Key Stats:
Xavier goes 16-29 from the free throw line. There’s a whole lot of other storylines in this game, but if they’re even just a *little* bit better from the free throw line, this is a different game with a different outcome.
Creighton shot poorly (28-63 overall, 5-19 from three-point range) but played solid defense — they goaded Xavier into taking a three-pointer on one out of every four shot attempts, and the Musketeers made even fewer of them than their terrible season percentage would indicate they’d probably make (3-15 for the game, 33% for the season). Oh, and the Jays’ defense forced a turnover on 23% of X’s possessions.
Recap & Analysis:
In front of a hostile crowd and against a desperate Xavier team, Creighton was outrebounded by ten, attempted 17 fewer free throws, shot a season-low 44.4% from the field, had their entire frontline hampered by foul trouble, blew a double-digit second half lead, and played most of the game without Mo Watson after he suffered a knee injury. Given all of that, how the #$%& did they win the game?
Guts, Grit and, yes, Luck. I hate to use those hacky sportswritery terms, but if ever there was a textbook example of them, this was it. Their emotional leader was on the bench and using crutches to walk. Their two best scorers were struggling, as Marcus Foster couldn’t buy a basket, and Justin Patton couldn’t play defense without fouling. Yet somehow, Greg McDermott patched things together and found a way to guide his team to a win.
The game didn’t start out that way. The Jays led 11-3 with all five starters scoring, and everything was going their way — the pace of the game was where they wanted it, they were defending relatively well, and heck, Justin Patton even came up with a steal and took the ball coast-to-coast for a bucket.
They were up 17-11 with 9:40 to go when Watson was whistled for an offensive foul. He crashed to the floor, his left knee having banged against the knee of an opposing player, and replays showed his face in painful anguish from the moment of contact. Like he did last week against Butler after banging the same knee, he got up pretty quickly, though not with the spring in his step he had against the Bulldogs. He had a noticable limp, but made it to the bench under his own power.
With their floor general icing his knee, the Jays gave up baskets on three straight possessions while missing three straight shots of their own; with the score tied at 17 they called for timeout, and Watson returned. It was pretty clear he wasn’t running as well as he normally does, though, and a minute or so later he collapsed to the floor after making one of his patented acrobatic layups. This time he didn’t get up. Trainer Ben McNair and Coach Greg McDermott came over, FS1 went to commercial from a silent Cintas Center…and when they returned the worst case scenario was happening — Mo Watson being carried off the floor and into the locker room by two teammates.
Jays fans — college basketball fans in general — were in shock; you can imagine what his teammates were going through. The shock turned to disbelief when Cincinnati FOX 19 sports reporter Joe Danneman tweeted the following:
As disbelief turned to panic, Xavier briefly took the lead, 25-22. The resilient Jays responded with an 8-0 run, with Marcus Foster’s dunk in traffic giving them back the lead 26-25 and jumpers by Foster and Huff extending it. They led 32-29 at the half despite 11 turnovers, one offensive rebound, 1-9 shooting from three-point range, and just nine minutes each from Watson and Patton.
When they came out for the second half, Watson did so on crutches, and spent the rest of the game as a cheerleader. Meanwhile on the court, as tempting as it would have been to put the freshman Davion Mintz into the game and asked him to pick up where Watson left off, they opted to slow down the pace and ask Isaiah Zierden to run the point. It turned out to be the right move; Zierden was far from spectacular, but played all 20 second-half minutes while committing just two turnovers, providing a steadying influence to a team in need of it. Coach Mac told the Omaha World-Herald’s Jon Nyatawa, “That was our only chance to win. We weren’t winning a shootout once Maurice went down. We were going to have to win with defense.”
Between the Jays deliberately slowing the pace on offense and the officials calling 27 fouls in the second half — one every 45 seconds, but who’s counting? — neither team could establish any flow or momentum. The game just kind of slugged along, with tons of missed shots on both sides, and lots and lots of free throws.
Guts and grit can keep you in a game like that, but to win it, you need some luck too.
One such fortuitous break for the Jays came with 13 minutes to go. The injury to Watson and foul trouble on Hegner, Huff and Patton gave Ronnie Harrell, Jr. an opportunity after barely playing over the last six weeks. He saw extended minutes in the Truman State game over the weekend, and perhaps because of that, came in to this one with more confidence and certainly with less rust. He made an impact almost immediately; with the Jays up 45-43, he ripped down a rebound in traffic to set up a possession where Zierden hit a three to push the lead out to 48-43. Shortly thereafter, he stole the ball away from Edmond Sumner and raced downcourt for a dunk that made it 53-48.
Patton followed with a dunk on the next possession, and then Xavier’s Chris Mack was whistled for a technical foul protesting a foul call (which was endlessly amusing to CU fans looking at the foul disparity between the teams at that point; several made the joke on Twitter that if a coach were to be T’d up, you’d figure on Mac, not Mack!) The temper tantrum cost his team, as Zierden nailed both technical free throws and Khyri Thomas scored at the rim to complete a four-point play to give the Jays a 59-50 edge. After a defensive stop, Martin Krampelj scored to give CU a 61-50 lead with 7:32 to go.
Xavier answered with an 8-0 run over the next three minutes; Toby Hegner silenced the crowd, and the run, with a cold-blooded three at the five minute mark. The teams traded empty possessions over the next couple of minutes, and then a Patton dunk was offset by a jumper from RaShid Gaston with 2:57 to go. That’s when the next lucky break came to pass.
Sumner tied the game on a drive to the rim, and drew a foul on Cole Huff. But the 74% shooter from the line missed the free throw that would have given his team the lead. After Huff turned it over on a drive to the basket, J.P. Macura was fouled with 1:08 to go. He’d missed just 15 free throws all year and was a 84% shooter; he made just one of two, giving Xavier just a one-point lead.
That opened the door for Creighton to re-take the lead, and they did when Patton cleaned up Foster’s missed layup with a go-ahead tip with 49 seconds to play:
On the ensuing possession, Trevon Bluiett missed a three-pointer, and three offensive rebounds (and three missed shots from point blank range) later, Cole Huff finally secured the ball for Creighton. He was fouled, made both free throws, and it was 70-67. Bluiett then missed another three, and instead of playing pinball with offensive rebounds again, Khyri Thomas ended the madness with a defensive board and two free throws to clinch the win.
Coach McDermott called it the best win in his seven years at Creighton, considering the circumstances and the opponent, and who am I to argue with that? Beating Xavier in Cincinnati is never easy, and even with a full game from Mo Watson it would have been a difficult proposition. To do it without Watson? That’s pretty astonishing. Whether you chalk it up to gutting out a tough win with half-court offense and tough defense, lucking into it because of failed execution by Xavier, or some combination of both, it’s a win and a highly improbable one at that.
Now comes the hard part: waiting for results on Watson’s injury to see how many more games they’ll have to play without their leader.
They Said It:
“I’ve been at Creighton seven years, and this is the biggest win we’ve had. D-Rock and Gordy have been around a lot longer, and I’m not sure there any many wins better than this one even in their time when you consider the circumstances. Throw the statistics out the window, this game was won with culture, toughness, preparedness, and the next guy up being ready. We’ve talked all year long about the experience off our bench, and what Z, Toby, Ronnie, and Martin did today was huge. We had to have guys step up. If we didn’t, we were in deep, deep trouble. I couldn’t be more proud. That was a gutsy, defensive, fight-it-out battle, and I’m really really proud.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
(On what it was like to coach without Watson on the floor) “I don’t like it as much (laughs)! The challenge is, you have a gameplan that you’ve prepared for and when he goes down, you might as well throw it away. In the middle of the game, we had to figure out how we were going to win it, how to keep ourselves in it and give ourselves a chance. We decided to walk the ball up the floor on makes, still push it on misses, and Z was just rock solid. A couple of turnovers, but as much as we put the ball in his hands, he was really really good. Justin didn’t have his best game, but he gets two huge tip-ins. Toby hits a huge three. Marcus had some timely baskets. Khyri hit some big free throws. And to come in to Xavier and hold them to 67 points in a 71 possession game, less than one point per possession on their floor without our leader? That’s a heckuva tribute to our guys.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
“We forced them into 17 turnovers. And we knew we’d have a few more than normal without Mo out there, and we did have more than usual. Our bench was huge. Martin, with both Toby and Justin on the bench with four fouls, goes in and hits two huge free throws, gets a couple of big rebounds, takes a charge, I mean those are winning plays. Like I said, I can’t say I’ve been more proud of a team in the 28 years I’ve coached. We had our backs against the wall, trying to figure out a way to win different from how we’ve played all year. That’s where you can turn to experience on the bench to pull it off. If you had a bunch of freshman over there, you’d be asking for it.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
“Ronnie Harrell, I can’t say enough about what he brought us. I’ve told him over and over, you’re going to get a chance. Stay prepared. And he’s been frustrated at times, but to his credit he’s handled it in a very mature way and wow was he big time tonight.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
“We’ll find out more about Mo on Tuesday. Ben McNair seemed to think the ligaments were fine, and so did Xavier’s doctor who looked at it. Not sure about the meniscus. We’ll get an MRI when we get back. He may move into Ben McNair’s basement (laughs), but we’ll try to get him back as soon as we can.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
You Said It:
https://twitter.com/crimebait/status/821077471537795072
https://twitter.com/dannyobyrne/status/821079410845552642
https://twitter.com/mue11er/status/821081396525428736
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https://twitter.com/cjlathrop/status/821095876022140937
https://twitter.com/suep29/status/821099050682511360
https://twitter.com/joejohns402/status/821105156871831554
https://twitter.com/ryanholmgren/status/821100836831039490
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https://twitter.com/ryanholmgren/status/821104770266042368
https://twitter.com/dannyobyrne/status/821106076288479235
https://twitter.com/doublegfor3/status/821107825275502593