Men's Hoops Loses NCAA Heartbreaker vs. West Virginia
3/18/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Box Score
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Tyrone Sally's breakaway dunk with 2.4 seconds left gave West Virginia a 63-61 win over Creighton in first round action at the NCAA Tournament. CU's Nate Funk missed a three-pointer as time expired that could have won it for the Bluejays.
With the win, West Virginia improved to 22-10 and advances to play Wake Forest in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Creighton had its eight-game winning streak snapped and ends the season with a 23-11 mark.
With an audience that included former Creighton All-Americans Paul Silas and Kyle Korver in the crowd, as well as Cleveland residents LeBron James, Butch Davis and Dajuan Wagner, the Bluejays jumped out to an early 10-0 lead. CU nailed its first four shots, paced by five points from Funk.
Just as Creighton built its 10-0 lead, West Virginia answered with 10 straight points to knot the score at 10. CU would move back ahead at 15-10, only to see WVU take its first lead with 11 straight points to go ahead 21-15.
In all, West Virginia put together a 31-9 run to go ahead by 12 with 4:54 to play in the half. Creighton scored the final nine points of the first half to close to within 33-31 at the break.
Two three-pointers from Funk and one from Jimmy Motz gave CU an energy boost to open the second half as CU retook the lead with 18:06 to go. Creighton would not trail again until 5:15 remained.
Down by one, Kellen Miliner drained a three-pointer with 2:05 left to put CU up 61-59. The Jays forced a turnover on the next possession but could not convert a driving lay-up with 56 seconds left.
With 42 seconds to play, Funk was called for a touch foul on a drive by Sally. Sally converted both free throws, tying the score.
With a seven-second differential on the game and shot clocks, CU worked the ball for a good shot. As time ran down on the shot clock, Funk had a three-point basket blocked by Sally. WVU guard J.D. Collins collected the rebound and hit Mike Gansey on his outlet pass. Gansey found a wide-open Sally downcourt, and Sally dunked it with 2.4 seconds left.
Creighton called its final timeout with 1.7 seconds left at halfcourt. CU's Tyler McKinney found an open Funk in the right corner. Funk pump-faked on Gansey once before his 23-footer that could've won it went long.
Not surprisingly for two evenly-matched teams, the statistics proved to be a near deadlock as well. Both teams were 8-for-20 from three-point range and 11-of-13 at the line. WVU won the rebounding battle by two.
Creighton was led by 23 points from Funk, while Johnny Mathies scored 16 points before fouling out with 2:21 left. McKinney had five points, seven assists and a career-high five steals in his final career game. Also playing his final game was Miliner, who had six points and five rebounds.
West Virginia was paced by 17 points from Kevin Pittsnogle, while Gansey had 13 points in the return to his hometown. Sally finished with 12 points, including WVU's final four.
NOTES: Creighton is now 9-16 all-time in 15 NCAA Tournament appearances ...West Virginia coach John Beilein picked up his 500th career victory with the win ...Creighton has now trailed at half in eight straight NCAA Tournament games ...Funk closed the year as CU's scoring and rebounding leader, while McKinney led the team in assists for the season ...Creighton's team will depart Cleveland on Saturday morning.and land at the TAC Air terminal at approximately 11 am (CST) on Saturday.
