March 17, 2005 — Nate Funk’s 23 points aren’t enough to give Creighton a win over West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament.
Creighton jumped out to a 10-0 lead behind 5 quick points from Funk. The Mountaineers fought back and turned the tides on the Jays, claiming a 12-point lead with just under 5 minutes to play in the first half. But a 3-pointer by Tyler McKinney and a traditional 3-point play by Johnny Mathies keyed a 12-2 CU run to close the half and leave the Jays down just 2 at the break.
A Funk 3-pointer gave the Jays a lead with 18 minutes to play in the game, one they would hold until just about 6 minutes to play. From that point on CU and WVU traded hoops and leads, and the game was tied with just under 40 second to play. Dana Altman drew up a play for Funk to take a 3-pointer, but his shot was blocked by Tyrone Sally. J.D. Collins rebounded the block with a few seconds to play, threw an outlet pass the length of the court to a streaking Sally, who then flushed it with 2 seconds left.