Steven Ashworth’s left eye was cut open. The right side of Ryan Kalkbrenner’s jaw was sore after a collision. Trey Alexander and Baylor Scheierman were gassed after 53 and 55 minutes, respectively, of high-intensity play on both ends of the floor. Breathless, bruised and bloodied but not beaten, the Bluejays went into The Rock on Saturday and won the most physical rock fight you’ll ever see — 97-94 in triple overtime against first place Seton Hall.
“I told the team, I’m not sure how we lost it and I’m not sure how we won it,” Greg McDermott said on his postgame radio show. “Because we we had some fundamental execution mistakes in regulation, and at the end of the first two overtimes, that we have to be better on. We missed some free throws at critical times. We missed some shots that could have put it away. We couldn’t quite do it, but for them to stick with each other and finish on both ends of the floor is a real credit to this group.”
After a second half and two overtimes where Creighton had rallied repeatedly, picking themselves up off the mat each time, they fell behind 88-83 in the third overtime. Two minutes into that third extra frame, it looked like the extreme physicality, the repeated no-calls from the officiating crew which let the game be that way, the huge number of minutes their stars had played, and their numerous missed opportunities were going to finally prove to be too much to overcome.
But the Bluejays dug deep and found enough — guts, determination, something — to make one last push. Scheierman drew a foul and hit a pair of free throws. Ashworth hit the biggest three of his Bluejay career (so far), sinking a wide-open look from the top of the circle, and then drew a charge on the other end seconds later.
Trailing 88-87, Alexander took it from there. First, he dribbled into traffic, used two separate shot fakes to create space, and buried a fallaway jumper for the lead with under a minute to go.
And after Kadary Richmond hit a pair of free throws for Seton Hall to give them back the lead, Alexander answered with a three-pointer. 93-91 Bluejays. This time, the Jays hit their free throws — two each from Ashworth and Scheierman — and Creighton survived a 15-round heavyweight brawl of a basketball game, leaving Newark with one of the toughest-earned wins you’ll see.
“When we were down five with 3 minutes left, I huddled the guys up. I was like, bro, we have three minutes left to get ourselves back into it. I know we can get some stops and get some scores,” Alexander said after the game. “Once Steven hit that three, I just knew from that point on that we were going to be able to win this game. I knew that we we were prepared for these type of moments.”
If last Saturday’s win over St. John’s was a mud fight, what in the hell do you call this one? Whatever adjective you pick, the result is a Bluejay win and the split of a two-game road trip to UConn and Seton Hall that they had they had to get. And now they head home at 5-3 in the league, with the hardest part of their schedule behind them. They play seven of their last 12 at home, and have already played four of the league’s top six on the road.
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Creighton led 35-31 at the half by making a concerted effort to get the ball inside to Kalkbrenner (13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks in the first half), crashing the glass and only committing one turnover. It was an emphatic answer to Wednesday’s disheartening defeat at UConn. But then they found themselves on the wrong end of a 9-0 run to open the second that put Seton Hall ahead 40-35, a run that eventually swelled to a 20-4 spurt and a 48-39 lead for the Pirates. In the process, Ashworth got a cut above his eye on offense but no foul call, and Kalkbrenner’s chin was called for a foul on the other end.
Greg McDermott was as mad as he’s been at an officiating crew in his 14 years on Creighton’s bench, and rightfully so.
“The guys were calming me down, you know, telling me we were good. But I’ve got to make my point. I’ve got to fight for our team,” McDermott said on his postgame radio show. “I thought there was a few that could have went either way that didn’t go our way. But like I said, the guys played through that and it’s a credit to them and their resolve, their toughness.”
Much like their coach, the Bluejays were not going down without a fight, and they hit three consecutive 3-pointers over 93 seconds of game clock — one each from Ashworth, Scheierman and Francisco Farabello — to cut the deficit to 48-45. A fourth straight triple, this time from Alexander, made it 52-51.
And then a perfectly executed pick and roll led to a thunderous dunk for Kalkbrenner and a Bluejay lead, capping a 14-4 run.
Two more threes from Alexander and Scheierman stretched the Bluejay lead out to 60-54. The audible groans from a sold-out crowd at the Prudential Center told the story, as CU had flipped the game in the blink of an eye.
But just as quickly as the momentum had shifted toward Creighton, Seton Hall seized it back. Al-Amir Dawes hit a tough jumper, Elijah Hutchins-Everett made just his second 3-pointer of the season, and the big man Jaden Bediako made a contested layup over Kalkbrenner with 1:30 left to tie the game at 65. And after Kalkbrenner’s shot at the rim was blocked amidst heavy contact that went uncalled, like most contact was in this game, the Pirates had a chance to take the lead.
Leading scorer Kadary Richmond was trusted to take the potential game-winner, and though he had not one but two shots at the rim blocked by Alexander, he was somehow able to tip in a third attempt to give his team the lead.
Creighton’s final possession saw Ashworth end up with the ball in his hands, an unlikely scenario given the games that CU’s Big Three were having. But he made the most of it, driving into the lane and making a circus scoop shot off the glass to tie the game. In his 19th game as a Bluejay, the transfer from Utah State finally had his moment. Between this shot to tie it, and his three in the third overtime, Ashworth made gigantic plays that were key to the victory repeatedly.
When Seton Hall’s desperation heave missed, the game headed to overtime tied at 67. In the first extra period, Creighton took a 71-69 lead on a lob dunk from Ashworth to Kalkbrenner, taking a page out of the old Ryan Nembhard playbook.
But after Alexander’s midrange jumper gave them a 75-71 advantage with 30 seconds left, Richmond made a pair of free throws for Seton Hall and then Alexander was unable to do the same. He missed the front end of a one-and-one that left the door open a crack, and Dre Davis’ tip-in tied the game once more at 75. And when Scheierman’s three at the buzzer missed, the game headed to a second overtime.
In the second OT, Creighton had chances to put the game on ice but failed to do so. Mason Miller’s huge three-pointer with two minutes to go gave CU an 82-79 lead…
…and Kalkbrenner blocked a shot at the other end.
But missed free throws once again jumped up and bit the Bluejays. Ashworth could only make one-of-two, again leaving the door open a crack. Seton Hall did not make the same mistake, as Dawes sunk a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 83-82. And after CU turned the ball over on the inbounds pass, the Pirates felt like they had the game-winning bucket — only to see if waived off because of a foul call before the shot.
Richmond could only make one of two at the line, and when Alexander’s buzzer-beater clanged off the rim, the game headed to a third overtime.
In the third extra period, Creighton dug deep after falling behind 88-83, once again rallying when it looked like hope was fleeting. And then Alexander took the game over.
“Seton Hall is a heck of a team, and I’m just really proud of our guys’ resolve,” McDermott said. “We had some guys that made critical mistakes at times, and just to watch this group rally around each other and pick each other up when one of their teammates is hanging their head? It’s really incredible. It makes it an incredibly special group.”
Inside the Box:
Ryan Kalkbrenner played 54 minutes, scoring 28 points with nine rebounds and a career-high seven blocks, nearly getting a most unconventional triple-double. He took 23 shots, as the Jays made a concerted effort to run their offense through the big man — and he answered the bell. He proved nearly impossible for Seton Hall to defend, and his blocks changed the course of the game. For a two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year winner who’s been ignored in that conversation so far this year, it was a loud and emphatic announcement that he’s still here. It was Kalkbrenner’s fourth consecutive game with four or more blocks.
Steven Ashworth played 48 minutes with eight assists and 0 — zero — turnovers. His runner in the lane tied the game to send it to overtime, his three in the third OT cut the deficit to one, and then he drew a charge to give Trey Alexander the chance to win it. And his defense? My goodness. For a player who struggled to stay in front of opposing guards back in November, Ashworth’s play on defense over the last two weeks has been nothing short of shocking. It’s clear that he’s past the 15-game period it often takes transfers to figure things out. On Saturday, his primary defensive assignment was Al-Amir Dawes, who needed 22 shots to score 21 points.
As for Alexander? In 53 minutes, he had 23 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and one turnover. His primary assignment, Kadary Richmond, needed 32 — 32!! — shots to score his 21 points. Thirty-two shots! With Alexander hounding him all afternoon, the All-Big East guard missed 24 shots. And when it mattered most, Alexander hit not one but two shots to give his team the lead in the final minute of the third overtime.
Baylor Scheierman never left the floor, playing every second of the 55 minute game. He’s had better games offensively, as he made just 6-of-20 from the floor and 3-of-11 from three. But he did score 20 points with 10 rebounds, six assists, and zero turnovers, he made clutch plays when they needed them, and his two free throws in the third OT clinched the win. And when the Jays switched him onto Richmond late in the game when Alexander picked up his fourth foul, Scheierman made great plays.
“I really give Baylor credit. I thought he really used his physicality to stay on the ground, to stay in front of him,” McDermott said of that defensive effort. “He made Kadary miss some big shots down the stretch.”
Extra possession points (offensive rebounds and live-ball turnovers) doomed Creighton on Wednesday night, as UConn got 34 of their 62 points on extra possessions. In this one, CU cleaned up their execution in both areas. Seton Hall had 14 offensive rebounds on 50 missed shots, just 28%. For a team who had been grabbing 42.4% of their misses in Big East play coming in, that’s a huge drop and a credit to Creighton. The Pirates turned those 14 offensive boards into just 10 second-chance points, and combined with CU committing just six turnovers in 55 minutes of action, Creighton’s excellent first-shot defense was able to flex it’s muscles.
This was Creighton’s second-ever triple-overtime game in history, having lost 85-82 to No. 13 DePaul on Feb. 1, 1978. And with the big minutes logged by their stars, if there’s an unsung MVP, it’s strength and conditioning coaches Jeremy Anderson and Ben McNair. Seton Hall’s players looked gassed at the end of the third OT, while Creighton’s players had enough in the tank to continue running their offense and making plays on defense.
“I think every game that you win in this league you’re going to feel pretty good. But this group is going to be tired,” McDermott said. “I don’t think Baylor left the floor. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a guy play 55 minutes for me. But we had three guys play over 50, too. So, you know, we’ll use Jeremy and Ben and try to manage the next two days and get ready for a really, really good Xavier team on Tuesday night.”
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