Echenique with the "slap-in" to sent game to OT (Streur/WBR)
In the past ten years I have missed senior day twice. The first was when Cavel Witter set (at that time) an arena record with 42 points against Bradley in 2007-08 season in a double overtime 111-110 victory for Creighton. Of course, the second one was on Tuesday night as Creighton came from behind to send the game into overtime and get an 93-92 victory over Evansville.
The Purple Aces appeared to dominate this game from the start and throughout the game as the Bluejays could not stop Colt Ryan and Denver Holmes. Ryan was on fire as he shot 17-of-24 from the field and finished with a CenturyLink Center record 43 points. Holmes had a career night of his own scoring 25 points. Combined those two made up 68 of the team’s 93 points. You would have figured the Bluejays were blown out of their own gym again, similar to the Wichita State game a couple weeks ago. Creighton was down by 14 points with 14:08 to go in the game.
Instead, the Bluejays took a page out of their book to make a comeback similar to the game against Long Beach State last Saturday. They started driving to the basket and cutting into the lead. With Doug McDermott having an off night (if having 21 points is an off night) including going 5-of-12 from the free throw line, it was the will of senior Antoine Young to keep Creighton in the game and to give the Bluejays a chance to win.
Similar to what they did against LBSU, the Bluejay defense ratcheted things up in the final possessions as they forced Evansville into two straight shot clock violations. After the first one, Young drove to the basket and missed a shot, but Gregory Echenique was there to put the basket back in to get Creighton within two. After the second shot clock violation, that setup the Bluejays the chance to tie or win the game.
After the timeout it was Young again looking to make the shot at the end of the game like he did against Long Beach State, but put up the shot a little sooner. The ball bounced off a couple hands and a couple of shots were able to be put up before a quick slap of the ball back up to the basket as time expired by Echenique rolled in and the game was sent to overtime.
Jones was the X-factor in overtime (Streur/WBR)
In the overtime period, Young and Echenique had baskets for the Bluejays but the Aces answered on all of those. Evansville eventually took a three point lead on a basket and foul by Troy Taylor. However in the next two possessions, it was Josh Jones who came out of the woodwork to create some magic. He drove to the basket for a layup and foul of his own tying things back up.
Ryan responded by trying to hit a three pointer that missed and then Doug McDermott was fouled. McDermott only hit one of the two free throws to give the Bluejays a one point lead. However this time Evansville was able to get a basket by Ryan to give them back the lead 92-91 with just under a minute to go in OT.
On the Bluejays final possession, Echenique and Jones played a two-man game and Jones hit a 15-footer to give the Jays the lead once again. With 23 seconds left, Evansville was going to get the last shot of the game and everyone knew that the ball was going to Ryan. In an awkward play Echenique got switched on defense at the top of the key trying to guard Ryan. But as the clock ran down, instead of driving in to try and get a better shot, Ryan took the 23-footer from the top of the key and missed giving Creighton the win and getting the win on Senior Night.
The win and the way it was won is a fitting tribute to this year’s team that Jays fans have been able to watch all season–one that is unselfish and plays for each other. There were several heroes on this night:
- Antoine Young had a great night as he went 13-of-14 from the free throw line, finished with 21 points and dished out 7 assists. He was involved in almost every play down the stretch.
- Gregory Echenique had the two key baskets and four of his nine points at the end of the game to send it to overtime.
- Avery Dingman had one of his best nights of his short career as a Bluejay. He came off the bench to play 19 minutes and finish with 14 points including 4-of-5 from three point range. His shooting kept the Bluejays in the game when things looked bleak.
- Josh Jones stepped up in overtime when it was needed the most, scoring five of the last six points.
- Doug McDermott didn’t have the best game of his life, but still worked hard and hit some big shots, especially with under four minutes left in the game.
- Jahenns Manigat fouled out of the game, but hit a couple of three pointers early in the game to get the shooting going. Creighton did shoot almost 57% for the game–A far cry from the 40% shooting in Evansville
The point is that there were several factors that went into this win against Evansville. Although it was heart stopping for the second game in a row, it created some great excitement at the CenturyLink Center and also showed the heart that this team has to win games, no matter how challenging it might be. San Diego State, Long Beach State and now Evansville can attest to that.
The Bluejays now hit the road for their final conference game against Indiana State this weekend. Although the MVC regular season title is not on the line in this one, this has been an amazing season. The good news is that there is still more to go.
Check back on Wednesday for a full photo gallery from Senior night as well as other coverage from the game.