Hello again,

Thanks for checking back in for my second entry from Greensboro, N.C. and the NCAA tournament. What a crazy day.  Not just for us, but for the entire world of college basketball.  First off, I want to give a big shout out to the all the fans who made it out to Greensboro for our first round matchup vs. Alabama, but also to everybody back home in Omaha who tuned in and showed their support.  To be able to bring an NCAA tournament win back to Creighton for the first time in 10 years is definitely special, and I know our fan base and supporters are as excited about it as we are.

Alabama was as physical and athletic as expected — but we were able to hit some “key shots in key spots” during the second half that helped propel us to the win.  Credit Josh Jones, junior shooting guard, for his defensive stop on the last play of the game after missing two free throws on the possession before.  His ability to bounce back after missing those two shots and come up with a big play shows his resiliency and character, and I know I’m as proud of Josh as anyone.  It was also coach McDermott’s first NCAA tournament win, which I know was big for him.  He’s really been the mastermind behind what we’ve been able to do this year and he doesn’t get enough credit for the success we’ve had this year. In my opinion, he really outcoached our opponent today down the stretch and as our color commentator Nick Bahe put it, “Mac was playing chess while Alabama’s coach was playing checkers.”

As I said, today was one of the more memorable days in NCAA tournament history, as two No. 15 seeds took down two No. 2 seeds.  A good friend of mine, Gabe Knutson, plays for Lehigh and played great in the their upset win over Duke today — big ups to him.  Yes, he was the one that looked identical to Andy Samberg. Anyway, its always fun to watch mid-majors do their thing on a big stage.  Congrats to all the small schools that played well over the last two days. We’ll do our part to keep things going on Sunday.

On that note, we’re very excited for our opportunity to play North Carolina in the round of 32.  They are an extremely talented squad to say the least, and we’re going to have to play really well.  But like I’ve said all year, we have a confident group of guys that relish opportunities like the one at hand, and we’ll come out swinging as we have all year.  This is a tight-knit group that believes in one another no matter who or where we’re playing.

Once again, it’s time to sign off and head to bed for the night.  Tomorrow is sure to be filled with film and preparation for Sunday’s contest. I’ll try to fire up a post sometime tomorrow afternoon when I get a minute. Thanks for checking in, and as always, God Bless and Roll Jays.

-GG