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Men's Basketball

Morning After: Baylor 85, Creighton 55

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[Box Score]

Key Stats: Baylor makes 7-9 three-point shots in the first half, while Creighton goes 1-9. For the game, Creighton goes 22-54 from the field, and Baylor overwhelmingly rebounds the misses, with a 27-14 edge on defensive boards and a 32-22 edge overall.

Favorite Moment: The opening tip was won by Baylor, but Grant Gibbs — wily to the end — came away with it and raced downcourt for a layup. Three seconds into the game, Creighton led 2-0. It would be the only time they led the entire evening, eerily reminiscent of the 2013 tournament loss to Duke where Gibbs threw down a dunk off of the opening tip.

Quick Recap: Things spiraled out of control pretty quickly after that. Baylor’s zone defense, which most observers anticipated would leave the paint and mid-range jumpers off-limits but allow some open looks on the perimeter — similar to what Providence had done in two wins over Creighton — instead did the opposite. They pushed the zone out to take away the perimeter, leaving a gap from 10-15 feet where open jumpers could be had, but Creighton had no personnel to exploit it.

They also used their quickness, athleticism and length to do something no one had done to this extent all year long — take Doug McDermott out of the game. They denied him the room to catch the ball, they denied his teammates from passing it to him even on the rare occasion when he did, and on the even rarer occasion when he managed to get the ball, they denied him the space to shoot. He had three points at halftime, making one field goal and one free throw while going 1-4 from the floor and 0-2 from three-point range.

His teammates didn’t fare any better. Ethan Wragge attempted two contested three-pointers and missed them both. Ditto for Jahenns Manigat. Austin Chatman managed to make one, but it was the only one Creighton made in a nightmarish first half that saw them go 1-9 from three-point range.

Meanwhile, Baylor was putting on a shooting clinic. They made their first five three-pointers, all in the game’s first seven minutes, and steamrolled the Jays in a barrage of long-range jumpers. Ironic, given how often Creighton’s done that to opponents this year.

Part of it was simply a gamble, a playing of the percentages if you will. In order to deny looks to their better shooters like Brady Heslip, they sagged off of Kenny Chery — at just under 30% for the year, a sound strategic move — except Chery got hot and made them pay, connecting on his first three attempts. They adjusted, and then Heslip burned them, making his first two attempts. Coach Mac tried everything from full court pressure to a 1-3-1 zone to double-teams to giving extended minutes to Zach Hanson instead of Will Artino, and none of it worked.

With their outside shots denied, Creighton’s only remaining adjustment would have probably been to attack the middle of the zone, but that’s just not something they’re adept at doing. They’re just not. Seeing it and being able to exploit it are two different things. Even if they’d been able to hit on a few more jumpers from the free-throw area, would it have been enough to win the game? Probably not. With Baylor shooting lights-out (64% overall, 61% from three-point range), getting a few more two-point jumpers might have made the score more respectable but the outcome would have remained the same.

Baylor is a team that is a terrible matchup for the Jays, but I believed Creighton had a chance because they’d be able to exploit the Bears’ zone into some open looks, and because I never in a million years thought the Bears would have their best shooting night of the year. Creighton couldn’t, and Baylor did, and the rest is, well, you know.

Quotables:

“I’m not sure if it was Baylor being that good or us being that bad or if it was somewhere in between. Over the course of a season, you’re going to have a few clunkers, and we had one at the wrong time. Obviously, we’re giving up a lot of size and a lot of length across the front line. We had to do something to combat that. We chose to come off some of their guards rather than the bigtobig double early.

To their credit, Chery and O’Neale really made us pay for that. So, they knocked us back on our heels, and we weren’t able to really ever recover. I thought their slides in the zone to take away Doug and Ethan were a little different than what they’ve done in the past. We got the ball to the middle of it, and at times we made plays and at times we didn’t. The reality of it is when you try to go down low against Isaiah Austin, that’s a challenge because of his length.” -Coach Greg McDermott in postgame press conference

“As I told the team, they need to erase this from their memory as quick as they possibly can. This can’t be what our seniors remember about this season or about their careers because they’ve accomplished so many wonderful things, so many incredible things. So I tip my hat to Baylor. They played a great basketball game tonight. The way they shot the basketball, I’m not sure our best would have even been good enough tonight.” -Coach Greg McDermott in postgame press conference

(On his moment with Doug when he came off the floor) “Well, obviously part of the problem is that I had too much darn time to think about it because we were getting our tails kicked so bad. If you get beaten on a last second shot, those things don’t go through your head. But it’s been an incredible journey, and I really wish every parent could experience what I’ve had the opportunity to experience. I’ve had a front row street for history, and it was my son that was doing it.

So as I told him in the locker room, we don’t realize the magnitude of what he’s done because we’re part of it every day and because of his approach to it. It’s no big deal to him. He’s never sticking his chest out looking for attention. So because of that, all of us in the locker room, on the team, on the staff, I’m not sure we ever took a step back and realized what Doug had done and what he’s accomplished over his career and how he’s continued to get better. But as I told them, I’m far more proud of how he’s handled his success than what he’s accomplished on the floor. To me that is the really good stuff.” -Coach Greg McDermott in postgame press conference

(On Baylor’s zone) “Well, it was different than the Baylor zone defense that they played all year. Generally they have the tandem on the top where their guards are in a tandem and they spread that out a little bit especially when Doug was on the top of the floor, and then they shrunk it when we ran Doug to the middle of the floor.

So they did a good job of really tagging Doug and Wragge wherever they went. And some of our other players they gave a little more space, and almost dared some of our guards to take it inside, catch it at 15 feet, and there is nothing between the basket except for Isaiah Austin, which is quite a road block to get through when you catch it there.

I think it was a good plan. Obviously we were hoping that if we were going to win, we were going to have to make shots. The reality of it is we didn’t make shots and they did. The way Baylor is playing and the way they’re controlling tempo, it’s hard  it would be hard for a team that’s good at pressing and pressuring to play from behind the way Baylor’s able to control tempo. And when you have a team that’s not good at that, which we’re not built for that, it was very difficult for us to try to get back in the game. So now we’re doing things that we’re really not good at, we’re giving up dunks at the back end of the press, and it was over.” -Coach Greg McDermott in postgame press conference

(On the tourney experience) “Yeah, it’s what makes it so special. Anything can happen. You wouldn’t have guessed that after the second weekend, you know, Kansas and Syracuse and Duke and North Carolina, they’re gone. So we like the position we’re in. We really worked hard to get a better seed. But the reality of it is we played LouisianaLafayette who was a good team. Once you get here, everybody’s good. They’re tough games, and you have to play well. I said it yesterday in my press conference that generally teams that move forward are teams that shoot the basketball well. Baylor shot the basketball very well today, much better than they have their last couple games, and we didn’t shoot the ball very well. So they’re moving on, and we’re going home.” -Coach Greg McDermott in postgame press conference

(On whether it’s hard to simulate Baylor’s length in practice) “Yeah, it really is. You know, it’s something you can’t really practice until you see it for the first time. Those guys are really long and kind of compared them to John Henton who we say a couple years ago in the tournament, and we definitely struggled against them too. So you’ve got to give them a lot of credit. We were a little frustrated early and kind of carried over the whole game. Those two guys inside are both heck of a players and wish them the best.” -Doug McDermott in postgame press conference

(On Baylor’s decision to double on the perimeter) “Yeah, I mean, we really didn’t know what they were going to do. We thought we could maybe get a few easier looks from the perimeter to start the game. When we’ve done that all season, gotten off to good starts shooting threes, it’s always been a good game. But they made it tough. They forced us to get it in the middle of that zone, and it’s hard to score over those guys they’re so long and athletic where they challenge every shot in there. So to their credit, they took away what we do best and kind of controlled the tempo of the game and made it hard on us.” -Doug McDermott in postgame press conference

“This is the worst we’ve played all season, and it just stinks that it’s the last one. But that doesn’t take away from all my memories here. It’s tough to go out this way. We still won three games in the NCAA tournament the last three years. Not a lot of teams say they can do that three straight years to win a game, but it’s hard to end on something like this.” -Doug McDermott in postgame press conference

(On what he’ll remember about his Creighton career) “That’s a tough question. Just so many memories just with these guys. It’s not everything on the floor. We’ve built so many relationships off the floor, basically all family. We have so much fun traveling, in the hotels, on the planes, on the buses. Just so many memories that we’ll never forget. But just unbelievable fan support we’ve had at Creighton. Just grown so much over the years, and playing for my dad, it doesn’t get much better than that. You know, I’m just so blessed to be here. So glad I came back another year for college basketball.  I just think it’s the best experience of my life, and I hope more kids do what I did.” -Doug McDermott in postgame press conference

(On their feeling at the end of the game when they were saluted by the Creighton fans) “It was really an unbelievable feeling because these fans they travel with us. They came to New York. They’ve been with us all year. We just owe it all to these fans. They gave us a lot of energy coming into these games and really we just owe it all to these fans.” -Austin Chatman in postgame press conference

“Yeah, I mean, it was just a tough moment for all of us, us seniors and Austin. He still has another year, but he’s been a brother to us seniors the last three or four years, so it’s hard for him too. But walking off that floor was a tough moment, but at the same time, it was one of the best moments because everything that’s happened the last four years. Everything has to come to an end eventually, and it’s just hard to describe what was going through my head walking off that floor the final time.

I wasn’t even thinking about the game at that point. We’ve had so many special memories together. We never would have guessed we’d be in this position we’re at today, so we just kind of had to cherish that moment. It’s the last time I’ll be able to walk off the floor and give my dad a hug. So it’s tough, but it’s just the way it is.” -Doug McDermott in postgame press conference

And Now, Here’s What You Had to Say:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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