Creighton Hall of Famer Kyle Korver and his son Knox paid a visit to the Bluejay locker room on Friday before their Sweet 16 matchup with Princeton. His message was simple yet powerful.
“You can make history today for a great school. Any day you can make history is a good day. Don’t just try to win the game — go take the game.”
The Jays took that message to heart and took the game from Princeton. Now the only thing between them and the mountaintop of college hoops — the Final Four — is San Diego State. The Aztecs are a familiar foe, one that CU (barely) beat in overtime in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament.
Creighton won that game despite a season-high 20 turnovers and 11 SDSU offensive rebounds, giving the Aztecs 31 extra opportunities in a 53-possession game. They won despite 2-of-14 shooting from three-point range. The Jays led for 2:02 of the first half, none of the second half, and the final 1:08 of overtime. But it was enough. How so?
Their own defense put the clamps on SDSU’s leading scorer, Matt Bradley — he had 16 points but needed 19 shots to get there (6-of-19 overall, 0-of-5 on threes). They got SDSU’s key defensive player, Nathan Mensah, into early foul trouble and kept him there, as Mensah played 12 invisible minutes (five points, two blocks, two rebounds). And after Chad Baker-Mazara got hot in the first half, scoring 15 points in eight minutes, they held him to just two more the rest of the game.
Bradley and Mensah (and his 7’5” wingspan) are still around. So too is Adam Seiko, brother of Creighton’s Arthur Kaluma. All three opted to come back for another senior season and take advantage of their extra COVID year of eligibility. Add in Omaha native Aguek Arop (and his 7’0” wingspan), who’s also a fifth-year senior, and the Aztecs are the oldest team in the Elite Eight, with an average age of 23. Seven players on their roster are 200 pounds or bigger, and four are at least 220. These are grown men often playing against college kids 19 or 20 years old. And they have the hardware to show for all that talent and experience: Bradley was first team All-Mountain West, and Mensah was the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year.
Junior guard Lamont Butler was, too. What’s that? Two separate defensive players of the year? Yes. Mensah was picked by the league’s coaches, and Butler by the media who cover the league, giving the Aztecs two players deemed worthy of being the league’s best defender by the people who know it best.
That defense, which ranked second in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency a year ago when Creighton beat them, is fourth this time around. Another low-possession, high-intensity battle decided in the final minute could be on tap.
“Some things never change, and that’s their toughness defensively,” Greg McDermott said Saturday. “Their positioning defensively, their ability to knock you out of rhythm on the defensive end of the floor, and how aggressive they are on the glass.”
SDSU has frustrated one team after another in this tournament. Their first round opponent, popular upset pick College of Charleston, came in averaging 80 points per game. They got 57 against the Aztecs. Furman was next, a team who came in averaging 81. They managed 52. And Alabama, the tournament’s top overall seed, winners of 31 games behind one of the country’s most potent offenses? They managed 64, its third-lowest total of the year and nearly 20 points below its season average.
After their loss, Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats said “their physicality definitely bothered us in the half-court, for sure. They kind of got us off our drives … they’re a tough, physical, big, strong, experienced team.”
They had eight blocked shots, nine steals and held Alabama to 32.4% shooting. And they delivered a signature moment: as Alabama tried desperately to keep their season alive in the final minute, Mensah slammed the door on a comeback by blocking Jahvon Quinerly at the rim with 19 seconds to go, then looked to the SDSU bench and gave a thumbs down.
Rejected. Instant meme.
SDSU’s opponents have made just 28.1% of their threes this season, third-best in D1. In their three tourney wins, they’ve somehow been even better: Charleston was 5-of-24 (20.8%), Furman was 6-of-26 (23.1%) and Alabama was 3-of-27 (11.1%). Charleston and Furman scored identical 0.83 points per possession in their losses, while Alabama scored 0.86 points per possession in theirs.
The Aztecs create extra possessions for themselves in lots of ways, too. They blocked seven shots, had four steals and grabbed 8 offensive rebounds against Charleston. They had six blocks, five steals and 10 offensive boards against Furman. And in their masterpiece, they had eight blocks, nine steals and 17 — SEVENTEEN! — offensive rebounds against Alabama.
Their top offensive threat was a year ago and still is Matt Bradley. He had recorded 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in the first two games of the tournament; Alabama made him the focus of their prep and held him to six points and one rebound. Senior point guard Darrion Trammel, a transfer from Seattle U, was able to pick up the slack by matching his season high with 21 points, scoring 12 in a 5-1/2 minute span that flipped all the momentum in the Aztecs’ favor in the second half.
But this game is going to be decided on defense, not offense. Mensah and his gigantic 7’5” wingspan were never really deployed a year ago because he got into foul trouble. If he’s able to stay on the floor, he’ll not only be uniquely situated to neutralize Ryan Kalkbrenner’s size at the rim, he’ll also be able to take away Ryan Nembhard’s layups at the rim that have been so important in this tourney. The Jays will need to hit enough threes and 15-foot jumpers to hang around, and then hope their own defense keeps the game close so they have a chance to win late — like they did a year ago. And if they do? History awaits.
“I told Arthur, I want him to go to the Final Four, but I want him to go on our team plane,” McDermott said after Friday’s win. “Not to fly there on his own to watch his brother.”
Don’t just try to win the game — go take the game. Make history for a great school.
Today is a great day.
- Tip: 1:20pm
- Venue: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, KY
- TV: CBS (KMTV-3 in Omaha)
- Announcers: Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel and Evan Washburn
- In Omaha: Cox channel 3 (SD), 1003 (HD); DirecTV channel 3; Dish Network channel 3
- Streaming here
- Creighton Radio: 1620AM, 101.9FM
- Announcers: John Bishop and Nick Bahe
- Streaming on The Varsity Network app, Powered by Learfield
- National Radio: Westwood One
- Announcers: Tom McCarthy and Jordan Cornette
- Simulcast on SiriusXM Sirius channel 133 or 201
Friday’s victory was historic on several levels. San Diego State won its first Sweet 16 game in three tries (also: 2011 & 2014). SDSU also defeated a No. 1 seed in the tournament in its second attempt (also: 2015) and finally, the Aztecs beat the No. 1-ranked team in the nation for the first time in five tries (also: 1980, 2001, 2002 & 2018- The Aztecs appearance in the regional final game is its first and the first for a Mountain West program since the inception of the league in the 1999-00 season
Baylor Scheierman hit five three-pointers vs. Princeton on Friday, becoming the first Bluejay with five trifectas in an NCAA Tournament game since Kyle Korver hit five against Central Michigan in the first round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament. Only Terrell Taylor (8 vs. Florida in 2002) has made more in an NCAA Tournament game for Creighton.
Ryan Kalkbrenner’s 63 total points so far in this year’s NCAA Tournament are the most by any Bluejay in an NCAA Tournament, breaking the mark of 60 set by Gene Harmon in three games in 1974. Kalkbrenner’s 24 made field goals are one shy of Creighton’s single NCAA Tournament record set by Harmon in 1974, and his five blocked shots are one shy of Creighton’s single NCAA Tournament record, set by Chad Gallagher in two games in 1991.
The only other time that Creighton has played among the final eight teams in the NCAA Tournament came in 1941, when the field only featured eight teams, and way before Elite Eight was used by the NCAA. That Bluejay team lost its first game to Washington State, then defeated a Wyoming team that included Curt Gowdy in a consolation round contest.
Creighton owns a 5-3 lead in the all-time series with San Diego State, with SDSU winning two of the three they’ve played on a neutral floor. But the other one? The other one’s pretty memorable.
The Bottom Line:
ESPN’s BPI gives Creighton a 65.4% chance of victory, KenPom predicts a 68-67 Bluejay win, and Vegas has the Jays as two point favorites.
That’s right: your Creighton Bluejays are favored to advance to the Final Four. What a time to be alive.