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<\/a><\/p>\n#10 | December 19 and 22, 2011 | 22 Assists in Two Games<\/strong><\/p>\n Even early in his first season at Creighton, Grant Gibbs had a unique ability to get the ball to his teammates in position to score. In just his tenth game, he nearly had Creighton\u2019s\u00a0first point-rebound-assist triple-double in their win at Tulsa, finishing with nine points, seven rebounds and 10 assists. Then three nights later at home against Northwestern, he set the\u00a0CenturyLink Center Omaha record with 12 assists, a mark that tied for sixth-most in Creighton single-game history and was the most by a Bluejay in ten years. In doing so, he became the first Bluejay with consecutive games of 10 or more assists since Duan Cole in 1990.<\/p>\n After the Tulsa game,\u00a0WBR\u2019s Patrick Marshall examined the \u201cGibbs\/McDermott Connection\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and found that two-thirds of McDermott\u2019s 102 baskets to that point had an assist, and of those, half were from Gibbs. To be exact: Gibbs had 59 assists through the Tulsa game, and 34 of them had been to McDermott. You can see their connection in the highlights from that win over the Golden Hurricane.<\/p>\n \n #9 | January 15, 2012 | First Career Dunk<\/strong><\/p>\n Creighton\u2019s 90-71 blowout of Southern Illinois in January of 2012 would have been a run-of-the-mill conference win over a struggling opponent if not for two milestones \u2014 Doug McDermott scoring his 1,000th point and Grant Gibbs throwing down his first career dunk. Fittingly, the dunk was a McDermott\/Gibbs Connection, but in reverse. After catching the ball on the perimeter from Antoine Young in transition, McDermott drew two defenders. Meanwhile, Ethan Wragge put a pick on another SIU defender (two, actually) and Gibbs rolled to the hoop. McDermott zipped a pass to a streaking Gibbs, who exploded for the dunk. It was met with incredulous excitement by pretty much everyone in the arena, most of whom believed he wasn\u2019t capable of dunking due to his injury history and relative lack of leaping ability in general. On Bluejay radio, Nick Bahe was no less surprised, exclaiming, \u201cMeet me at the rim, Mr. Gibbs!\u201d<\/p>\n Scroll to about the 1:30 mark on the highlight reel to check it out.<\/p>\n \n #8 | July 2, 2013 | Sixth-Year Granted<\/strong><\/p>\n It was considered a longshot by most observers, but over the summer the NCAA granted a sixth year of eligibility to Grant Gibbs.\u00a0He\u2019d spent two seasons at Gonzaga before transferring to Creighton, but redshirted his first year there \u2014 a season that coincided with an injury that would have kept him off the floor anyway. Then after his freshman year, he transferred to Creighton, and during the year he was forced to sit out because of the transfer, he had knee surgery for another injury that would have kept him off the floor anyway.\u00a0That was the crux of the appeal for a sixth year, and the reason for the NCAA granting him a rare exemption.<\/p>\n The news was delivered to him in person, and in a pro move, videotaped by Rob Anderson. It\u2019s an all-time classic.<\/p>\n \n #7 | January 13, 2012 | Gibbs the Instigator<\/strong><\/p>\n Grant Gibbs has always had a little Eddie Haskell in him \u2014 seeming to take great joy in subtly pushing an opposing player\u2019s buttons until he boils over with frustration and hurts his team. It\u2019s happened time and again during his career. Sometimes the opponent simply picks up a dumb foul or two, sometimes the opponent tries to show Gibbs who\u2019s boss and makes a terrible decision with the basketball, and sometimes\u2026well, sometimes the opponent snaps.<\/p>\n During a January, 2012 game at Illinois State, Gibbs talked back-and-forth with Johnny Hill all night and in the game\u2019s waning moments, Hill couldn\u2019t take it anymore. As Gibbs came up court with the ball, Hill literally shoved him in the chest, sending Gibbs flying wildly into the scorers table. He was assessed two technical fouls and was ejected from the game, then continued jawing at Gibbs and had to be restrained by his teammates. (That sequence is at roughly the 5:00 mark of the highlight reel)<\/p>\n After the free throws, several Redbird fans threw debris onto the court, including a mini basketball. Gibbs picked it up and held it high where the officials couldn\u2019t help but notice it, then walked it over and handed it to one of them; this of course infuriated the fans even more, because it led to another technical foul being assessed. Gibbs truly embodies the old saying that if he\u2019s on your team, you love him, but if he\u2019s on the other team, you despise him, and that was never more evident than that January night in Normal.<\/p>\n \n #6\u00a0| December 1 and December 6, 2012 | Gibbs\u2019 Behind the Back Pass to Wragge<\/strong><\/p>\n Two early December blowouts in 2012 showcased Gibbs\u2019 passing ability and innate knack for knowing where his teammates would be at any moment. On December 1, they blew out St. Josephs 80-51 thanks to nine assists and no turnovers by Gibbs.\u00a0Here\u2019s what Ott had to say after the game<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cAfter 40 minutes, the Jays shot an identical 57% from the field in both halves. They hit 48% of their three-pointers, with McDermott knocking down 5 of his 7 attempts. The aforementioned offensive explosion doesn\u2019t happen without Gibbs and Chatman. Playing against a team that has all sorts of size and length advantages against the Bluejays, Gibbs and Chatman were nearly flawless in their distribution and facilitation of Creighton\u2019s offense.<\/p>\n Gibbs recorded 9 assists without committing a turnover, pushing his assist-to-turnover ratio to 48-8 for the season (6:1). That\u2019s absolutely ridiculous, but also undeniably necessary for the Big Blue Machine to function.\u00a0McDermott is the team\u2019s star, its best player. But so much of what Doug does wouldn\u2019t happen without the savvy and skill that Gibbs brings night in and night out. He\u2019s Creighton\u2019s most valuable player, and if left to a vote it probably wouldn\u2019t even be close.\u201d<\/p>\n Late in the game, he made one of his best passes \u2014 behind the back to a wide-open Ethan Wragge for a three-pointer (at the 4:30 mark in the highlight reel).<\/p>\n Later that week against Nebraska, he was even better,\u00a0dishing a season-high 10 assists while scoring 5 points, grabbing 5 boards, and committing just 1 turnover. He also earned two large tiger-stripe scratches on the side of his face, which were indicative of the physical and catty nature of that season\u2019s edition of the in-state rivalry game (though the scrum that caused the scratches was nothing compared to the scrum with Terran Petteway in the 2013 edition of the game).<\/p>\n \n #5 | February 7, 2014 | The Return<\/strong><\/p>\n On January 7, Grant Gibbs injured his knee in a game at DePaul, and when he had to be helped off the floor most people assumed the worst \u2014 that with less than 20 games remaining in his career, this was a career-ending injury.\u00a0He was battling under the basket for a rebound and got tangled up with DePaul\u2019s DeJuan Marrero; the play resulted in Gibbs hitting the court awkwardly, grimacing in pain. He laid on the court with his jersey covering his face for several minutes before being helped off the floor, unable to put any weight on the leg. It was a heartbreaking scene.<\/p>\n That made his return a month later even sweeter. One month to the day of the injury, versus the same team he\u2019d suffered the injury against, he removed his warmups and made his way toward the scorers table about two minutes into the game. You could hear the precise moment fans in different parts of the arena realized what was happening, because an excited rumble overtook the arena\u2026and when he\u00a0checked in during a stoppage in play at the 16:59 mark, the resulting noise shook the arena. Even DePaul coach Oliver Purnell noted the significance of the moment and applauded the return of the senior to the lineup.<\/p>\n And what a return it was. 30 seconds after checking in, he threw an assist down the baseline to McDermott for an easy layup. On the very next possession, he threw an assist to McDermott for a three-pointer. It was like he\u2019d never left.\u00a0Gibbs played 21 minutes, with seven points, eight assists, five rebounds and a steal. He looked timid his first few minutes on the floor, constantly adjusting his knee brace during stoppages, and during one sequence opting not to dive on the floor for a loose ball. But as the game wore on and he played more minutes than planned due to foul trouble and Devin Brooks having the flu, he got back into the flow and played a spectacular game.<\/p>\n \n #4 | March 16, 2012 | The Inbounds Pass off the Back<\/strong><\/p>\n There\u2019s no more Gibbsian play than inbounding the ball off the back of a defender to himself, leading to an uncontested layup before the defense knows what happened. It\u2019s the kind of play you make in your driveway when you\u2019re ten years old, but no one does in a Division 1 game either because they don\u2019t have the guts to try it, or because they don\u2019t even notice the opportunity. Not Gibbs. He\u2019s done it at least six times by our count, including on the sport\u2019s biggest stage \u2014 in the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n In the 2012 tourney against Alabama, Creighton was behind 48-41 with 8:45 to play. Inbounding the ball underneath his own basket, Gibbs noticed the Alabama defender had his back to him, so he threw the ball in, bouncing it off the defenders\u2019 back, then scooped it up and laid in a basket. It all happened so quickly that CBS\u2019 crew of Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg weren\u2019t certain what had happened initially; when they saw the replay, Nantz started to explain what he thought had occurred and then stopped, laughing at the absurdity of what had actually happened. You talk about guts of steel \u2014 to make that play, in that situation, on that stage? Yeah.<\/p>\n (You can skip to the 3:15 mark of the highlight reel to view the play.)<\/p>\n \n #3 | March 4, 2012 | Gibbs Scores Five Points in Overtime, Leads CU to Title<\/strong><\/p>\n Playing for the 2012 Arch Madness title, Creighton had to outlast a spunky Illinois State team that was playing for their NCAA Tournament lives. Doug McDermott was brilliant, but it was Gibbs that stepped up to make play after clutch play, taking advantage of all the defensive attention focused on his teammate.\u00a0As Ott wrote following the game<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cLeading the charge among the supporting crew was Grant Gibbs, a player who chose Creighton over Northern Iowa as his transfer destination after leaving Gonzaga because McDermott was winding up in Omaha instead of Cedar Falls. To a man, the Bluejays \u2014 with McDermott the most vocal and frequent advocate \u2014 give Gibbs credit for keeping the team loose all season and facilitating much of the offense through his off guard position. On Sunday, two days after one of his least impressive games of the year, Gibbs (career-high 20 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, no turnovers) proved his teammates profits.<\/p>\n Gibbs made just about every play he could have to keep his team in the game and push them over multiple obstacles to a title. Three-pointers that kept Creighton close in regulation. Two free throws late to keep Illinois State from getting the stop they needed at the stripe. The first basket of overtime \u2014 a three \u2014 that allowed the Jays to open the extra period with momentum. He crashed the boards hard, even while getting fouled but not getting calls. He routinely outfought taller, bigger Redbird players for long caroms and loose balls.\u201d<\/p>\n \n #2 | March 2, 2013 | The Rainbow Three<\/strong><\/p>\n There\u2019s nothing quite like the pressure of winner-take-all game \u2014 Wichita State and Creighton were tied atop the standings on the final day of the season, and the winner would take the regular season title while the loser would be the runner-up.<\/p>\n Ahead 55-52 with 11:37 to play, Doug McDermott checked out for a quick breather. Gibbs found Ethan Wragge for a three to put them up 58-52, and then Wragge made a second three moments later. Gibbs threw an assist to Austin Chatman on the next possession for another three, whipping the crowd into an absolute frenzy and forcing Gregg Marshall to take a timeout. Gibbs had assisted on two three-pointers in 90 seconds and made the pass that set up the assist on a third, but he\u2019d add a three-pointer of his own at the 7:28 mark. Off a wild crosscourt pass from Chatman that nearly sailed over his head out of bounds, he launched a high-arching three from the corner that seemingly stayed up in the air for 10 seconds. It swished through the net, and when it came out the bottom Creighton had a 69-54 lead.<\/p>\n For the game, he had 12 points and eight assists, but it\u2019s that rainbow three that\u2019s the most memorable play he made that afternoon. It\u2019s at the 5:03 mark in the highlight reel.<\/p>\n \n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n