{"id":2916,"date":"2022-03-18T16:22:05","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T16:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whiteandbluereview.com\/dev\/?p=2916"},"modified":"2022-07-08T14:48:16","modified_gmt":"2022-07-08T14:48:16","slug":"morning-after-creighton-rallies-from-nine-points-down-with-three-minutes-left-trey-alexander-etches-his-name-in-bluejay-lore-with-march-heroics-in-72-69-ot-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whiteandbluereview.com\/dev\/morning-after-creighton-rallies-from-nine-points-down-with-three-minutes-left-trey-alexander-etches-his-name-in-bluejay-lore-with-march-heroics-in-72-69-ot-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Morning After: Trey Alexander Etches His Name in Bluejay Lore with March Heroics in 72-69 OT Win"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDon\u2019t ever, ever quit on these Bluejays! Because these Bluejays will never, ever quit on you!\u201d -Voice of the Bluejays John Bishop<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How?<\/p>\n

Down by 14 in the first half, down for 19:31 of the second half, down by nine points with two minutes to play, down one of their senior leaders due to fouls in overtime and down the Big East\u2019s Defensive Player of the Year due to injury, the Creighton Bluejays were somehow UP when the final horn sounded. The 72-69 comeback win over San Diego State in the opening round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament is one Jays fans will remember for a long time.<\/p>\n

How?<\/p>\n

Trey Alexander and a thesaurus page full of synonyms for toughness, that\u2019s how.<\/p>\n

Wow.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

All of Creighton\u2019s worst habits and flaws reared their ugly heads early in Thursday night\u2019s game. Poor decision making with the ball, sloppy turnovers, blown defensive assignments, too much one-on-one offense and rushed shot selection \u2014 the hallmarks of Creighton\u2019s biggest losses all showed up in the first half as they fell behind by 14. Combined with a hallmark of March nightmares past, an opposing player low on the scouting report going off for a career night \u2014 in this case Chad Baker-Mazara, who scored 15 of SDSU\u2019s 18 points in a run that built that 14 point lead \u2014 CU fans undoubtedly figured this was another of THOSE games.<\/p>\n

But these<\/em> Bluejays aren\u2019t the same as those<\/em> Bluejays. There\u2019s a sense from the top down that they\u2019re never out of a game, that a comeback is just an adjustment or two away. Even when things look as bleak as they did on Thursday.<\/p>\n

They trailed 35-21 after Baker-Mazara\u2019s offensive explosion, and Alexander was on the bench with two fouls. At that point they were 0-of-6 from three-point range, they\u2019d turned it over nine times on their first 25 possessions, and allowed SDSU to shoot 52% from the floor.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s when they decided they weren\u2019t going out without a fight. Their defense stiffened, as Baker-Mazara went scoreless the rest of the half and scored just two more points the rest of the game. They took better care of the basketball, helping them end the half on a 9-2 run that cut the deficit in half and sent them into the locker room with momentum.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we decided that well before the game,\u201d Ryan Hawkins said. \u201cWe weren\u2019t ready to go home as a team. I\u2019m not ready to be done playing yet. I still love it. I still love these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arthur Kaluma agreed, saying \u201cI love my guys. I love this team. I love how we come together in tough times and how we\u2019re able to work through a lot of things, a lot of the adversity. And, like, we don\u2019t splinter off. Like, we\u2019re always connected and you can see it on our faces, you could see in our style, you could see it in our eyes when we hoop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then they spent the second half chipping away, chasing down the Aztecs a little at a time. San Diego State had an answer for every Creighton burst\u2026until they didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

CU cut the lead to five just three minutes into the half, 41-36, after a pair of long jumpers by Alexander. But he picked up his fourth foul on the next defensive possession, and the Aztecs soon led by nine again.<\/p>\n

They cut the lead to six, 52-46, with 10 minutes to go after two consecutive buckets by Alex O\u2019Connell. But Kaluma picked up his fourth foul after the Jays failed to secure a defensive rebound on the next possession, and soon it was a three-possession game again. Alexander was still on the bench with four fouls, Kaluma had to stay on the floor and risk fouling out because there was no one to bring in for him with the Jays\u2019 injury depleted roster, and even for the perennially-hopeful Bluejays, it looked bleak. Right?<\/p>\n

Nope.<\/p>\n

Alexander was leading the charge from the bench. \u201cI just wanted to make sure that I was encouraging people on the bench,\u201d he said. \u201cI made sure that everybody was staying into the game and making sure that everybody knew that we could win a game that was very winnable, and go on a run that I felt was bound to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

With 4:33 to go, Kaluma finally hit his first three-pointer of the game and it cut the lead to five, 58-53. But on the next defensive trip, SDSU\u2019s Matt Bradley secured a tough offensive rebound off of a missed shot and was fouled in the process. He hit the first free throw, missed the second, grabbed his own rebound \u2014 and then kicked it out to teammate Trey Pulliam for a three-pointer. The seemingly backbreaking four-point sequence made it 62-53 Aztecs with 3:48 to go. Surely THIS was the point of no return, right?<\/p>\n

Nope.<\/p>\n

Creighton\u2019s defense gave the Aztecs a taste of their own medicine, ratcheting up the pressure and forcing four turnovers in the final three minutes to fuel CU\u2019s transition game. And their stars hit one giant basket after another.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connell drew a foul and hit a pair of free throws. With 1:55 to go he nailed a three-pointer. 48 seconds later Ryan Kalkbrenner hit a short jumper. Just like that, with 1:07 left, it was a two-point game. And then with the clock ticking on the game, the season, and the career of their seniors, Alexander drove into the teeth of the nation\u2019s #2 defensive squad, attacked the closeout, and sank a floater to tie the game.<\/p>\n

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9-0 run by Creighton and WE ARE TIED \ud83d\ude31#MarchMadness<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/CkgcKSpJkg<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 18, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n