With 3:10 left in the first half, #14 seed Akron took a 33-31 lead after a one-handed turnaround jumper in the paint by Enrique Freeman. In the moment, it felt like that bucket was potentially a turning point in the game, perhaps the start of a mini-run to end the half where the double-digit underdogs might build a lead and take momentum into the locker room — and put the Bluejays on upset alert.
As it turned out, that bucket was the turning point alright — just not in the way it seemed.
The Zips’ All-American big man had 15 first-half points, but those were his last two — and he wouldn’t score again until the 8:39 mark of the second half. With their star held scoreless, Akron was in trouble. Ryan Kalkbrenner, the three-time Big East Player of the Year, chalked it up to getting used to how Freeman plays in person, and then adjusting.
“You can watch someone on film a lot and get as used to it as you can, but at the end of the day he’s a really good player,” Kalkbrenner said. “So I made some mental adjustments as to how I wanted to guard him in the post and did a little better job.”
Creighton had little trouble scoring through the first 15 minutes, starting the game 10-of-14 overall and 5-of-5 from three-point range. With offensive numbers like that, it felt like the Jays should have been ahead by double-digits. They weren’t because Akron was just as hot. But it came on unsustainable shots outside of the Zips’ offense — Freeman had made just 18 threes all season in 34 games, and had three in the first half alone to set a new career high.
They were allowing Creighton to turn the game into a track meet, keeping up for awhile, but their inability to slow the game down eventually caught up with them. Remember, Akron’s adjusted tempo coming in was 65.9 (268th in D1) and their average possession length was 18 seconds (291st).
“We play at that pace and practice at that pace all the time, so we can keep that up for 40 minutes. Not every team we play against can,” Kalkbrenner said. “So when you start wearing into them like that, you start to get a few easy baskets or a few good looks because you’re running the other team. So I think that definitely helped us toward the end of the first half and start of the second half.”
And the bill came due right after Freeman’s turnaround jumper to give them a brief lead. Creighton’s defense held them scoreless the rest of the half, while their offense continued lighting it up. The Zips looked gassed — smelling blood in the water, Creighton ratcheted up the speed even faster, and dared Akron to keep up.
They could not.
After Ryan Kalkbrenner forced a missed layup by Freeman by blanketing him at the rim, the Zips’ lost Trey Alexander in transition and he buried a three-pointer to tie the game. 24 seconds later, after another defensive stop, Akron again got turned around in transition and lost Mason Miller in the corner. Baylor Scheierman didn’t — though open for a three, he had a closeout coming for him so he kicked it to Miller in the corner. The nearest Zip was 10 feet away. He buried the triple, and with two transition threes on consecutive possessions Creighton took the lead for good.
After another defensive stop, Scheierman dribbled into the paint and buried a jumper from the left elbow to complete an 8-0 run in 84 seconds of game clock. Suddenly it was the Bluejays who had used a mini-run to close the half and grab momentum.
“I think we were able to get some stops in a row and on the offensive end get shots,” Scheierman said. “We really struggled with turnovers in the first half and in the last four minutes we were able to take care of the ball and get shots and stops and when we were able to do that, that’s when we really gained some separation.”
Akron coach John Groce said it was the biggest two minutes of the game.
“We had a couple possessions there where we didn’t get matched up in transition. We had a questionable shot, you know, couldn’t quite get the ball a couple of times where we wanted to get it. But for the most part, other than those two minutes, we played the game plan to precision, quite frankly. We really did.”
Ahead 39-34, Greg McDermott was displeased with his team’s turnovers. Talking to TNT sideline reporter Evan Washburn on his way to the locker room, McDermott said the Bluejays had been too sloppy.
“We’re not setting our feet, we’re jumping up in the air and making crazy passes. That’s not who we’ve been all year,” McDermott said. “So we’re going to have a little talk about that. We had one talk about it already, and we’re about to have another one.”
Taking that message to heart, the Jays took control of the ball and soon took control of the game. They blitzed Akron with a 17-8 run to begin the second half; combined with their end to the first, it was a 28-8 run spanning over ten minutes, turning a 34-31 Akron lead into a 59-42 Bluejay advantage.
Miller started the second-half scoring with his second three of the game.
Scheierman followed with a three that bounced off the rim, up into the air, and then fell through the net. Kalkbrenner scored four straight on a pair of free throws and a lob for a lay-in. And after this pull-up jumper from Alexander, they had their first double-digit lead of the day at 52-42.
Miller’s third three of the day came after he used a jab-step to create space — knocking defender Mikal Dawson to the ground in the process — then burying the triple for a 59-42 lead.
They’d lead by as many as 20, and though the turnover bug popped up again late in the half allowing Akron to briefly get back within 12, the Jays pulled away for a convincing 77-60 win.
“They had our utmost respect, and I think you saw, especially in the first half, you know, it’s a quality, quality team that we beat today. So we’re excited because we beat a good basketball team. And proud of our guys,” McDermott said. “I thought we took really good shots, and when we take really good shots, we’re a pretty good basketball team.”
Inside the Box:
Akron began the game by making 13 of their first 23 shots (56%) over the first 14 minutes. Over the final 26 minutes, they made only 12 more shots (12-of-43, 28%). At one point, Akron missed 14 straight threes — after starting 5-of-9.
“I mean, we had to make some adjustments when the bigs were hitting threes. So we had to switch a little bit more, and then we got cross-matched a few times,” McDermott said of their tactical adjustments. “But I thought early in the second half, when (Nate) Johnson hit a couple tough twos where we went over the screen, we were there. He hits a 16, 17 footer with a hand in his face. That’s kind of what we’re trying to do. So I was happy, really, after the first seven or eight minutes of the game. I thought we settled in a little bit better defensively. But credit to them, they also made some tough shots.”
“Freeman banked in his first three. That’s a nervy shot for a guy that doesn’t shoot a lot,” he continued. “If the first one doesn’t go in with the bank, maybe he’s not as comfortable. The most he’s ever shot in a game this year was three, and he shot 47 on the year. So we really didn’t think coming in that he would be willing to shoot eight three-point shots. So we had to adjust, obviously, as the game went on.”
The Jays’ set a new program record for three-point shooting in an NCAA Tournament game, making 58.8% (10-of-17). They were 7-of-10 in the first half, and 3-of-7 in the second. Five different Bluejays made at least one triple — Mason Miller and Baylor Scheierman hit three each, Steven Ashworth had two, and Trey Alexander and Ryan Kalkbrenner had one apiece.
It was also their best three-point shooting game of the season (so far), by percentage. They’d only been north of 50% twice — in the win over #1 UConn, they were 14-of-28 for 50%, and in the win at Oklahoma State they were 10-of-19 (52.6%). Nothing like having your best shooting night on the biggest stage, huh?
Here’s the really interesting thing, though. Those 17 attempts represented 37.0% of their total shots — that’s the lowest percentage since the Alabama game on December 16 (when their 18 three-point attempts were 34.6% of their total shots). It’s their third-fewest in any game this season, and just the third time they’ve taken fewer than 40% of their shots outside the arc. You want proof of their concentrated effort to get the ball inside? There it is.
Now, the bad. They had 14 turnovers leading to 14 Akron points; in a 65-possession game that amounted to 21.6% of their possessions ending without a shot. It’s the highest percentage since the loss at UConn on January 17 where they turned it over on 22.6% of their possessions, and fourth worst of the season.
“Some of the things I said in the huddle I can’t repeat to you. And that doesn’t happen with me very often,” McDermott said of the sloppy turnovers. “But I was not surprised that they came at us in transition. In watching them play, they’re opportunistic, but they have a lot of guys that can handle it in transition and lead the break. So I was not surprised they came at us the way that they did. We had some mental mistakes that allowed them to kind of get going.”
The 77-60 win was CU’s largest margin of victory ever in an NCAA Tournament game, eclipsing a near-identical 77-61 win over Texas on March 9, 1974 in the Round of 32.
Individually, Kalkbrenner, Scheierman and Alexander all recorded 15+ points and 5+ rebounds, making them just the second Big East trio to do that in a NCAA Tournament game over the last 10 years. The other? Xavier’s J.P. Macura, Trevon Bluiett and Kerem Kanter in the 2018 Round of 64 vs Texas Southern.
Scheierman’s 15 point, 13 rebound double-double is his 16th of the season. And those 13 boards put him over the 300 mark for the year, making him the first Creighton player with multiple seasons of 300 rebounds since Bob Portman in 1967-68 and 1968-69.
Kalkbrenner had 23 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, including two absolute stuffs in the open floor that are at the beginning of this package of clips. On the first, Scheierman tied up Ali Ali on the perimeter, repeatedly taking away his driving lanes…and when he ultimately pulled up for a jumper, Kalkbrenner rotated over and swatted his shot. That’s almost unfair. On the second, point guard Greg Tribble took what he thought was an open three only to have a seven-footer close out on him and block the shot in his face with his off hand. Then, to add insult to injury, Kalkbrenner grabbed the ball and took off down the court, attempting to throw down a poster dunk. To his credit, Tribble chased him down and fouled him to prevent the dunk, but good grief.
After the foul, McDermott pulled his star over to the sideline for a chat, and the two shared a laugh. What was that conversation like?
“He had one early in the season where he attempted to break a press by himself, which was the first time that I’d ever seen that in the four years that I’ve coached him,” McDermott said. “He said he thought about going behind his back at the end. That’s what brought my chuckle. But he plays the game the right way, he plays with emotion. You can tell he loves to play the game. Impacts the game in so many ways that don’t show up on the stats sheet. So that was a fun moment for both of us.”
Less fun, though no less amazing: Kalkbrenner going after Akron’s Sammy Hunter with 1:23 left in the game. Hunter had just lowered his shoulder into Ashworth’s neck, earning a Flagrant 1 foul, and Kalkbrenner took exception to it. For a player who is often described by Bluejay fans as too mellow, it was a rare moment of visible anger from the big man. As if Kalkbrenner isn’t enough of a handful for opponents, if he’s now going to play the role of enforcer? Good luck.
Trey Alexander had 19 points and five rebounds, making 6-of-13 from the floor. His highlight of the day was this drive, where he made a left hand drive into an up and under finish on the right side of the rim.
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxBeUCQIkfqqO2sd8FBo_XnhLe_l8Tso0l?si=Ii_zh4uw7Ppg7anM
But every March run needs an unsung hero, a big performance from a guy low on the opponent’s scouting report. Last March, it was Francisco Farabello equaling his career-high of three made 3’s by hitting three against Baylor in the Round of 32. In this game it was Mason Miller, who had 10 points — his first time scoring in double figures since the UNLV game on December 13 and just the third time in his career. His three made 3’s are one shy of his career best four, set against Central Michigan on December 9 in the only other double-figure scoring game of his career.
“I work on my shot every single day, so I kind of come into the game expecting to make shots like that,” Miller said. “I guess just running to the corner, getting open looks and playing within the offensive kind of helps the team a lot, especially when we have great players like Ryan and Baylor over here being able to space the floor for them, it’s huge for them.”
The Bluejays now own wins in four straight tournaments for the first time in school history, which is an absolutely wild thing to say for anyone who sat through the years of March anguish in the early 2000 Altman Era, where trips to March Madness were regular but wins were rare.
“First of all, you never take for granted getting here, because it’s really difficult. So the first thing you do is you appreciate the opportunity, and then you celebrate the things that you’ve done to get here,” McDermott noted. “Like I told the guys in the locker room before the game, we talk about process all year long, trusting the process, trusting your work. You know, that process is what led us to here. And that process is what’s going to give us hopefully an opportunity to kind of finish the job and keep advancing in this tournament.”
McDermott is 10-8 as Creighton’s head coach in the NCAA Tournament, winning at least one game in seven of the nine seasons he’s taken the Jays to the big dance. He chalks up that success to experience.
“We’ve had some pretty good experience in the tournament, and I think that really helps you when you come back. You know what to expect,” McDermott said. “Teams that are here the first time are taking pictures and doing all that when they go on the court. Our guys today were like, all right, this is where we expected to be. What are we going to do, and let’s do it and get out of here.”
Finally, how’s this for a stat? Of the four games in Pittsburgh on Thursday, CU was the only higher seed to win.
#11 Oregon upset #6 South Carolina
#14 Oakland upset #3 Kentucky
#11 NC State upset #6 Texas Tech
One of those upsets was Oregon, led by former coach Dana Altman. The Ducks and Bluejays will square off at 8:40pm Omaha time on Saturday with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.
Highlights:
Press Conference: