SACRAMENTO — The No. 6 seed Creighton men’s basketball team fell 84-72 to No. 11 seed Rhode Island on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Creighton finished the season 25-10, ending an eight-season streak of having at least one win in the postseason.
“It’s tough,” said senior Cole Huff. “It definitely hurts, but at the same time, there’s nothing to hang our heads for at all.”
The upset was made possible by Rhode Island’s free throw shooting percentage as the Rams shot 90.3 percent, 28-for-31 in total.
Rhode Island’s defense also led to its victory as the Rams held the Jays to 40-percent shooting for the game and 30.4 percent from 3-point range.
Creighton’s leading scorer on the season, junior guard Marcus Foster, was held to only 15 points on 6-for-19 shooting. Sophomore guard Khyri Thomas and sophomore guard Ronnie Harrell Jr. served as impact players for the Jays. Thomas tallied 10 points, seven rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. Harrell Jr. scored 15 points — seven of them from the free-throw line — and dished out four assists.
The Jays were successful in containing Rhode Island’s top-scorer, junior guard E.C. Matthews, to only 16 points. However, role players such as freshman guard Jeff Dowtin and senior forward Kuran Iverson scored 23 points and 17 points, respectively. Dowtin, Iverson, and Matthews were a combined 22 for 22 from the free throw line.
Seniors who ended their careers as a Bluejay consist of guard Huff, guard Isaiah Zierden and center Zach Hanson.
“The three of them are hugely responsible for getting our program back to where it is today,” said Creighton coach Greg McDermott. “I am forever grateful for them, not just for what they’ve done for us on the court, but the way they’ve conducted themselves off the court. It has been 100 percent my pleasure to coach them.”
The game began with Rhode Island in a full-court press, which led to the Jays falling behind. After seven minutes of play, Creighton was behind 11-4 while shooting only 11 percent from the field.
McDermott said his team struggled on the offensive side of the ball in the early going.
“Our offensive numbers were really poor in the first half,” said McDermott. “Defensively we did enough to keep us in the game.”
The full-court pressure would continue to affect the Bluejays as the Rams forced two turnovers back-to-back with 9:27 remaining. The Jays would continue to struggle, falling behind 15-8.
With five minutes remaining in the first half, Creighton began to find its way back into the game. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Huff and Thomas would bring the Jays to within one at 21-20.
However, two 3-pointers from Iverson for the Rams would solidify Rhode Island’s lead going into halftime as the score stood at 33-26.
At the half, Iverson led all scorers with 10 points, and Thomas led the Jays with eight. Harrell Jr. gave Creighton significant minutes as he tallied four assists.
Rhode Island edged out Creighton in rebounds by five and steals by three at the half.
Going into the second half, Rhode Island would use a 6-2 run to extend its lead to 11, the Rams’ first double-digit lead of the game.
Offensive struggles for Creighton continued as the Jays were shooting 33 percent from the field with 14 minutes left in the game. Rhode Island managed to shoot more efficiently at 45 percent.
At the 9:11 mark, Creighton managed to gain some momentum. Thomas provided a spark by hitting a jumper just inside the 3-point line, followed by a steal on the defensive end that led to a dunk by Harrell. This cut the deficit to five points, the smallest of the second half.
Continuous scoring from Dowtin and Iverson would prove to be too much for the Jays as they could never get any closer to the Rams.
With 0:51 remaining, Rhode Island led 84-69. Both squads cleared their benches as the starters left the game. The game ended with Rhode Island on top 84-72.
A huge lift came from Creighton’s bench as the Jays outscored the Rhode Island bench 32-2 in the second half and 32-4 in the game.
On the season, Creighton set program records in points scored (2,864) and field goals made (1,078) in a single season.
Rhode Island will advance in the NCAA Tournament and play No. 3 Oregon on Sunday.