Its always a raucous crowd when Wichita State is in town, and with the incessantly whiny Gregg Marshall on the bench, its become moreso the last three years. On Saturday, the crowd was credited by coach Dana Altman for being a much-needed sixth man against a Shocker team that quite frankly is better than Creighton right now — and that outplayed Creighton despite losing.
I wasn’t one of the people in the arena clapping and making noise with their hands, however, although the current state of my vocal chords is testament to how loudly I yelled to make up for being physically unable to clap.
Before the game, we were walking from our car to the arena and when we got to the edge of the parking lot, we discovered that the perimeter was surrounded by 18 inches of snow. 18 inches is enough to be annoying, but not enough to cause us to walk a city block in the wrong direction to exit the lot through the plowed pedestrian exit.
My buddy successfully scaled the short mountain and into the street. I did not.
As I stepped off the top and into the street, the snow collapsed at the exact moment when I had one foot in the air and one on the snow. Tumble into the pavement, I did. Tear my jeans, I did. Don’t worry, my old-before-their-time football-injured knees broke the fall.
Instinctually, I scrambled to get up before anyone saw me, but the sand and gravel on the street prevented my shoes from getting a good grip. I slipped and skidded, tearing the living daylights out of my hands. It was every bit as painful to experience as the Timothy Dalton Bond movie of the same name, trust me. Blood pouring out at an alarming rate, I did what I imagined Bear Gryllis would do, and found the nearest snow bank, cleaned up, and headed into the arena like a man. Gashed up hands? Whatever. It was game day!
Incidentally, did you know clotting blood can freeze on your hands? I either didn’t or I had forgotten this. Wild. The first aid station at the Qwest Center, by the way, is solid. As far as emergency supply rooms in sporting venues go, I highly recommend it. Nice people. I got all bandaged up, got a beer, and was in my seat before the tip. You bet.
***
Creighton came out cold, missing their first seven shots but due to Wichita State’s similar struggles, found themselves behind just 9-5 nearly seven minutes into the game. That failure to build a lead when the Jays were fumbling around arguably cost the Shockers more than anything else. Had they built a sizable early lead, they might have taken the huge crowd out of the game and been able to do what they did last Saturday in Wichita — play even with the Jays the rest of the way and coast to a win.
But they didn’t. After a P’Allen Stinnett dunk gave the Jays their first field goal, it was 9-7 and though ugly, the game was on. Wichita State built their largest lead of the day, 24-18, with three minutes to play, but Creighton ended the half on a 10-2 run to unbelievably, shockingly take a 28-26 lead into the locker room. I say unbelievably and shockingly because the Jays were outrebounded 23-15 and shot just 27%. By all rights, they should have been buried. Whether it was the Jays defense, Wichita’s struggles offensively (they shot just 29% themselves), the specter of 16 straight losses in Omaha, or some combination of the three, the Shockers did not capitalize on the opportunity.
As you’d figure, both teams shot better in the second half, but it was Creighton who pulled away. They were even on the boards, 17-17, in the second stanza, and built a 47-35 lead with seven minutes to play. What happened next? If you guessed “Jays blow a double-digit lead”, you’re not a genius, you’ve seen too many Jays games this year.
I won’t regurgitate the grisly details, but with 2:21 to play a three-pointer from J.T. Durley cut the lead to two, 53-51. Free throws down the stretch AGAIN were a killer, and as both Kenny Lawson and Justin Carter made just one-of-two throws in the final minute, I became so enraged I slapped my hands together, causing the clotting to break. DOH.
After a three from Cleven Hannah cut the lead to 57-56 with 13 seconds left — the missed free throws seemingly looming very large, and with more free throws to come — the crowd groaned. As the Jays were bringing the ball upcourt, Wichita went for a steal and knocked it out of bounds. You knew they were hoping for Carter, struggling all year at the line, to get the ball so they could foul him. Instead, the Jays were able to inbound the ball and dribble the remaining nine seconds off the clock with Shocker players hacking them left and right. There were probably four fouls committed. None were called.
Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall has a reputation for whining, and whether the refs were sticking it to him or whether they just had somewhere to be, the fact that they didn’t whistle a foul when it was obvious that A)they were intentionally trying to commit one and B)were hacking guys all over the place was eye-raising to say the least. Be careful what you wish for, I guess.
Make no mistake, though: Creighton didn’t play THAT well in this game. Its a solid win against a good team, its their second in a row, and it sets up a big showdown for third place on Wednesday against Illinois State. But Wichita State played better in this game, and save for a few plays here and there that went the Jays way, this might have been a loss. That it wasn’t is a credit to them and perhaps predicts a turnaround is underway.
At the end of the day, they’re .500 for the first time since Thanksgiving, 4-3 in the league, and face a staggering Redbird team next. That’s all that matters. 16,000 and change headed into the January night happy, suddenly bullish about the Jays play. Meanwhile, I headed home to examine the damage to my hands, and discovered it was quite extensive, much worse than the first aid room mirrors had indicated. Nothing a few beers didn’t cure, mind you, but it’ll be a while before I’ll be clapping at a game…or climbing a snow bank.
You bet.