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Morning After: Creighton 76, Louisiana 66

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[Box Score]

Key Stats: Creighton goes 11-21 at the free-throw line. CU has 18 assists on 28 made baskets. Louisiana corrals 13 offensive rebounds, including 8 in the second half.

Favorite Moment: With 12:15 to play in the game, Louisiana took a 50-46 lead. Visions of Duke danced in Creighton fans heads. Coach Mac, who almost never calls timeout to stem the tide, usually preferring to let his senior-laden group figure things out, signaled for time. He needed a moment. Heck, Creighton fans needed a moment. I was a nervous wreck, and judging from the reactions on Twitter and on camera shots of fans in San Antonio, I wasn’t alone.

As you’d expect from this veteran club, they didn’t share that sentiment. First, Grant Gibbs nailed a jumper to cut the deficit to 50-48. Then they got a defensive stop, and Jahenns Manigat grabbed the rebound. He pushed tempo and got the ball to Ethan Wragge, who buried — and I mean buried — a three-pointer to give Creighton the lead at 51-50. Another defensive stop followed, this time with Doug McDermott securing the rebound, and then Wragge hit another three. It wasn’t the first time back-to-back #WraggeBombs have been dropped, but they’ve never come at a more opportune time. Gibbs completed the all-senior 10-0 run with two free throws — perhaps the most unbelievable part of the entire run given the team’s struggles at the line on Friday — and the Jays led 56-50. There would be more harrowing moments ahead, but they would not trail again.

Quick Recap: Creighton’s not used to this whole “being favored in the tournament” thing, and it hasn’t gone so well when they are. Unless you blacked it out either from selective memory or from adult beverage consumption, you likely remember 2003 when they entered the tourney as a 6 seed, were heavy favorites over Central Michigan, and then proceeded to fall behind 50-24 midway through the second half. Furious rally notwithstanding — they cut the deficit to 72-70 with about 90 seconds left — the greatest Creighton team of the modern (post-1979) era saw their season come to a stunning, sudden, gut-wrenching end.

Entering play as a 3 seed this year, their highest-ever, the Jays were big favorites over 14 seed Louisiana, both in Vegas and among most observers. The Ragin’ Cajuns didn’t pay attention to all that noise, clearly, and while they had respect for the Jays, they were far from intimidated. It was my greatest fear — that another senior-laden Creighton team with NCAA Tournament wins on its resume and a deep run on its mind would once again stumble in the first game.

At the outset, Doug McDermott scoffed at the that notion. He was virtually unstoppable in the first half, scoring 17 points with 12 rebounds, adding another “first” to his bio — in this case, the first time he’s had a double-double in the first half of a game. He scored on a variety of screens, curls, fadeaways and dribble-drives — the entire Dougie McBuckets arsenal was on display — and Louisiana had no answer. Up 39-30 as the Ragin’ Cajuns dribbled out the clock on the half, they let Elfrid Payton, ULL’s sensational guard, launch a long three rather than foul since they were under the bonus limit. His three went in, and suddenly instead of a comfortable-for-March nine-point lead, they had a six-point lead but ULL had the momentum.

The Jays were in firm control of the game at that point, however. They had out-rebounded Louisiana 24-17, including a 6-5 edge on the offensive glass, they’d committed just five turnovers, and they’d had an assist on 10 of 16 baskets. Three-point shots weren’t falling as they were 4-13 from long range, but with the way everything else was going, it felt like once those shots went in this game could turn into a blowout.

Louisiana had other ideas. They came out in the second half with and seized control of the game, as Payton used his 6’7″ wingspan and immense quickness to deny McDermott from catching the ball while emerging as an unstoppable force himself on offense. Payton scored six points in the first three minutes of the half, including a ferocious dunk to open the stanza, and by the 13:48 mark the Ragin’ Cajuns had tied the game. It was his layup a minute later that gave them a 50-46 lead, resulting in a Creighton timeout to regroup. Things were snowballing on them — Payton was getting hot on both ends, CU was missing free throws left and right, three-pointers still weren’t falling, and now their All-American couldn’t even get the ball thanks to the off-ball defense of Payton.

A 10-0 CU run out of that timeout, highlighted by a pair of three-pointers by Ethan Wragge, erased the Ragin’ Cajuns’ lead for good. They didn’t go away, though, and with 5:21 to play, it was still a one-possession game at 59-56. Another #WraggeBomb made it 62-56, when Jahenns Manigat drove the ball inside, got a one-on-one layup opportunity that would have almost assuredly been a bucket…and then passed it to a wide-open Wragge in the corner. There were audible gasps in the arena as the pass sailed — why turn down a sure-thing layup for a three-point try? Because that’s not just any shooter, that’s Ethan Wragge in the corner, The Lumberjack, and he chops down t(h)rees like no one else. Manigat knew that. His teammates knew that. And when the ball splashed through the net, Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, and the non-Creighton fans in attendance who had gasped learned that.

From there, Austin Chatman — junior point guard, overlooked star, second-most important player on the team — took over the game. With Louisiana smothering McDermott and keeping him from even touching the ball, holding him without a shot for nearly 14 minutes, Chatman made them pay.

First, he drove to the rim and made an impossibly tough layup while being hacked, then converted the free throw for an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 65-58. Then, after two free throws by ULL, he buried — absolutely buried — a three-pointer from 25 feet to give them a 68-60 lead. Two more ULL free throws followed, and then on the next possession, Chatman found McDermott under the hoop for what should have been an easy bucket, except ULL’s Bryant Mbamalu blocked the shot. McDermott raced down court, and returned the favor by blocking Mbamalu’s shot attempt. A rare Chatman miss on the other end led to yet two more free throws by ULL, cutting the lead to 68-64, and then McDermott had seen enough.

Coming up the court after the inbounds, he slipped free on a screen and launched a 30-foot missile that went in without even touching iron. You talk about a dagger, that was it — suddenly it was 71-64 with 90 seconds to play, the best player on the court had that determined, killer-instinct “Game Over” look in his eye that he’s displayed so often this year in close games, and ULL’s back was broken. Another bucket by McBuckets made it 73-64, and all the wind was out of Louisiana’s sails.

It wasn’t pretty, and the outcome was in doubt much of the afternoon, but at the end of the day, Creighton  survived to play another day. The 74-64 win was their first double-digit victory in the NCAA Tournament since the 1970s, and sets up a duel with Baylor for the right to the Sweet 16.

Quotables:

“We’re thrilled to get the victory against a very good team. The more I watched Louisiana‑Lafayette, the more impressed I was. I don’t think that watching Payton on film does him justice until you play him in person. He’s got an unbelievable first step, plays with a great pace.  I thought he did a good job of controlling the tempo of the game.

As we’ve seen, the last couple of days have been a lot of crazy things that happened in this tournament. So you’ve just got to survive and advance somehow. Obviously, we got behind the second half, took that timeout. Ethan hit a couple big threes. The zone was good to us for a short period of time, and then Doug hit a couple big shots late to ice it.  So these guys have been in this position before. They desperately wanted to get back and have an opportunity to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. I’m proud of the fact that they were able to do that.” -Coach Greg McDermott in postgame press conference

(On Payton guarding Doug McDermott) “I don’t know that I was totally surprised that he guarded Doug because I wasn’t sure what direction they would go. We’ve seen about every possible match‑up this year.  But he’s their best player. He’s their best athlete. He was really good when he was on Doug, so I’m not surprised. I don’t think he expended any more energy than he usually does, because the kid plays his tail off every game that I’ve watched. So I’m not surprised at that.

You know, we came out of that timeout and decided to go zone. They were really beating us off the dribble, and we just decided to try to make them hit a couple shots. Really, our plan going in was we felt like we could win if Payton got 25 points, as long as he didn’t have ten assists to go with it. So we were okay giving him some tough twos, but we weren’t going to let him penetrate and find those shooters and pick us apart with the pass as well. The zone was good for four or five possessions, and then they got hot. Like Coach Marlin always does, he got into the teeth of it and got his team a couple good shots against it, so we got out of it. But Ethan hit a couple big shots. Grant had a great play going to the basket during that stretch, and we were able to get the crowd in the game for the stretch run.” -Coach Greg McDermott in postgame press conference

“I think Doug takes what the defense gives him. They double teamed a couple times. He made a great pass to Austin. Austin hit a big shot, a big three out of the double team. Then Doug lets the game come to him, which is for someone who scores as much as he does, he’ll go through a stretch where five or six minutes he’ll take eight shots, and then he’ll go five or six and won’t take a shot. It’s just the way he plays. He’s not going to force the issue very often.

But in those situations, obviously, we ran the play and he had the option to curl it or pop it. The next time we just gave him an isolation and cleared out the side of the floor, feeling like at least he was going to get fouled, worst case scenario, if he went to the basket.  He has a lot of trust and confidence in his teammates. Obviously, they pass him the ball an awful lot, and Doug’s more than happy to reciprocate when one of his guys is open.” -Coach Greg McDermott in postgame press conference

“I was aware of the Duke score. It had ended right as, I think, our guys took the floor for warm‑ups. We didn’t discuss it at all with our team. But what we’ve talked about with the team after yesterday, there were several upsets, and a lot of near misses as well. I think it speaks to what we’ve seen all season. A team would get number one, and they’d lose twice in that week.

It happened all the time. I just think there are a lot of good players in college basketball. I think experience can trump length and athletic ability. When you’re able to put a team together that’s got four or five guys that have played together a long time. I think you saw that in North Dakota State last night. I think you saw it at Mercer today. Obviously, we’re a very experienced team. We’re not here because we can run and jump and take rebounds at the top of the square. We’re here because I’ve got a group of guys that have played together a long time, and they really understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and they’ve got a high basketball IQ. I think there are a lot of teams across the country that maybe aren’t in the so‑called BCS leagues that are really good basketball teams because of experience, and I think you’re seeing some of those teams advance.” -Coach Greg McDermott in postgame press conference

(On Doug’s tenacity) “You know, he doesn’t outwardly — I don’t think he looks like a tenacious competitor. But in his gut the kid absolutely hates to lose, and he’s always been that way. He’s able to channel that in the right way where he impacts winning without taking away from what we need him to do within the scope of our team. But when he’s locked in and he’s focused, there are not many better.

I think his teammates feed off that. His rebounding, I talked to him before the game about going to get 15 rebounds and he’d try to do it in the first half. So when he’s locked in like that, he’s obviously a very good basketball player. He really enjoys taking big shots, and he’s made a lot of big shots especially this season but throughout his career. Today he was fighting and grinding the whole time to try to get us a victory.” -Coach Greg McDermott in postgame press conference

“Austin was so good; not just making a few shots, but he got into the teeth of that defense. He made some plays for himself. He made some plays for his teammates. We switched him on to Payton for a few possessions just to try to put a little quickness on him. We ask him to do so much. To play fast and to run in transition, you have to have somebody that steers that ship, and Austin does that. He gets it there quick, and especially the last three weeks or so, he’s been making unbelievable decisions at the end of our break.

But he’s a really important part of this team that doesn’t get talked about enough. We wouldn’t be where we are today without Austin Chatman, and we wouldn’t have won this game without him today. I thought he was outstanding.” -Coach Greg McDermott in postgame press conference

(On Manigat passing up the layup for a Wragge three) “My initial thought was, why not take the two points Jahenns? But it gets back to what I said, there is a guy Jahenns who has played with Ethan for four years that knows he just hit a couple, and knows that shot is probably as good as a lay‑up, only it counts for one more point. We’re good because of that.

Jahenns could have had two points, which would have been a huge basket for us. But he’s willing to give up what might have been good for him to try to get his teammate an open shot. We’ve been good all year because we had games like we had tonight where we have 18 assists and six turnovers, and that’s just who we are. I’m not surprised at it. I’ll look at it on film and see if he should have taken the lay‑up, but obviously, it was a heck of a play and a huge boost for us.” -Coach Greg McDermott in postgame press conference

(On Payton guarding him) “Yeah, he’s an unbelievable player. To do what he did on the offensive end while trying ‑‑ I was trying to make it as hard as possible all night to get him tired or get him in foul trouble. So he’s got a motor like none other. Got to give him credit. I just tried to make it tough on him, but he was still able to do his thing on the offensive end of the floor.” -Doug McDermott in postgame press conference

(On Louisiana’s effort) “You’ve got to give them so much credit. We watched them on film. They were down like 12 or 13 points with five minutes left, and they came back and made it a game at the end. So we got away with one today. We didn’t play our best to start the game, but we really showed our leadership and our veteran ‑‑ we have a very veteran group, and I think we really showed that towards the end down the stretch.” -Doug McDermott in postgame press conference

(On the big three with about two minutes left in the second half) “You know, they’re making it tough on me for a good 10 minutes or 12 minutes where it’s really hard to get any looks. So we ran that play, and Ethan set a great screen to get my guy. We make that play all the time. So it felt good to get that one to go in, and that kind of got my confidence going to the next play where I drive it to the baseline.” -Doug McDermott in postgame press conference

(On how his shot felt) “I think up until that point I was like 1 for 6, and they’re all good looks, but my teammates did a good job. Jahenns hit a wide‑open lay‑up that he ended up kicking out to me. Once I kind of got that rhythm and got one going, I was able to get a pretty friendly roll on the second one. The third one, that is just a play we’ve been running. They were timely, but they were all good.” -Ethan Wragge in postgame press conference

(On being back in the round of 32) “It feels great to be back in this position. You know, we’ve been in this position, this will be our third straight year where we’ve gotten to this game. We failed the last two years to get past this round. It’s what I came back for.  It’s why we’re all playing this game.  It’s what we work for in the off‑season, to get to this point. We’re hoping to make a better outcome this year than we did the previous two.” -Doug McDermott in postgame press conference

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