During his six-game absence last year, it became painfully obvious just how good Ryan Kalkbrenner is and how vital he is to Creighton’s success. Saturday night offered more evidence after he spent the final 13 minutes of the first half in the locker room with an ankle injury. The Jays gave up 36 points in the paint, with Alabama making an egregious 16-of-23 on layups and dunks. Alabama also had 10 offensive rebounds and nine second-chance points. And largely as a result, the teams were tied 44-all at the half despite the Crimson Tide — one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country — making just 1-of-11 from three point range.
“Creighton is a really good team,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “They did a good job defensively guarding the three-point line, which led to our season-low in three’s made. We didn’t shoot it great and they had a large part in that.”
Greg McDermott said the Jays’ training staff initially told him they doubted Kalkbrenner would return. But as he rode a stationary bike in the tunnel outside the locker room to test it, he decided that he could try to fight through it.
“It was swollen, and he had a cast on it with tape,” McDermott said on his postgame radio show. “I told him before we started the second half, ‘You’re going to prove to everybody just how tough you are.’ To play the way he played and play that many minutes on one foot, and block some of the shots that he did? It’s really a credit to him.”
He elaborated in his press conference. “Unbelievable…I think people unfairly question his toughness and I think that is a bunch of B.S.”
Playing essentially on one foot, Kalkbrenner had 17 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks in 19 minutes of the second half, barely leaving the floor. He was getting by — dominating, really — mostly on adrenaline and guts, and while his low-key demeanor and stoic facial expressions sometimes (wrongly) lead fans to question his level of engagement, there should never be another question about his toughness after what he accomplished against Alabama. Period.
The Jays’ set out to get him involved early and often in the second half, and he scored six points with one block in the first 4-1/2 minutes. The block? This one, which he followed by sprinting up the floor for a transition dunk.
“I thought (Ryan) Kalkbrenner affected the rim in the second half,” Oats said. “We were able to get downhill and finish at the rim a lot more in the first half when he was out. Hopefully Kalkbrenner is healthy and they go on and win a bunch of games.”
The game’s decisive stretch was largely led by Kalkbrenner, too. After trailing for most of the first 12 minutes of the second half, the Jays were behind 66-63 with about 7-1/2 minutes to go. Then they ripped off a 9-0 run that featured a pair of dunks from Kalkbrenner and a three-pointer from Scheierman to grab a 72-66 lead.
“The reason we went on that run was because they didn’t have it put together in transition,” McDermott said. “Kalk was on one foot running down the middle of the floor but he got a couple easy ones.”
The Jays never trailed again, though the Crimson Tide would cut the Bluejay lead down to two at 76-74 with 2:55 left and again in the closing seconds. But they had answers both times.
The first answer came courtesy of another Kalkbrenner dunk and a trifecta from senior Steven Ashworth that pushed the Creighton lead back out to seven at 81-74 with 1:58 left on the game.
Then after three straight Alabama layups cut the lead to one at 83-82 with 3.8 seconds left, they had another answer — two clutch free throws from Ashworth and a lucky bounce when Mark Sears’ desperation heave rolled out.
How close DID that desperation shot come to going in? Pretty damn close. In fact, it’s kind of miraculous that it didn’t drop.
Was there any thought to fouling up three? McDermott answered that question in jest, saying on his postgame radio show, “Did you see our free throw rebounding?”
Then he gave a more serious reply. “It’s what you practice and you know, probably, best case scenario they’re gonna get a half-court heave and we did what we’re supposed to do. You want to make a left-hander go to his right so he has to shoot it across his body. He almost made it, and of course if he had there would have been a lot of criticism, but if you think back, I’ve never fouled in that situation, unless I feel good about the rebounding. You do what you practice. Some teams foul with 12 seconds left and run it out. We do it a little bit differently, and it’s worked most of the time for us, and fortunately that thing rolled out tonight.”
The 85-82 win checked a lot of boxes that needed checking after Wednesday’s loss to UNLV. The Jays had success and won against a big, athletic opponent. They won a physical game where the officials let a lot of contact go on both ends. They found a way to win a game where they shot poorly from three-point range. And they even checked a box they didn’t know existed — they stayed afloat for nearly an entire half without Kalkbrenner.
Next up is Villanova in the Big East opener, followed by 10 days off over Christmas — and then a road game at Marquette. Getting this win in the way they did should give both the team and its’ fans more confidence heading into those battles.
Inside the Box:
Kalkbrenner wasn’t the only Bluejay with a huge individual performance. Trey Alexander has been mired in a slump for three weeks, save for his homecoming game at Oklahoma State, and bottomed out on Wednesday with a 2-of-13 shooting line against UNLV. Saturday looked like vintage Alexander.
He made 5-of-9 on two-pointers, making his mid-range jumper consistently. He made 3-of-6 from three point range and 6-of-8 at the line, too, for 22 points, and added two assists and two boards.
“Mac and I talked about ways that we could improve the team and how I could just stay positive in terms of shot-making and things of that sort,” Alexander said. “Finding different ways I can impact the game when I’m not playing at my best is the biggest thing that I wanted to do.”
He also talked about getting back to the defensive toughness he’s had in the past. And to that end, he held second-leading scorer Aaron Estrada, to eight points on 3-of-14 shooting.
“This was a big game for me in terms of defense; I knew that [Aaron] Estrada was going to be my matchup and I knew that he was going to come out there and take some shots. That was just as big for me to see.”
Baylor Scheierman added 20 points and tied a career-high with nine assists. Against Alabama’s pressure defense he was often the Jays’ primary initiator offensively, and handled it well with just three turnovers. And he drew a whopping eight fouls, making 8-of-9 free throws — and fouled out Nick Pringle (who had 15 points, 7 rebounds in 24 minutes) with a couple of smart pump fakes late.
Scheierman was the embodiment of figuring out how to win when shots aren’t falling, as he made just 2-of-7 threes but still had his fingerprints all over the victory.
Combined with Kalkbrenner’s 19 points, Creighton’s big three combined for 62 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists.
“Any time we can have Kalk, Trey and Baylor out there, there’s a synergy between them,” McDermott said. “They understand it, they communicate well amongst each other and do a good job with whoever’s on the floor with them.”
Alabama made 19 threes against Purdue a week ago, and they attempted just 22 — making four — in this game. So while they scored 62 of their 82 points in the paint, the Jays successfully got them away from their strength.
“You can always feel the difference when Ryan isn’t out on the court,” Alexander said. “Obviously he’s an elite shot-blocker. He cleans everything up when they’re going into the paint. In the first half when he went down they were able to get into the paint a little bit easier. Just having his presence out there deters a lot of shots. And then when he was out there in the second half, he was able to block some shots, get some big-time seals, get some guys open and do what he does.”
His coach agreed. “That was a heck of a game,” McDermott said. “For us to hold it together against the No. 1 offense in the country in the first half without our rim protection really speaks volumes of this team and what they’re made of.”
Press Conference:
https://www.youtube.com/live/pScCZyPIXXM?feature=shared