Morning After: #19 Seton Hall 68, Creighton 67

[Box Score]

Key Stats:

Creighton attempts just 15 three-point shots, tied for their fewest in any game this season, and just four in the second half — the lowest number of three-point attempts in a half since February 19, 2013 (a 59-45 home win vs Southern Illinois). That means they attempted 32 two-point shots, and made 18 of them, a big reason they outscored Seton Hall 36-22 on points in the paint. Unfortunately, CU misses eight free throws (13-21), including three in the final four minutes of the game.

Standout Performance:

In his first career start, James Milliken scored 20 points on 8-16 shooting, on a variety of dribble drives to the rim, mid-range jumpers, and three-point shots — giving the offense a dimension it really hasn’t had this year. He’s the ninth (!) different player to lead the team in scoring, and they’ve played just 17 games.

Recap & Analysis:

I don’t know about you, but I’m still sick to my stomach about this game. I spent all night chewing on this, and in all my years of watching Creighton hoops, I can’t recall a Bluejay team that fought harder, played more determined, with less than the team that battled the 19th ranked Pirates on Saturday.

The point of reference a lot of fans talked about afterward was the severely undermanned squad that blitzed Nebraska in 2005, but that was a bad Husker team and the game was over inside of ten minutes, shorthanded or not; the last 30 minutes was more of a celebration/running out of the clock than a fight. This was something different. This was a battle for 40 minutes, a game with eight ties and 13 lead changes, and every single player that saw minutes left every ounce of themselves on the court.

The determination this team showed — to be better than they were in their three previous Big East losses, to play a full 40 minutes, to get a win — was evident before the game even started. When the lights went down and the pregame video played, the flag bearers ran out onto the court as usual. But the players weren’t behind them. Instead, they were still in the tunnel, getting one last pep talk. After the fight song ended and the lights came back up, there was an awkward moment in the arena as people asked one another, “Where are the Jays?” before the team charged out almost in a sprint, led by seniors Will Artino, Avery Dingman, Devin Brooks, and Austin Chatman.

They weren’t going to let this team lose, at least not without a fight. Sure, they were down a man, as Zach Hanson — who’d injured his shoulder in practice on Thursday — was unavailable. But Artino was about to have to game of his life, producing at such a high level and playing with such passion that I’m not sure Coach Mac could have taken him out of the game even if Hanson had been healthy. He played 35 minutes, scoring 14 points and securing 11 rebounds, including three offensive boards, and was active defensively without fouling. And if the final seven seconds had ended differently, I think we’d recall this 20 years from now as The Will Artino Game. But we’ll get to that later.

CU started a smaller lineup, no doubt in an attempt to prevent what had happened on Wednesday night where DePaul blew out to an early lead thanks to a barrage of three-pointers, and it payed early dividends when Avery Dingman blocked Jaren Sina’s first shot attempt, and James Milliken raced to the other end for a layup. After a free throw from Artino and a driving layup from Chatman, it was 5-0 Jays.

Then another of their patented dry spells hit, and they went four minutes without a point. Seton Hall used it to run off an 11-0 run that could have taken the wind out of the sails of a lesser team. Especially when, two minutes later, still down 14-7, Austin Chatman left the game for good with an injury, and the Jays were forced by circumstance to sub in a freshman walk-on in his place. Tyler Clement would play nearly every second the rest of the way — 26 of a possible 29 minutes — and play admirably.

Here’s what Clement was up against. He was suddenly captaining a team trying to upset the 19th ranked squad in the country. He was trying to defend one of the best guards in the country — an uber athletic, quick, veteran guard at that — in Sterling Gibbs. He was trying to run an offense that was sputtering even before he was thrust into action. It could have been overwhelming. It probably should have been, honestly.

Instead, he held his own, handled the ball well, and didn’t turn it over — while his overall line isn’t terribly impressive (0-3 from the floor, two rebounds, four assists), the fact that he had just one turnover in 26 minutes is very impressive. He didn’t finish a ton of plays, but he made a lot of plays that set up other players to finish plays, and most importantly, he didn’t make mistakes, which allowed his teammates to flourish.

The biggest beneficiary was James Milliken, the JuCo transfer who redshirted last year, finally had a breakout game against South Dakota where he scored 23 points, and then was promptly suspended. Upon returning, he’s struggled to re-acclimate himself to the rotation, but given a chance to start on Saturday, he took full advantage. Down 14-9 and with Clement now running the show in Chatman’s absence, he sparked the run that changed the game. First, he hit a three to make it 14-12. After the teams traded an Artino layup for a Gibbs three, he hit another trey to make it 18-17. Gibbs made another bucket for Seton Hall on the other end, but no matter — Milliken dished an assist to Rick Kreklow, who drained a three to tie the game at 20. Then after a defensive stop, he drove to the rim and made a tough shot to give the Jays a 22-20 lead.

They’d take a 32-30 lead into the break after Milliken assisted on another three from Kreklow, followed by Devin Brooks hitting a jumper as time was winding down. It was their first halftime lead since December 19, and it had to have felt good.

The second half was a wild, back-and-forth affair, with six ties and seven lead changes, including four lead changes in the final two minutes. The sequence began with the score tied, 61-61, and 3:14 to play. First, Milliken drained a jumper to make it 63-61. Then Khadeen Carrington sank two free throws to tie it. On Creighton’s end, Milliken drove to the rim but had his shot blocked by Angel Delgado, and Brandon Mobley made a bucket to give The Hall a 65-63 lead. Will Artino was fouled on the next possession, and calmly sank both free throws to tie it once more. A missed three by Mobley was secured by Kreklow, and the Jays had the ball with 37 seconds left. Milliken launched a shot with 18 seconds left that missed, but Artino was there to scrap for the ball amidst two Pirate defenders, successfully outjumped them, and tipped it back in to give the Jays a 67-65 lead.

It would have been the game-winner, but Sterling Gibbs had other ideas. After Pirate coach Kevin Willard called timeout to draw up a play with seven seconds remaining, Gibbs took the ball just inside the halfcourt line, took three dribbles, and created just enough separation between himself and Avery Dingman to put up a contested 22-footer. It touched nothing but net, and in an instant, 17,000 wildly screaming fans were silenced. It was 68-67 Seton Hall, and just two seconds were left.

Coach McDermott diagrammed a play that got Milliken an open three — Kreklow inbounded the ball with a baseball-style pass to half court, where Will Artino caught it amidst three defenders and passed it to a wide-open Milliken on the left side — but his shot hit the front of the rim and bounced away.

In the 196-game history of CenturyLink Center, this is the first time an opponent has hit a shot to bring them from behind to win with less than 2.5 seconds remaining, and just the third time it’s happened with ten seconds or less. And while it’s always heartbreaking when that happens, it hurts particularly hard when the team fights this hard, plays this well, through this much adversity, only to get stomach-punched at the end.

This one stings. This one will take a while to get over.

Quotables:

“That was unfortunate we couldn’t convert on that final possession. We only had two seconds to get it done, we executed it perfectly, and James just didn’t get a good handle on it. He still got a good shot off, but it was just a little short.” -Tyler Clement on 1620AM Postgame

“We tried to keep it moving on offense. That was our emphasis in practice the last couple of days, to keep things moving both with and without the ball. We moved the ball well and got some good shots in both halves, and that was a big difference between this game and last game.” -Tyler Clement on 1620AM Postgame

“I was just trying to take it one possession at a time. Gibbs is a great player, and he hit shot after shot today even though they were contested. I did my best to stay in front of him and contest everything, but he still hit a lot of them. And that last shot at the end was big. It was unfortunate, but that was a great shot.” -Tyler Clement on 1620AM Postgame

“On the final possession, we knew Gibbs was going to try to get open and get a shot. We were mainly focusing on him, and once we saw him take the ball out we tried to not let the ball get back to him. I think James was there on the contest, I didn’t have a great view of it but it was a tough shot.” -Tyler Clement on 1620AM Postgame

“We played a lot better overall tonight, and that’s really encouraging compared to the last couple of games. And we definitely had some better offense tonight. We were trying to attack more, and definitely attack sooner in the possession. You saw James was driving a lot, Avery was driving a lot, and that was by design. We were trying to get some easier offense by attacking and keeping the ball moving, and we did a lot better job of that today.” -Tyler Clement on 1620AM Postgame

“We drew that last play up early in the season, actually. It was designed to go to either me or Isaiah, and we both knock the shot down every day in practice. Ricky threw a perfect pass, and Will tipped it perfectly, but it had a little funky spin to it. As I was trying to anticipate it’s arrival, it slipped off my fingers with that spin, and I kind of double-clutched it.” -James Milliken on 1620AM Postgame

“Coach DeVries emphasized a lot to attack this team, because they’re a weaker group on defense than we’ve faced. He wanted us to attack, and we ran a lot of attack the rim in the halfcourt and transition attack drills. We tried to just put our head down and drive to the basket whenever we could.” -James Milliken on 1620AM Postgame

“I’m proud of all my teammates. We competed tonight. Everybody, across the board, competed. Tyler came in and provided energy. Everybody thought we were going to tank after Austin went out, but Tyler came in and picked everybody back up, kept us going, and kept our intensity up.” -James Milliken on 1620AM Postgame

“I was prepared, because as we went through practices leading up to the game, in our two game prep practices Coach Mac had me with the starting group. They tried to keep my confidence up, and encourage me to drive to the basket. It was fun because I was loose coming right out of warmups, and able to come right out on the court. It was enjoyable. I feel like if we keep competing every day in practice, and keep having each other’s backs, then this will be the start of something really good.” -James Milliken on 1620AM Postgame

“This is a tough one to swallow. I’m so proud of my guys. Could not be more proud of the effort, and the stick-to-it-ness that they showed today. They had a million reasons to cave, from Zach being out to Z getting hurt to Austin being out. And for that group to just continue to fight and continue to execute is a real credit to them. I’m really proud of them with everything that took place today. It’s a game of makes and misses sometimes, and they made a challenged three and we missed an open three. I think both coaches would probably take the shot we got over the shot they got, yet theirs went in and ours didn’t. It’s disappointing, it hurts. I hurt for our guys, because I know our guys — especially our seniors — they feel indebted to our fanbase for all the positive things that have transpired during their career, in this community and at this university. They just feel like they owe them. I think they want it more for our fans than they want it for themselves. So this is discouraging, because I thought they gave a great effort and played the way we needed to play today. The guys that were out there competed. A lot of them had to play huge minutes because of our situation with depth on the bench. I just wish we could have found one more basket there somewhere.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame

“On the last possession, I made a late switch coming out of the timeout and decided to put Avery on Gibbs just for the pure size factor. James had been on him for a pretty good stretch, but Avery had just been there and done it more. We wanted to keep it out of his hands. They inbounded it, and ran him kind of off of a screen, and Avery did a good job of blowing that up. Gibbs curled, and Avery had to respect the backdoor just for a second so he was a little late getting back for the jump shot — but he still got back in a great position to contest the shot. And Gibbs hit a big, big, big time shot. He didn’t get to the rim, we made him shoot a challenged three with a hand in his face from a defender who’s 6’6″. He’s a big time player, and he made a big time play.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame

“Especially in transition, we thought we could attack them a little bit more, and then that would lead more to shots at the rim or step-in threes when the defense broke down. From the opening tip, James took it in and really attacked the rim and scored. We tried to get a more aggressive mentality throughout our lineup today. I thought James did a great job of setting the tone early. And we ran some isolation things to put James in a position to where he could attack, and then he did a good job of making decisions when he went in there. He had the hot hand today. On the second-to-last possession, he gets to the rim and misses but he draws the help, so Will was able to tip it in. Then on the last play of the game, we get the ball to him and he gets a clean look at a three to win the game. Sometimes things don’t work out your way. But I thought they had an aggressive nature to their play not only on offense but on defense as well.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame

“We had to sit Avery a long time because he picked up his fourth foul so early in the second half. It was almost to that five-minute mark before we brought him back in. Defensively he gives us flexibility, he can guard guards, he can guard bigs, and he hit a big shot to give us the lead in front of our bench. Avery’s doing a good job. And Will played with great energy and enthusiasm today. Ricky Kreklow, still not fully healthy coming off the flu, but played more minutes than I would have anticipated he’d play.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame

“I can’t say enough about Tyler Clement. He’s thrown into almost an impossible situation with Austin and Isaiah going down, and a lot of guys in that situation would struggle. Tyler’s prepared himself for it, but until you’re thrown into it, you don’t know what’s going to happen. To his credit, the ball moved, he got the ball where it needed to be. On defense when he was on Gibbs, he made a few mistakes but he also made him take some tough shots. Really proud of him. And really proud of his teammates for having the confidence in Tyler to lead us in a tough situation. To be in the game when the game was being decided, and being able to make plays is amazing. He’s a great kid, and he deserved this opportunity. And thank God we had him over there, because we’d have been in big trouble without him.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame

“We’ll learn a lot of good things from this. We’re certainly going to go back and learn from some of the mistakes we made, but we’re also going to learn from some of the positive things that we did. I feel really, really proud of my team, maybe as proud as I’ve felt in a long time even though we lost the game. We were outnumbered, we had lineups out there that have never ever played together before, and they meshed. They had each other’s back. As a basketball coach, that’s what you want. That’s what you’re after. And then you look up at the scoreboard at the end of the game and you hope you scored enough points to win. I’m proud that we hung in there, I’m proud that we gave ourselves a chance to win, and it’s just unfortunate that the ball didn’t bounce our way. And the fans were awesome. They’re a big reason why we came back in this game and continued to fight, because they didn’t want to let us quit.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame

“We left it on the floor, and that’s all you can ask for. We absolutely left everything out there. Like I told the guys, I’m not sure we could walk out of here Wednesday night with our heads held high and sticking our chest out with CREIGHTON on it and be proud of what we did, because I don’t think that’s who we are. Today, that’s who we are. That’s who we need to be. That’s what this program has been since long before I was here, and that’s what it’s going to be for as long as I’m in charge.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame

And Now, Here’s What You Had To Say:

You’re going in at the 5! @_robanderson @gocreighton @CUAlum81 #Creighton pic.twitter.com/T6FgruHKpG

— NYHusker (@HuskerCop) January 10, 2015

Artino’s dunk would’ve probably been a technical in the MVC, no? #ValleyRefs

— Ryan Holmgren (@ryanholmgren) January 10, 2015

Hey @JohnBishop71 any chance @BrodyDeren still has some NCAA eligibility remaining?! If so, then suit him up in the 2nd half today!! #GoJays

— Dave Wenthold (@wenthold) January 10, 2015

Really impressed with the way Tyler Clement has been playing today #scrappy #gojays

— Melissa Hottovy (@melissahottovy) January 10, 2015

No Hanson, No Groselle, No Chatman, No Zierden and it’s the best game the Jays have played in weeks. Weird season. #jays #Creighton

— John Conti (@jsconti) January 10, 2015

This #Creighton team is really showing a lot vs #SETONHALL … Totally undermanned but sticking with them..

— Trevor Hmielewski (@thmielewski) January 10, 2015

Tyler Clement is giving this team tremendous minutes off the bench. The southpaw @tylersmckinney so to speak. #gojays #rolljays #LetItFly

— Jimmy Motz (@JimmyMotz) January 10, 2015

Creighton fans sound LOUD on TV!! #gojays #wishiwasthere

— Carrie Bose (@RibbonsNBose) January 10, 2015

hearing “Lets Go Jays” thru the radio brings a smile to my face 🙂 #rolljays #omaha @1620theJays

— Pearl A. Schroer (@pearliegirlie01) January 10, 2015

“Is his last name Pirates?” – mom #gojays

— Nick Mascio (@Nmascio92) January 10, 2015

That was a beautiful play right there. Just a hair short. #GoJays

— Alex Sass (@alexmsass) January 10, 2015

soul-crushing loss for Creighton, ouch. Huge escape win for Seton Hall #BigEasthoops #SetonHall #Creighton

— Richard Slate (@RichSlate) January 10, 2015

Proud of our team. Keep improving. #rolljays

— Molly McGuire (@MollyMcGuire20) January 10, 2015

Heartbreak for these kids. Such guts today! #gojays

— Bleeds Blue (@CUAlum81) January 10, 2015

Heartbreaker! Got a good look, though. Have to find a way to end the nasty losing streak. #Creighton

— Christian Goering (@cgoering) January 10, 2015

Man those kids deserved a win, wish that last shot would have fallen. Proud of the fight. #RollJays

— Bill Grennan (@Brasky1142) January 10, 2015

That one hurts. Bad. #rolljays

— Austin Gaule (@austinomaha) January 10, 2015

Great effort today… love the fight in the team! #GoJays #DontBurnTheBoatsJustYet

— Chris Douglas (@capnwigglez) January 10, 2015

Super proud of my @BluejayMBB team. They left it all on the court. #GoJays

— Cynthe (@theCyntheCyn) January 10, 2015

No matter what I’m proud. I saw the creighton team we’ve been waiting for and I can’t wait to watch them again. @cucoachmac #rolljays

— Brooke (@bathurman) January 10, 2015

Tough loss for the Bluejays.. But great fight! Hopefully this ignites a fire to start winning games! #LetsGoJays #Creighton

— Luke Bogus (@luke_bogus3) January 10, 2015

Valiant effort by a depleted @BluejayMBB team today. Solid minutes from @TylerClement_11 in relief. #RollJays

— Phil Peters (@93Bluejay) January 10, 2015

Great team effort in defeat by my Jays. Proud of the way they handled adversity. #team #RollJays

— Todd Wenberg (@twenberg1) January 10, 2015

The way you react to adversity is as (if not more) important than how you handle success. Tough loss for @BluejayMBB #rolljays #bigtimebench

— Heidi Woodard (@woodardhi) January 10, 2015

Tough loss today for the Jays but proud of @cucoachmac and his short-handed but gritty team… #rolljays

— Steve Nixon (@SteveNixon33) January 10, 2015

That one is going to sting for a while…Great effort by Creighton MBB today and thank you Jays fans for the tremendous atmosphere at CLCO.

— Kevin Sarver (@KASarver) January 10, 2015

Great effort from the guys, @cucoachmac. Tough break but things will come around. Proud to be a Jays fan. #LetItFly #RollJays

— Josh Yambor (@gocubsjosh) January 10, 2015

@cucoachmac best effort from this team in awhile. Your leadership will get this team over the hump! #rolljays

— volume. tweeter (@jpwilson1982) January 10, 2015

Ugh. I feel awful. I can only imagine how the players feel.

— Dave Sund (@davesund) January 10, 2015

Kevin Willard when asked about the win: “Oh man… Creighton deserved to win that game, they really played well.” #shbb

— Chris McManus (@CerasolisGhost) January 10, 2015

@cucoachmac Hall fan here, Coach. Your guys were terrific today. Ran some great stuff offensively & defended well. Honestly deserved to win.

— Brian Otskey (@botskey) January 11, 2015

Proud of the fellas man

— Ronnie Harrell Jr. (@Sniper4_) January 10, 2015

Never give in

— Avery Dingman (@AveryDingman) January 10, 2015

We fought today! I can deff say I am proud of my teammates! I love you guys! Let’s keep the fight up and these W’s will start coming in!

— James Milliken (@j_milli10) January 10, 2015