Key Stats:
In these teams’ first meeting, Xavier missed 13 free throws (16-29) in a five-point Bluejay win where CU made plays down the stretch and XU did not. On Saturday, the roles were reversed. Creighton was 11-21 from the line, including four huge misses in the final five minutes. There were a boatload of other storylines in this game, but if the Jays shoot even a *little* better from the charity stripe, the outcome of the game is likely different and most of those storylines have a different tint than they do.
Other fun stuff: Creighton assists on 17 of 28 made baskets, and were Xavier’s equal on the offensive glass (11-11) while keeping the overall rebounding battle respectable (38-36). Other not-so-fun stuff: Creighton’s defense, or lack thereof, allows Xavier to make 17-28 shots after halftime, 8-12 from three-point range, dish out 12 assists on those 17 made baskets, and before a late meltdown, score an absolutely absurd 1.552 points per possession.
Free throws and defense were things Bluejay fans worried would cost them a game at some point, even in the high-flying days when Mo Watson was still running up and down the court instead of posing for pictures in a #TeamWatson shirt. Saturday was that day.
Justin Patton skies for one of his five blocks. (Photo by Mike Spomer / WBR)
Standout Performance:
Instead of dwelling on things that are depressing, lets just watch Justin Patton block a bunch of Xavier shots, shall we?
His swats were so ridiculous and so frequent, it led to this all-time classic tweet from Xavier’s Scout site:
Recap & Analysis:
After leading the final ten minutes of the first half and the first 15 minutes of the second by as many as 11 points, it looked like Creighton was on their way to a really encouraging win. Justin Patton had five blocks, they shot well from three-point range for the second straight night, their offense was moving efficiently, they’d done a good job on the boards, and they appeared to be heading towards a 8-10 point win over a good Xavier team.
As we know, that’s not how it ended up, and so the storyline on the morning after isn’t Patton’s five blocks, it’s his inability to defend fellow freshman Tyrique Jones who shot a perfect 8-8 from the field. It isn’t their 8-16 shooting from three-point range in the first half, it’s their defense allowing a Xavier team that shoots 34% for the year to make 8-12 from three in the second half. It isn’t that their offense moved efficiently and produced good shots in rhythm with players making the extra pass, it’s their failure to make plays in the final minute.
All of those things are true, but after a ghastly loss like this, it’s hard to be encouraged by the positives because the negatives are too hard to stomach.
Khyri Thomas’ breakaway dunk late in the second half. (Photo by Brad Williams / WBR)
Creighton led by seven with 8:09 to go, and appeared to be pulling away when Patton blocked not one but two shots on the same possession, with the second leading to a fast break dunk from Khyri Thomas. But J.P. Macura answered with a three-pointer, Xavier’s Malcolm Bernard stole the ball from Tyler Clement, and Quentin Goodin nailed a three to cut the deficit to a single point. Foster hit a jumper to push the lead back out to three, 68-65, but 25 seconds later Tyrique Jones threw down a dunk off a defensive breakdown inside to once again make it a one-point game.
Xavier tied it at 69 after Toby Hegner made one of two free throws, and Kaiser Gates hit a jumper. They took the lead 30 seconds later after Foster hit one of two free throws, and Trevon Bluiett hit a three-pointer. They took a five-point lead 30 seconds after that when Bluiett hit a second straight three, as a stunned CenturyLink Center crowd couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Thomas answered with a massive three to temporarily calm the nerves inside the arena, but then Macura launched a long three that, of course, went in — the kind of shot an opponent hits late in a game that makes you think, man, it’s just not your day.
At 78-73 Xavier, it was a stunning turn of events, but the real drama had not even begun to unfold.
Clement found a seam and got inside for a layup to make it a one-possession game, 78-75, and after RaShid Gaston made just one of two free throws, the Jays missed an opportunity when Patton couldn’t hit on a mid-range jumper. With just two team fouls, they fouled to force an out-of-bounds play, and brought in Ronnie Harrell, Jr. for the first time all afternoon because his long wingspan and leaping ability make him well-suited to harass an inbounds passer. It was a genius move; he forced a bad pass that was intercepted by Thomas, who kicked it out to Foster for a three that cut the deficit to 79-78.
Their full-court press forced a second straight turnover, but a jumper from Foster that would have given them the lead clanged off the rim. Two more fouls — Creighton still had fouls to give, so they did to force Xavier to inbound the ball — gave them the outcome they wanted when their press forced a third consecutive turnover. Harrell wound up with the ball after it was stolen by Tyler Clement, and with 20 seconds left, was fouled as he streaked down the baseline.
Just like that, a player who had not attempted a shot in game action in 10 days and hadn’t even played in the previous two games was suddenly at the line with a chance to be the hero. One free throw to tie, two for the lead.
Ronnie Harrell’s play on the press late in the game nearly changed the outcome of the game. (Photo by Adam Streur / WBR)
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that he was walking to the line cold — the last time he touched a ball was during halftime shootaround, roughly 65 minutes prior — Harrell’s first free throw clanged off the rim. Ugh.
They sent freshman point guard Quentin Goodin to the line on the other end, and though he made the front end of the one-and-one, he missed the second, and Creighton raced up court. Somehow, some way, Thomas was able to get free of his defender and with an open baseline in front of him, all that stood between his team and a tie game was a layup. The highest percentage shot imaginable, from less than five feet away with no defender in front.
It missed.
It’s a shot Thomas has hit a million times, and a shot he’ll probably replay in his head at least that often in the days to come. He noted after the game that he was thinking Xavier’s big man would cheat off of Patton to help once he broke free, leaving Patton wide open for a dunk. Instead, that help defender stayed put and left Thomas with the wide-open look. In a split-second, he put up a jumper off the glass, and as it bounced off the rim and into the hands of a Xavier defender, the audible gasp inside the arena told the story.
With 11 seconds left, they sent Kaiser Gates to the line, and he made both free throws. Now down 82-78, you had to think the Jays were out of chances. It’s not very often you get as many opportunities to win a game as Creighton did in the final moments of this one, but Xavier wasn’t done trying their damnedest to give it away.
A missed three from Foster was tipped in by Patton to make it 82-80 with four seconds left, and they fouled Goodin to give themselves one last chance. He missed — MISSED! — the front end of the one-and-one, and with neither team possessing a timeout, Creighton had an opportunity against a scrambling Xavier defense to get either a two to tie it or a three to win it.
Instead, Hegner’s outlet pass intended for Marcus Foster sailed wildly out of bounds, and they never even got the chance.
Both teams are at different stages in replacing their superstar point guards whose season’s ended with ACL tears. It showed in the frantic final 90 seconds, as Xavier couldn’t handle Creighton’s full-court press without turning it over and Creighton couldn’t capitalize without a battle-tested floor general to take charge and make the game-changing pass or basket.
The unfortunate thing, the thing I can’t get my head around, is that it never needed to come to that. Creighton held Xavier at arms-length for nearly the entire game, but was never able to get any further away than that, leaving them susceptible to a great player like Trevon Bluiett lifting his team up to steal a game on the road.
This one hurts, and it’s going to hurt for awhile.
They Said It:
You Said It:
https://twitter.com/todddarnold/status/827966070216597504
https://twitter.com/crimebait/status/827984020919169029
https://twitter.com/cjlathrop/status/828001864302071814
https://twitter.com/cjlathrop/status/828003972824842240
https://twitter.com/mue11er/status/828004116722954240
https://twitter.com/cjlathrop/status/828005830167556096