2 run.
Woodfox’s second triple cut the deficit to 72-69 with 1:03 to play; on URI’s next possession, they worked as much clock as they could, but the shot they wound up with was rejected by Stinnett, who corralled his own block and raced downcourt. He found Cavel Witter streaking to the basket, and after a foul and two free throws, it was 72-71 Bluejays. After a pair of free throws by URI to retake the lead, Witter found himself wide open in the corner on the final possession, with the defense focused elsewhere. His buzzer-beater gave CU an improbable win.
19. Creighton overcomes an 11-point deficit in the final 4:22 to beat Missouri State (Dec. 30, 2006)
Trailing 70-59, the Bluejays closed the game on an 18-4 run that featured 13 points from Nate Funk and Anthony Tolliver, and won 77-74. The eventual game-winner came courtesy of Dane Watts, who drained a three in transition off a pass from Funk to give CU a 72-71 lead with 56 seconds left.
18. Despite injuries to three of its top seven players Creighton still blows out Nebraska 70-44 (Dec. 11, 2005)
Injuries to Nate Funk, Jimmy Motz and Pierce Hibma meant that the Jays dressed just eight scholarship players — combined with players already redshirting, they had nine players in uniform and seven in street clothes. A makeshift lineup held the Huskers to 11 first-half points while forcing NU into a school-record 31 turnovers.
The Jays eventually built a 44-17 lead with 12:54 left. At that point of the game, CU’s Johnny Mathies had outscored the Cornhuskers 19-17 all by himself. What more can you say?
17. Mitch Ballock scores 39 points on just 14 shots — 11-for-12 from three (March 9, 2019)
In the regular season finale, Mitch Ballock surpassed the two greatest shooting performances in school history — Ethan Wragge raining in nine 3’s at Villanova in 2014, and Kyle Korver hitting nine against Evansville in 2003 — and then blew past them both. He was a perfect 5-of-5 in the first half, and 6-of-7 in the second, spreading out his destruction equally across the course of the game. And the final pair of threes were among the biggest shots of the game — doubling a six-point lead with 6:58 to play into a 12-point lead 90 seconds later and effectively ending whatever hopes DePaul had of winning what had been a close game.
At the time, just 19 D1 players in NCAA history had made more threes in a game than Ballock did in this one. And no one had ever done it as efficiently as he did — he was 11-for-12 (91.7%) to set the NCAA record for three-point shooting percentage with at least 12 attempts.
16. Creighton holds No. 5 Xavier to 1-of-21 shooting from three-point range in CU’s first top-five win at home since 1970 (Feb. 9, 2016)
Creighton scored 33 second-half points, and Maurice Watson had 22 of them, including seven of their last 11 in the final 3:28. In one thirty-second stretch, he literally — not figuratively, literally — put his team on his back and carried them across the finish line.
Up 60-51, he milked most of the shot clock away and then calmly drove to the rim for a very difficult layup that he made look easy. Next, he rebounded a missed three from Trevon Bluiett, set up the offense, and then drove straight into the teeth of the Xavier defense to make an acrobatic shot at the rim. To cap it off, just seconds later, he stripped Bluiett at the other end of the floor and raced down the court for a layup that made it 66-53 and put any thoughts Xavier may have had about a comeback to rest.
15. Creighton overcomes an 18-point second half deficit to topple No. 18 Oklahoma, 65-63 (Nov. 19, 2014)
The 2014-15 Jays won just 14 games and are the only team in the last quarter-century to miss the postseason. But despite a rebuilding roster that was outmanned almost every single night, they scrapped, clawed and fought their way into being competitive almost every single night. And in early November, that moxie was on full display.
Down 42-24 to Oklahoma after the Sooners scored the first seven points of the second half in under 90 seconds, the arena fell deathly silent. The Jays were one or two bad possessions away from being run out of their own building, something that has rarely happened in 20 years at this arena. Coach Greg McDermott called timeout, but instead of going over X’s and O’s, he used the break as a motivational opportunity. As he looked around the huddle, he recalled on his postgame radio show that his team “had a defeated look on our face. The timeout wasn’t about X’s and O’s. It was about who we want to be.”
A 24-4 Bluejay run followed, and they won 65-63. In terms of program-defining wins, this one looms large: it showed that there was life after Doug McDermott, Grant Gibbs, Ethan Wragge and Jahenns Manigat, because Creighton knew who they wanted to be.
14. Creighton and Bradley play the highest-scoring game in school history, a 111-110 double-overtime Bluejay win (March 1, 2008)
Creighton has had eight players score 40 or more points in a game, and it’s a list that includes many of the biggest names in program history. Bob Portman. Eddie Cole. Tim Powers. Benoit Benjamin. Rodney Buford. Chad Gallagher. Doug McDermott. Cavel Witter.
Cavel Witter?
The other seven are all members of Creighton’s 39-member 1,000 point club; Witter scored 809 in a wildly inconsistent three-year career that saw him score in double figures 37 times and score two or fewer points 19 times. Case in point: exactly two weeks prior to this game, Witter was held scoreless in the first meeting against Bradley. His 42-point game in the rematch, however, ranks as one of the greatest offensive performances in Creighton history, and was the arena record until Doug McDermott’s 45 point outburst in his home finale.
13. Creighton trails 23-6 to DePaul before freshman P’Allen Stinnett breaks loose in his debut (Nov. 9, 2007)
A Creighton squad with nine newcomers had opening night nerves, missing 14 of their first 17 shots with five turnovers. P’Allen Stinnett scored all 23 of his points in the second half, making 9-12 from the floor and a perfect 5-5 from three-point range. He began the half with a layup to give Creighton their first lead of the game, followed by a three to make it 44-40, and then ran off eight straight points as part of a 14-4 run midway through the half.
DePaul gamely kept it a one-possession game, but then Stinnett buried threes on consecutive possessions, missed a dunk on an alley-oop, and converted a layup thanks to a ridiculous pass from Chad Millard. Threes from Josh Dotzler and Cavel Witter immediately followed, giving a Jays team who’d trailed by 17 a double-digit lead, and they’d go on to win 74-62.
12. Creighton outlasts Dayton, 91-90 in the first double-OT game in arena history (Nov. 26, 2005)
Nate Funk scored 15 of his career-high 38 points in the overtime periods, including the game-winner with 5.7 seconds to play where he beat his man off the dribble and split a pair of help-side defenders to get off the shot. Funk hit 10-of-21 shots from the floor, 15-of-18 from the line and added six rebounds in 45 minutes.
11. Creighton survives Colt Ryan (Feb. 21, 2012)
Creighton trailed 71-57 with 7:55 left — and 83-76 with 1:45 to play — on Senior Day 2012 vs. Evansville, but forced overtime when Gregory Echenique deflected in an Antoine Young miss at the regulation buzzer. Then Josh Jones took over in OT and UE’s Colt Ryan, who scored 43 points, missed a shot in the waning seconds as CU won, 93-92.
Oh, and this wild game came just 72 hours after the next entry on our list. Two games, two last-second comebacks, in three days.
10. Antoine Young’s buzzer-beater against Long Beach State (Feb. 18, 2012)
In his second-to-last home game, the player who’d been a Bluejay since his 16th birthday when he became the youngest commit in school history finally had his signature moment. Just after 11pm, his jumper at the buzzer lifted Creighton to an 81-79 win over Long Beach State in a late night BracketBuster game televised on ESPN. His shot capped a game-ending 6-0 run and caused Creighton fans to storm the arena’s floor for the first time.
9. Anthony Tolliver drains a shot from the right baseline as time expires, lifting Creighton to a 57-55 win over Wichita State (Jan. 28, 2006)
Creighton missed 18 of their first 20 shots, and spotted the Shockers a 19-point lead in front of the largest crowd to-date in the three-year old Qwest Center. Their 2-20 start from the field, encompassing the first 14 minutes of the game, led to a 25-6 Wichita lead. They’d go 16-34 the rest of the way, though, with two players leading the comeback — one you’d expect, and one you wouldn’t.
The one you’d never expect was Brice Nengsu, who hit three huge three-pointers, including two straight during a key second-half sequence that cut a 40-32 deficit to 40-38, in the biggest night of his Bluejay career. The one you’d expect was Anthony Tolliver, a junior who was in the midst of a stellar season in which he was developing into the team’s star. He finished the night with 20 points, including 12 in a second half where he went 5-7 from the floor, showing off an array of offensive skills. His buzzer-beater from the wing capped one of the wildest comebacks in arena history.
8. Overtime win over eventual national champ Villanova; at #3, highest ranked team CU has ever beaten (Feb. 24, 2018)
Creighton entered the game as heavy, decided underdogs to the four-time defending Big East regular season champs, a team who had beaten them eight straight times including a 20-point drubbing less than three weeks before. They were short-handed, with Ronnie Harrell out with an infection in his foot and unable to play. They were emotionally drained coming off of three straight Big East losses, including a heart-breaker to Xavier, a meltdown against Marquette, and a blowout at Butler. And they had heavy hearts with senior leader Toby Hegner’s mom battling breast cancer (and undergoing surgery two days beforehand).
But career-defining performances from Marcus Foster (28 points, eight rebounds) and Khyri Thomas (24 points on 9-of-13 shooting, while locking down Jalen Brunson defensively), plus freshman Mitch Ballock’s breakout game (13 points, eight assists, with five points in the final 90 seconds including a three to tie it), led to one of the wildest and most memorable home wins in school history.
7. Mo Watson, Justin Patton lead Jays to win over #9 Wisconsin (Nov. 15, 2016)
This was the win that showed the country that the 2016-17 Bluejays were a legitimate Final Four contender. Marcus Foster and Mo Watson were explosive offensively. Omaha natives Justin Patton and Khyri Thomas were dominant defensively. And a win that leaves Jays fans wondering “what if” all these years later.
6. Doug McDermott scores 39 points, including a game-winning three-pointer with 2.8 seconds left, as CU tops St. John’s, 63-60 (Jan. 28, 2014)
Prior to hitting the game-winner at St. Joseph’s earlier in the season, Doug McDermott had never made a last-second shot to win a game for the Bluejays, believe it or not. That one came on the road, making this game-winner a once-in-a-career moment. Knocked to the ground on the shot, after McDermott’s game-winning three-pointer dropped through, he laid on the court for a few seconds not for dramatic effect, but to soak in the immense roar of the fans inside CenturyLink Center.
Was there any doubt the shot would go in? McDermott told the media afterward that although he didn’t see it go in, he knew it was destined to go in the second it left his hands, and the roar of the crowd let him know he was right.
5. Creighton beats Wichita State in a winner-take-all battle for the league crown (March 2, 2013)
In nearly 100 years of hoops up to that point, Creighton had never before played a winner-take-all game for a regular season conference title. Against that backdrop, Doug McDermott had one of the greatest individual performances in Bluejay history: 41 points, 15-18 from the floor, 5-8 from three-point range, 6-6 from the line, with six rebounds and three assists against the toughest defensive team in the league, when the stakes were at their absolute highest.
He hit back-to-back three pointers after Wichita State had cut the lead to 71-65 with 5:20 to play, pushing the lead back out to 11, and two layups to ice the game in the final three minutes. He exited with 27 seconds left to a standing ovation, chants of “One More Year” and an emotional embrace from his father.
4. Sick with the flu, Marcus Zegarowski hits game-winner on final possession to topple Providence (Jan. 18, 2020)
In spite of a knee that was so stiff he had trouble moving, Ty-Shon Alexander scored 15 second-half points including five straight to tie the game in the final 90 seconds. In spite of flu symptoms that nearly sidelined him and led to one of his worst overall games of the year (six turnovers, zero second half points before his game-winner), Marcus Zegarowski was clutch when it mattered, calmly hitting a game-winning three as the clock ticked down.
3. Creighton never trails in a 67-49 win over preseason league favorite Marquette in the program’s first Big East game (Dec. 31, 2013)
The CenturyLink Center was a madhouse, with students camping out 12 hours before the game to ensure prime seats, 18,525 fans cranking the decibel level to well over 100 for nearly two straight hours. And during a second-half timeout, as Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” blared from the P.A., a well-lubcricated late night New Years Eve crowd swayed and sang along. Fun in the moment, but not something you necessarily remember a decade later.
What made it memorable came after the song stopped. People continued singing along, and when I say people, I don’t mean a handful, I mean the entire arena. 18,000 fans singing a capella spontaneously, with such gusto and sheer joy that it was impossible for even the most cynical and grizzled of fans not to join in. The sound overwhelmed the microphones of FS1’s TV crew. It might have continued for even longer than it did, had the European soccer-style singing not distracted Marquette into a turnover.
Whenever I think back on the first ever Big East game Creighton played, that’s the moment I remember. I suspect I’m not alone.
2. Doug Scores 45, Breaks 3,000 point barrier in home finale (March 8, 2014)
The home finale for Doug McDermott, Grant Gibbs, Ethan Wragge and Jahenns Manigat was a night full of memories. So many that I’ll list them in bullet point form:
- 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 rattling off nine more points to come within a whisker of breaking Colt Ryan’s arena record
- A having-the-time-of-his-life Doug yelling to radio analyst Nick Bahe in the middle of a possession “Here comes Dakota!”, telling him that they were about to run a play they’d executed countless times over the last four years.
1. Clinching the Big East title (March 7, 2020)
At the top of our list: the day the Creighton Bluejays became regular season champions of the best league in the country after 10 weeks of thrilling their fans with one huge win after another, none bigger than this one — a rollicking 77-60 win over Seton Hall in front of a standing-room-only crowd. They ended the game on a 30-10 run spanning over nine minutes, making 11 of their last 12 shots while stringing together one defensive stop after another as the crowd noise ratcheted up to a fever pitch.
Some in that crowd had been waiting for a moment like this for decades. To the doubters who said the Bluejays could never succeed in the big time, CU had now emphatically answered them by finishing in the top half of the Big East in five of seven seasons culminating in a regular season championship. To their fans who wondered if a program that made cutting down nets and raising up banners a March routine in the MVC could reach that pinnacle again at college hoops’ highest level, CU proved it could by literally raising a banner right after the game that said “Big East Champions.”
What a game. What a memory. Certainly the greatest moment (so far) in arena history.