Creighton men’s basketball was involved in two different one-point thrillers over the last week. The Jays pulled out a win in the middle of the week against DePaul and then came up just short against Xavier a few days later.
The Jays (19-7, 8-5 Big East) ended up on the wrong side of a thrilling result on Saturday, losing 72-71 against Xavier (23-3, 11-2 Big East) at home.
Xavier secured a sizeable 10-point lead midway through the first half in the high-intensity game. A quick steal and dunk followed by a 3-pointer from Creighton brought the crowd to a roar and the Jays were immediately back into the game, tying it at 30-30.
However, just as fast the Bluejays hit them, Xavier was able to strike back with a quick run of its own, grabbing a 43-35 lead at half-time despite their rough shooting earlier in the game.
Another hard-fought second half kept the competition within striking distance for both teams, with every possession being played with high energy.
Sophomore guard Davion Mintz tied up the game with 1:13 remaining with two free throws. Xavier reclaimed the lead with 21 seconds left through a tip-in before Ronnie Harrell was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws to give the Jays a 71-70 lead with 4.6 seconds left. Xavier however, would get fouled with 0.3 seconds left and make both free throws, granting the Musketeers the win.
The game could be summarized by a few key stats, such as Xavier committing 13 turnovers to Creighton’s 12, along with both teams shooting poorly from behind the arc, the Jays at 32.4 percent while Xavier sat at a shocking 15.8 percent.
“We had a lot of good looks from the 3-point line and we missed 23 of them, that’s not really who we are,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said after the game. “Besides that… we fought and clawed and stayed with what we needed to do.”
Senior guard Marcus Foster scored 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds and added three assists. Junior guard Khyri Thomas had 14 points with five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The Jays eked out a 76-75 victory over DePaul (10-14, 3-9 Big East) on the road last Wednesday, thanks to big shots down the stretch by several players.
“It was tough for us to handle,” McDermott said. “They forced us into some uncharacteristic turnovers in the first half, we’ve been a team that has not fouled very much on the year and they forced into a bunch of those. But I’ve got a really good player sitting next to me and he made a big time play at the end of the game. Sometimes this game is as simple as making a shot or missing a shot and we made one tonight.”
After struggling from the field in the first half and trailing 36-31 at halftime, Creighton came out in the second half and immediately seized the lead off a 10-4 run before it turned into a back and forth battle for the rest of the game.
After the Blue Demons pushed the lead out to 55-50 with about 10 minutes remaining, the Jays answered with a 16-6 run of their own highlighted by two big 3-pointers from senior guard Tyler Clement.
A last push by DePaul gave the Blue Demons a 75-73 lead with just one minute left, where the Jays called on Foster. Senior forward Toby Hegner grabbed a rebound and got the ball back into Foster’s hands, where he nailed a step-back 3-pointer from the right wing that gave the Bluejays the victory.
Foster led the way with 29 points, while Thomas added 18 points with three assists, rebounds and steals. Harrell had 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
The Jays’ 1-1 record over the last week moved their Big East record to 8-5 overall, giving them sole possession of third place in the conference.
This week Creighton beat Bemidji State 94-46, on Tuesday and will take on Marquette (14-11, 5-8 Big East) on Saturday at 9 p.m. Both games will be at CenturyLink Center.