In the season’s first four games, twice Creighton has held a second half lead over a Top 20 team, only to lose. Both times, they proved they’re a good team capable of winning against that level of competition, but unfortunately also proved they’re not a great team because they were unable to actually beat that level of competition. Its tough to realize that a team is THAT close, but isn’t able to get over the hump repeatedly.
Thursday’s battle with Michigan was especially tough, because Creighton was up by five with three minutes to play and had the ball…only to lose the lead and the game.
I was driving home to northwest Iowa on Thursday, and strategically timed my drive to coincide with the game. Sure, I could have gotten up early and made it to the family gathering by tip, but if I had I wouldn’t have been able to really WATCH the game. Oh, sure, it would be on the TV, but you can’t really be the guy who ignores the entire family to watch a game. It looks bad. No one wants to be that guy. So being the thinker I am, I opted to let the dulcet tones of T. Scott describe the game for me during my Thanksgiving drive.
Until I outran the 590 signal, that is. With six minutes to play in the game, the windfarms of northwest Iowa interfered with the signal enough that I could no longer make out any words. Time for Plan B: the Michigan broadcast on XM. It was crystal clear stereo on channel 105, a huge plus. It was the Wolverine Radio Network homers, a huge minus. But it was the game at least. On this Thanksgiving, I’m very thankful for Sirius XM. Following in the Thanksgiving theme:
I’m not thankful for turnovers. The story of the day seemed to be Creighton turnovers and Michigan converting them into points. Michigan scored 24 of their 83 points off turnovers, something very difficult to overcome. Its funny, turnovers were not a huge concern for this team coming into today — rebounding was. Yet the Jays were essentially even on the glass, but turned it over almost twice as often as Michigan. Go figure.
I’m extremely thankful for Justin Carter and the quick healing power of youth. Just three weeks removed from a ghastly MCL injury and playing in his first game of the season, no one was sure what or how much to expect from Carter. The smart bet was 8-10 minutes of rusty play essentially spelling other players. The reality was the best game of his career. 21 points on 10-15 shooting. 8 rebounds. 24 minutes. Multiple clutch shots. Several great defensive stops. At times the best player on the floor in a game with two first-team all Big Ten players.
I’m thankful we won’t have to see Manny Harris again, except from a distance as he’s destroying some other team. Everything we heard about him as a player was true and then some. One rebound shy of a triple-double, Harris had 20 points, 11 assists and 9 rebounds. Re-read that line. I’ll retype it for your convenience. One rebound shy of a triple-double, Harris had 20 points, 11 assists and 9 rebounds. Holy crap, that’s ridiculous.
I’m thankful for Dana Altman going against his standing operating procedure and calling timeout to set up a final play down by two. Antoine Young dribbled coast-to-coast and made a clutch runner in the lane to send the game to OT. While I couldn’t hear what was likely T. Scott screaming and yelling enthusiastically on the CU call, the hilariously dismayed Michigan call was highly amusing. Their call of the OT, dominated by Michigan? Not so much.
I’m not thankful for inconsistent defensive pressure. When Creighton was playing their best today, they were pressuring the ball, forcing turnovers, and speeding Michigan up. When they were playing poorly, they looked distracted, sloppy and careless, allowing Michigan to get wide open looks, shoot uncontested threes and playing the game at their pace. Unfortunately, the latter occurred over the final three minutes, an inopportune time for that to pick to play bad defense. A more focused effort down the stretch defensively and this game might have a much different outcome.
I’m thankful that the national spin on this game seems to be far different than the local disappointment. While we’re upset at seeing a game slip away, ESPN and others seem to be impressed that Creighton played toe-to-toe with a Top 15 team. As long as the takeaway nationally from this game is that Creighton acquitted themselves as a good team worthy of a chance in March despite a loss, some good can still come of this.
Lastly, I’m thankful that there’s another game tomorrow. A win over the disliked Xavier Musketeers would go a long way toward removing the bad taste left in out mouths over this one.
You bet.