Creighton University
Bowling Green
Men's Basketball Beats Bowling Green 73-71; Advances to Second Round of NIT
3/18/2009 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. -- The Creighton basketball team survived a nailbiter against Bowling Green, 73-71, to advance to the second round of the NIT tournament for a Monday night game against Kentucky. Creighton overcame a 14-point deficit to earn the win, as well as three different double-digit deficits in the second half to earn a postseason win for the third time in the last four seasons.
Creighton (27-7) opened the game with a fury as P'Allen Stinnett took a backdoor lob from Josh Dotzler on the opening possession for an alley-oop. Bowling Green (19-14) responded by going on a 31-13 run over a 9:52 stretch in the first half, aided by six Falcons three-pointers by the giving the squad a 32-18 lead with 8:27 to go in the first 20 minutes. During the run, guard Darryl Clements had 13 of the team's 31 points. Offensively Creighton went cold, shooting just 23.8 percent (5-21) during the stretch, compared to Bowling Green's 60 percent (12-20).
Fortunately for the Jays, the group was able to make a bit of a comeback, as Stinnett's jumper with nine seconds to play in the first half, made it just a 39-31 deficit at intermission.
In the second half, Creighton got it to a two-point game with 10:49 to go when Stinnett found Kenny Lawson Jr. down low for a dunk, to make it 51-49, the closest margin since it was 5-4 Bowling Green in the first half.
The Bluejays finally got the lead back at 67-65 with 4:40 to go as Stinnett found Booker Woodfox on the three-point arc, as part of a 14-4 CU run. For the game, Stinnett had six assists, tying a career-high he had last reached on Jan. 9, 2008 against Evansville.
After the teams traded baskets for the next couple minutes, Justin Carter hit his first three-pointer since Feb. 17th with 1:40 to go, to give Creighton a 70-69 lead. A pair of Stinnett free throws then gave him 18 points on the game and the Jays a 72-69 lead with 35.3 seconds to go in the game. Bowling Green then hit a quick layup to make it a one point game with 28.7 seconds to go.
The teams then traded a pair of missed opportunities as Antoine Young missed the first of a 1-and-1 from the line, allowing Bowling Green to go for the go-ahead basket. Fortunately for the Bluejays, Falcon guard Nate Miller missed his layup attempt, and Kenton Walker was fouled, putting the Jays back at the line. Booker Woodfox was designated as the shooter for Walker due to an injury, where he made 1-of-2, giving the Falcons the ball back with 14.0 seconds to go down 73-71. Clements then missed a three-pointer as time expired, allowing Creighton to move on to the second round of the NIT.
The Missouri Valley Conference regular-season co-champ, Creighton will next face the University of Kentucky in the second round of the NIT on Monday, March 23 at the Qwest Center Omaha. The game will tip at 6 pm Central and be televised nationally on ESPN.
NOTES: Bowling Green is the first opponent Creighton has faced this year, that marked an inaugural matchup...It now marks 296 different opponents the Bluejays have faced in their history...Of the 296 different opponents, CU now owns at least one victory over 259 of them...Woodfox's three free throws in the first half, marked the fourth straight game he has had at least three free throw attempts...It is his longest such streak of the season...In the first half Bowling Green was 6-15 (40.0%) from three-point range, while the Jays were 0-11...It was just the second time in 99 games at Qwest Center Omaha, CU had not made a three-pointer in the first half...The other time came against Southern Illinois on Jan. 20, 2007, when the team was 0-4...The second half was a different story as the Jays hit 5-of-11 (45.5 percent) from behind the arc ...The Falcons got their transition game going in the first half, outscoring the Bluejays 12-4 in fastbreak points...Woodfox's three-pointer with 17:06 in the second half made it 30 straight games he has connected from long range...That streak is the longest in CU history, and is tied for the seventh-longest active streak in the nation...Woodfox's basket also marked the 500th straight game CU has made a basket from downtown...It was the 64th straight win for the Bluejays when scoring 72 or more points, and the 53rd straight home win when scoring 68 or more points...Creighton is now on a 31-game winning streak in home games played on Wednesdays...The attendance was listed at 9,577, the fourth-largest postseason game mark in Qwest Center Omaha history and larger than any other NIT game played on Tuesday ...Creighton and Kentucky last met in 1948 ...Dana Altman improved to 7-7 in his career in the NIT, including a 3-4 mark at Creighton.
