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Repeatedly the last two years, this group of Creighton Bluejays have proven themselves to be a tough, experienced, motivated group of winners and Friday night at MSG, they pulled off their biggest win yet. By out-toughing, out-playing and out-scoring UConn, the Jays sent the Huskies out of the Big East Tourney.
It was the type of game Jays fans hoped for when they joined the Big East: a back and forth Friday night semifinal showdown packed with drama. There were gigantic shots from both sides. It was physical: UConn’s R.J. Cole left the game to get stitches after landing face-first on the court while trying to initiate contact and draw a foul, and Creighton’s Shereef Mitchell left the game after bumping heads with a UConn player. It might not have been an instant classic, but it was a helluva lot of fun.
Though Vegas favored the Jays, most pundits picked UConn, and Creighton’s coaches used that as motivation. “We have a group chat with us and the coaches, and they were sending us tweets, who was going to win the Big East championship and everyone was saying it was going to be UConn,” Damien Jefferson said. “We took pride towards that and everybody said that just added fuel to the fire.”
There were 10 ties and three lead changes, and with the score tied at 48 apiece and just under eight minutes left, UConn’s James Bouknight scored five straight to give them a 53-48 lead. It looked like this was the moment where one team was going to seize the momentum and the game, and it was looking like that team was not Creighton.
Not so fast.
“Coach told us if we get a couple of stops we’re going to win this game,” Jefferson said. “And I was just telling everybody in the huddle, keep fighting, keep fighting, get some stops on the defensive end. And, man, I’m proud of my guys.”
CU immediately responded with a 9-0 run to grab ahold of the game, starting with a fastbreak layup from Marcus Zegarowski where he drove under the basket, flipped it behind himself, and used the glass to bank it in. A ridiculously gutsy shot in an empty gym. In that moment, on this stage? Who does that? Marcus Zegarowski does.
Then Damien Jefferson tied it with a three:
“I think what impressed me the most is he stuck with himself,” McDermott said of Jefferson. “He got us to a great start. But then he had some turnovers to start the second half, missed some threes, missed some shots at the rim, missed a couple of free throws. But he stuck with himself and he hits a big three at 53-50 to tie the game. And that’s the sign of a guy who gets it and understands who he is. You ask me what I like about him. Everything. He’s developed into such a complete player and what he does on the floor is just — I mean, it’s only a small part of what he brings to our program. What he does in that locker room and what he means to his teammates, it’s high level. So he’s a warrior. I think I’ve said it before, I don’t think we’re going to realize exactly what he brings to us until he’s not here anymore, because he does all the little stuff so well that you sometimes take it for granted. But when you watch it on film again, see what he does, how he goes about it, you realize he’s a heck of a special player.”
Bishop added a layup to give CU a 55-53 lead, and then Zegarowski extended it to 57-53 with this tough pullup jumper. With 2:32 to go, suddenly the Jays led by four.
Still holding that lead 30 seconds later, they sealed the win with a pair of free throws from Mitch Ballock — and a heart attack of a defense sequence where they gave the Huskies three chances at a tie before finally securing the victory clinching rebound.
It was quite a stunning result given how things started. UConn took a 13-2 lead early, as Adama Sanogo scored eight points and was virtually unstoppable in the paint. But once he picked up his second foul, he headed to the bench and Creighton got to work. They outscored the Huskies 24-11 the rest of the half, and took a 30-26 lead to the break.
“It was one of the first TV timeouts, I remember D.J. saying, everybody just calm down, everybody just calm down. And it’s exactly what I was about to say. But obviously the meaning it has coming out of one of your leaders and captain’s mouths, has a impact. They were forcing us to speed up because of their pressure, and we weren’t creating any open driving lanes. We were standing on top of each other. Once we settled into their physicality and pressure we got back to playing a little more like we could play. We didn’t shoot it great and obviously UConn has a lot to do with that. But this is a hard team to play against. And all three games scoring is tough to come by, so you have to figure out other ways to win.”
The first eight minutes of the second half were not great basketball, but they were fun — back and forth, ties and lead changes, both teams hitting huge shots, neither team able to pull away. Sanogo’s return helped the Huskies tremendously; he pinned Mahoney on the glass, forced a miss inside by Jefferson, picked up Bishop’s 2nd foul, and scored again inside, all in the opening moments of the half.
WBR’s Matt DeMarinis tweeted that the first team to get their guards rolling might win. He was right — and thankfully it was Creighton that did.
And then a funny thing happened. Creighton, the offensive juggernaut often deservedly dogged for their defense or lack thereof, held UConn to 2-of-16 shooting over the final 12:30. All the Huskies got over that stretch of 20 possessions was a Polley 3, a Bouknight layup, and 8 made free throws.
“Just a gritty win by our team. People talk about our offense…but we had to win the game in other ways tonight and that was on the defensive end and the backboards,” McDermott said. “For us to win the backboards by 17 rebounds speaks of the grit and toughness in our locker room.”
It was Creighton’s largest comeback victory on a neutral floor since overcoming a 12-point deficit vs. rival Alabama in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. And it sets up a Big East Championship Game against another traditional power in Georgetown. Once again, popular sentiment outside Omaha will be with their opponent — the story of Patrick Ewing guiding the Hoyas to an NCAA Tournament with four wins in four days is a good one, admittedly.
But like on Friday night against UConn, it’s one CU hopes to spoil. That seems to be a role they play well.
Key Stats:
The Jays ended up with more turnovers (13) than assists (seven). Their field goal percentage (37.1%) was their second-lowest mark of the year. So their defense was the difference.
On successive nights at MSG, Creighton’s defense shut down guards Chuck Harris of Butler (3-of-9) and James Bouknight of UConn (4-of-14). It’s impressive stuff against two of the hottest, and best, guards in the league.
Denzel Mahoney was the primary defender on Bouknight, and turned a player who scored 40 on them in Storrs into one that struggled to get an open look, and was unable to create off the dribble. And when Mahoney ended up in foul trouble, Jefferson was shifted over to Bouknight.
“He hasn’t practiced one rep guarding him and we flipped him over there because we wanted that size and length,” McDermott said. “And D.J. did a good job, especially the last possession. I think they were trying to get a quick two. D.J. cut off the driving lane, made them take a tough three, then we were fortunate they missed a couple of 3s on those tip-outs.”
That defense held UConn to just three points over the game’s final five minutes, as they missed their final eight shots. And Creighton secured a season-best 17 offensive rebounds, eight more than UConn — the best offensive rebounding team in the Big East. Just an impressive, impressive performance in ways you wouldn’t expect a Creighton team to impress you in.
How about this for a turn of events?