No. 18 Creighton men’s basketball survived the second triple-overtime game in program history, taking down Seton Hall in Newark 97-94 on Saturday afternoon.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
Gut-Check
Shortly before tipoff, I called Saturday’s game a gut check for the Bluejays. Coming off a crushing loss where the No. 1 Huskies of UConn manhandled the Jays and handed Creighton its third conference loss, the Bluejays couldn’t afford to drop another game if they hoped to stay alive in the Big East title race.
Consider the Jays’ guts checked and found. Somehow Creighton managed to survive a triple-overtime thriller in Newark to improve to 5-3 in Big East play and secure its first conference road win against a team with a pulse (sorry, Georgetown and DePaul).
Creighton led by four late in regulation and the first two overtimes and let Seton Hall back into it with missed free throws and open 3s and a big turnover. The Jays needed a bucket at the end of regulation to avoid a loss, they only made it to a third overtime because of a missed Seton Hall free throw with 12 seconds left in the second and they fell behind by four midway through the final period.
“We had opportunities at the end of regulation too and we just couldn’t quite get it finished,” Coach Greg McDermott said. “But Seton Hall’s a heck of a team and I’m just really proud of our guys’ resolve. We had some guys that made some 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 a little bit is really incredible. It makes it a an incredibly special group and so fun to coach.
“Like I told the team, I’m not sure how we lost it and I’m not sure how we won it, because we had some fundamental execution mistakes end of regulation and the end of the overtimes that we have to be better. We missed some free throws at critical times and had some shots that could have put it away and we couldn’t quite do it. But for them to stick with each other and finish the way they finished on both ends of the floor is a is a real credit to this group.”
Officiating was brutal and Creighton missed on numerous opportunities to take control, but the Jays continued to fight and made just enough plays down the stretch to earn the victory.
Baylor Scheierman did not leave the floor, playing all 55 minutes. Ryan Kalkbrenner got a brief rest in the first half, playing 54 minutes. Trey Alexander finished at 53 minutes. Steven Ashworth played 48 minutes and was dripping blood from his face at one point.
“It’s a credit to them and their resolve, their toughness,” McDermott said. “This is a hard place to win because you start with a team that’s very well coached and that’s very talented, and for us to find a way to do it in the fashion we did is a feather in the cap for these guys.”
McDermott called the St. John’s game a “mud fight.” Using words is my job, but I’m having a tough time coming up with an adequate descriptor for this one.
Adjustments Made
Against UConn, Kalkbrenner finished with six shooting possessions (five shots, two free throws) in 35 minutes played.
Against Seton Hall, Kalkbrenner topped that total in his first nine minutes as Creighton made a concerted effort to get him the ball early, often and in multiple ways. It didn’t always result in a made bucket as he got a couple of unfortunate bounces off the rim and a tough whistle, but he still put up some big numbers and his presence opened up things for everyone else.
Kalkbrenner finished with a season-high 28 points on 12-of-23 from the field and 4-of-7 from the line, nine rebounds and a career-high seven blocks in 54 minutes.
“It’s so much easier,” Alexander said of playing through the big man. “It makes everybody else’s job easier. When you give it to him and he gets going, everybody has to has to respect him. So you have two guys on him and then you’re playing off of that, so we’re playing basketball off of having five-on-fours and four-and-threes and things like that. So it was big for us to get Ryan going early.”
The Huskies’ aggressive defense completely disrupted Creighton’s offense on Wednesday, which played a part on the Jays not getting Kalkbrenner touches. On Saturday, The Bluejays did a much better job of handling the Pirates’ physicality and executing their offense for much of the game After 14 turnovers against UConn, the Jays gave the ball away just six times in 55 minutes against the Hall.
For the third straight game, offensive rebounding and second-chance points was atop the list of keys heading in. Creighton held its own in that area against St. John’s and got crushed against UConn. On Saturday, the Jays gave up 14 offensive rebounds (roughly a 27% rebounding rate, 16 percentage points below what the Pirates had been doing in conference), and Seton Hall only converted that into 10 second-chance points.
“Like the other night at UConn, it was it was defensive rebounding and taking care of the basketball,” McDermott said. “To have six turnovers in really a game and a half almost is a credit to our guys … We made enough plays to win and once again, just really, really proud that this team could come into this environment. It’s been a hard week, you’re playing the two teams that are in first place on the road, teams that haven’t lost at home and we found a way to get it out.”
Creighton did much better in all of the key areas that led to the loss at UConn and scored a huge road win as a result.
Big Numbers for the Big Three, Big Plays for the Others
I already listed Kalkbrenner’s stat line above, but Scheierman and Alexander also topped 20 points.
Alexander finished with 23 points on 50% shooting (including 3-of-6 from 3), eight rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and a steal. He had back-to-back buckets in the third overtime including a triple that put the Jays in front for good.
Seton Hall star guard Kadary Richmond finished with a triple-double of 21 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, but he also shot 8-of-32 from the field with Alexander serving as his primary defender and Kalkbrenner providing support at the rim.
Scheierman had another tough day from 3, finishing 3-for-11, but he still found a way to score 20 points, grab 10 rebounds, dish out six assists without a turnover and secure two steals. He also switched onto Richmond late after Alexander found himself in foul trouble.
There aren’t many trios in the country better than Kalkbrenner, Alexander and Scheierman, and when all three play like stars, the Jays will have a chance against anybody they play.
That trio may have accounted for 73.2% of the team’s points, 60% of its rebounds and 56.5% of its assists, but the Jays don’t win without some huge plays from the supporting cast.
Steven Ashworth finished with 11 points, a season-high eight assists without a turnover, two steals and three boards. He missed some really good looks from 3, but that didn’t stop him from letting it fly and burying a huge one after Seton Hall had pulled ahead by four in the final period. He was also the one who tied the game up at the end of regulation when Seton Hall denied every other option, driving hard to the rim and finishing with a high-arcing scoop before getting crushed with no call.
Mason Miller shot 3-of-6 from deep for nine points including a key sequence in the second overtime where he ripped a rebound away from Seton Hall’s center then knocked down a tough relocation 3 late in the shot clock to break a tie.
Francisco Farabello knocked down a pair of 3s. Even Isaac Traudt, who only played five minutes, made a really heads up play to feed Kalkbrenner for an easy bucket.
