Creighton University
Wichita State
Men's Basketball Wins 11th Straight, Tops Shockers in Valley Quarterfinals
3/6/2009 9:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Booker Woodfox drained a 15-foot jumper as time expired, lifting Missouri Valley Conference co-champion Creighton to a 63-62 win over Wichita State on Friday in quarterfinal-round action of the State Farm MVC Tournament. Woodfox scored all of his game-high 17 points after halftime after an 0-for-5 scoreless first half.
Creighton (26-6) has now won 11 straight games, while Wichita State fell to 16-16 with the defeat.
After falling behind 5-4 on a three-pointer by WSU guard Clevin Hannah, Creighton streaked to a 13-5 lead thanks to a 9-0 run keyed by strong defense and some strong shooting. Antoine Young started the spurt with a three-pointer to answer Hannah's basket before P'Allen Stinnett scored twice in transition as send the pro-Bluejay crowd into a frenzy.
Creighton lead reached as large as 13 in the first half as the Bluejays would take a 36-23 lead into the break. Creighton held WSU to just one field goal in the final 9:50 of the first half, a time in which WSU attempted 11 shots.
CU would then hold the Shockers without a field goal for the first 4:20 of the second half while starting with an 11-2 run to build a 47-25 lead. Woodfox started the flurry with a three-pointer for his first points of the night before Stinnett fed Kenny Lawson Jr. on an alley-oop in transition. Woodfox would hit three straight baskets to leave WSU in the dust for the time being.
But the Shockers would not quit, rallying from a 22-point deficit to nearly pull off one of the greatest comebacks in MVC Tournament history.
WSU drew within six at 59-53 with 1:59 to play on a three-point play by J.T. Durley. Durley had eight baskets in the second half after a scoreless opening period. After a Bluejay turnover, Graham Hatch would miss a three-pointer from the left wing that could have made it a one-score game. Young would then hit both shots of a bonus to give CU an eight-point lead with 1:45 to play.
Durley answered with a three-point play with 1:22 left as WSU closed within 61-56. Another Bluejay turnover in the backcourt returned the ball to WSU. Durley would drive and be fouled. He missed the first foul before sinking the second as WSU trimmed the margin to four. Woodfox would miss the front end of a bonus situation, but Stinnett came up with a steal when he stripped Shocker guard Toure' Murry. Hannah missed a deep three-pointer and Murry a putback, but WSU retained the ball with 22 seconds left. Murry airballed a three-pointer on the inbounds, but Hatch grabbed the rebound and was fouled, sinking both.
Stinnett turned it over just past the midcourt line, and in the scramble for the loose ball Young tripped up Aaron Ellis with 12.2 seconds left. Ellis, an 68.8 percent shooter, missed the front end but WSU called timeout while falling out-of-bounds. The Shockers set up a play for star freshman Murry, and Murry drained what appeared to be his third game-winner of the season, when his trey splashed down with 7.1 seconds left.
CU hurried the ball up court, where Young's off-balance leaner went out-of-bounds with 1.9 seconds left with CU keeping possession. The teams traded timeouts before CU ran a play for its All-America candidate. Woodfox pump faked, took two dribbles to his left and then sank the jumper as time expired. After a review, officials confirmed that it beat the buzzer and sent CU on to the semi's.
Creighton held Wichita State to one field goal over a 14 minute stretch spanning halftime as it built a lead that reached as large as 22 with 16:41 remaining.
In addition to 17 from Woodfox, Lawson scored 14 points while Young had 12. CU shot 44.4 percent for the game (24-54), made 5-of-20 from three-point range (25 percent) and 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) from the stripe. CU also had 10 steals, led by four from Stinnett.
WSU was led by 17 points from Durley, while Hatch finished with 12. The Shockers made 35.6 percent of its field goal attempts but did make 15-of-18 at the line. The Shockers also dominated the boards by a 48-26 margin, including 26-11 in the second half.
With the win, Creighton advances to the semfinals of the 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, where it will meet Illinois State.
NOTES: Kenny Lawson's blocked shot of A.J. Hawkins early in the first half was his 50th of the season, most in the MVC ...Booker Woodfox was 0-for-5 in the first half, just the second time all season he went scoreless in a first half. Woodfox would make his first shot of the second half, a three-pointer from the corner to tie a school-record with a three-pointer in his 28th straight game ...Creighton has made four or more three-pointers in 65 straight games ...Wichita State, which committed just six turnovers on Thursday night in a win over Missouri State, had 10 miscues in the opening 20 minutes ...Josh Dotzler switched to No. 11 midway through the second half after his regular No. 12 jersey was stained with blood ...Creighton's last game-winning shot with no time remaining was also against Wichita State, as Anthony Tolliver hit a shot against WSU on Jan. 28, 2006 in Omaha ...Wichita State has never won consecutive games at the MVC Tournament since the event was moved to St. Louis in 1991.
