It’s really difficult to read much into a performance against the worst team in Division 1. For example, should the arena-record 28 assists on 32 made baskets be an impressive stat, or should it be an indictment of Houston Baptist’s poor defense? Should the fact that the team actually built on their halftime lead for once and put the Huskies in a sleeper hold at the 8-minute mark be encouraging, or merely a sign of a horrible horrible team not being able to keep up? Should Cavel Witter’s best game in two years be seen as a sign of a player turning his benching into a challenge to improve, or as a fluke against a team unwilling to cut off dribble penetration?
That’s what I wrote back in December, after the Jays put a serious smack-down on the team tonight’s opponent defeated to earn an automatic bid to the tournament. The team that night was Houston Baptist, who at the time was 1-11 and had the worst RPI in Division 1. The team tonight, who beat Houston Baptist to win the Great West Conference Tournament, is South Dakota, who is in just their second year of D1 play. So if nothing else, at least the Coyotes are better than Houston Baptist.
The Great West Conference is the only conference in D1 that does not earn an auto-bid into the NCAA Tournament, so the CIT graciously offered their champ an auto bid into theirs. How lovely. A crazy league made up almost entirely of schools making the transition into Division 1, its almost like the “Green Room” for D1, a holding area while teams wait for full D1 status and acceptance into other, better leagues. South Dakota, for example, is joining the Summit League in 2011.
So why in the world are we jumping into the time machine, and going back to the salad days of December buy games? Because the NCAA Tournament blew us off, the NIT laughed at us, and the CBI would only let us come to their party if we agreed to take a road trip. The CIT was so happy we would consider coming to its party, they offered us a chance to play at home…albeit our old home, the one we outgrew and abandoned seven years ago. Incidentally, I love how everyone is nostalgic to go back and play at the Civic again, if only for one night. Its quite telling, however, that Creighton’s promotional campaign for tonight’s game focuses on the old building. The CIT logo is a tiny afterthought in the corner of most ads. I don’t know anyone who is excited about the CIT. I’m sure there are people out there, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t know them. But playing in the old Civic again? Everyone I’ve talked to is crazy excited about that.
So excited, in fact, that a Civic-era crowd is expected; the last report I heard, just over 3500 tickets had been sold. Ah, now that’s the Civic I remember! Not the raucous, SRO games in January and February of 2003 when Kyle Korver electrified the city. No, the Civic I remember is the half-full building with free Godfather’s Pizza at halftime for the 150 students who came to games. Any of you old enough to have been there, do you remember when that stack, 10 or 15 high, of Large Pepperoni Pizzas would be delivered at halftime? How glorious the aroma of that pizza was after a week of dining hall food? How exciting the prospect of free pizza was to a student budget? How people would take a slice or three, and pass the box to their neighbor, perhaps saying Hello and making acquaintances while they were at it? Man, those were the days.
Remember how, with only 4 or 5000, how insanely LOUD that place would get? How you could jump up and down on the risers and the sound of the metal clanging would reverberate throughout the entire building? How there was no video board(s) to distract us with games and prizes, just the dance team and Billy to entertain us during timeouts? Billy used to actually DO STUFF, instead of the politician-shaking-hands-posing-for-photos routine he does now. Riding the “Sled Of Doom” down the stairs of the Second Balcony was always a favorite of mine, for the sheer chance of awful consequences alone. Repelling onto the court from the rafters with the game ball was always highly amusing too. I miss the Civic sometimes.
In all seriousness, though, the Jays are playing tonight because if you get a chance to play in the postseason, no matter how, you do it. As a fan I don’t necessarily agree with that, but I respect it and I’ll be there to see if the Jays can get win number 17 and advance to the second round.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: South Dakota is 22-9 on the year, and has won 13 straight games coming into tonight’s contest … Tonight marks their first postseason appearance in their transition to Division I after being a regular postseason participant in Division II for decades, including many years squaring off against Nebraska-Omaha … Three men average in double-figures, a trio led by Great West Conference Player of the Year Tyler Cain. Cain averages 14.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocked shots per game. The 6’8″ senior forward also leads the team with 47 steals … Also scoring in double-figures are senior swingman Roman Gentry (13.4 ppg.) and freshman guard Jake Thomas (13.1 ppg.) … Former Bluejay Steve Smith also starts for the Coyotes. A sixth-year senior, Smith average 7.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Smith spent two injury-plagued years at Creighton (2004-05 and 2005-06) before transferring back to his home state … USD is 6-6 in true road games this year, with their losses coming to Texas Tech, Marquette, Drake, Wyoming, Kansas State and Utah Valley State … The Coyotes average 79.5 points per game while allowing 72.8 per contest … USD gets outrebounded by 0.8 boards per game and turns it over 0.8 times per game more than the opposition … South Dakota Coach Dave Boots owns a 465-181 record in his 22nd year on the Coyote bench, which improves his career mark to 580-244 in 29 years overall as a head coach. Boots ranks sixth in Division II history in wins and has never had a losing season at USD.
The Last Time They Played: Creighton lost 90-82 on January 15, 1968 to South Dakota in Vermillion the last time they met. More interesting than that, though, is the last postseason game played in the Civic. Its been a while.
The date: March 15, 1984. Creighton, led by All-American Benoit Benjamin, matched up against Nebraska in the first round of the NIT. The Jays led throughout, though the game was close. With 10 seconds left in a tie game, 52-52, Benjamin was called for a Technical Foul. Husker star Dave Hoppen sank two free throws, and Nebraska escaped with a 54-52 win. Old-timers still maintain they’re not sure how the fans managed not to tear the place apart, although some that I’ve spoken with say they tried their damndest.
One other note, which is kind of interesting given the gripes about the length of CU’s bench this year: Vernon Moore played all 40 minutes in that game. Gary Swain, Benjamin and Gregory Brandon played 37 each, and Karlas Gripado played 17, with sixth-man Kenny Evans logging 26. Two other players got 3 minutes each. And that was it. Interesting.
The Series: Creighton is 47-11 all-time against South Dakota in a series that started in 1918; the last meeting came in Vermillion in 1968. Creighton won the first 17 meetings in the series with the Coyotes, and has also won 12 of the 13 most recent meetings.
Creighton is an astonishing 31-1 all-time at home against USD, including a 6-1 record at the Omaha Civic Auditorium. Creighton has won those 32 meetings in Omaha by an average of 15.7 points, with 21 double-digit victories.
The Totally Random Song I’d Play Right Now if I was Still a Radio DJ: See, if I was at all predictable, I’d play “Welcome to the Jungle” or “Start Me Up” in honor of the Civic, because those songs were played over the P.A. all the freaking time in the old building. But I’m not predictable. Thus, in a nostalgic mood today, its time to go back to the days when rock and pop music could feature saxophones unironically. Its time to go back to the days when Eddie Money was not a punchline.
I Wanna Go Back. To the Civic. For one night.
The Pick: Creighton wins tonight, but its going to be a fight. Anyone that thinks this is a double-digit win is sorely mistaken.
Jays 74, South Dakota 67