Friday, March 10
New York, NY
8:00 PM
Creighton University
25-8
75
vs
72
vs. Xavier (Semifinals)
21-13
1
2
F
Xavier
37
35
72
Creighton
31
44
75
Justin Patton
Photo by: Porter Binks
Foster's Late Bucket Lifts Men's Basketball Over Xavier, 75-72
3/10/2017 9:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Marcus Foster hits game-winning three-pointer with 6.6 seconds left
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- A spirited second half comeback for the second straight day helped the Creighton men's basketball team advance to the finals of the 2017 BIG EAST Championship, presented by Jeep, on Friday night at Madison Square Garden. The Bluejays trailed 37-31 at the half before rallying to top Xavier, 75-72, to improve to 25-8 on the season, as Marcus Foster's three-pointer with 6.6 seconds left provided the winning points.
With the win, sixth-seeded Creighton advances to play second-ranked and top-seeded Villanova, which defeated Seton Hall 55-53 in the day's first semifinal. Xavier dropped to 21-13 with the setback.
Creighton led 5-2 out of the gates before an 8-0 run fueled by J.P Macura gave Xavier the lead for the rest of the half. Macura and All-BIG EAST guard Trevon Bluiett combined for 15 straight Musketeer points at one juncture as Xavier went ahead 18-9. The Musketeers pounded CU on the glass to the tune of 23-12 in the opening half, turning seven offensive rebounds into 10 second-chance points.
Foster led Creighton with 11 points at the break, becoming the 11th different player in Creighton history to amass 600 or more points in a season. Macura had nine points at the break to lead Xavier.
Xavier took a 39-31 lead on the opening trip of the second half before Creighton scored on six straight trips to take a 46-45 lead. The Bluejays would build a lead of 53-48 in the first eight minutes of the second half, opening the stanza on a 22-11 flurry reminiscent of a 10-0 run to open the second half in Thursday's win over Providence.
Creighton led 60-54 with 7:51 left before Macura and Bluiett scored all the points in an 8-2 run to tie it. The Bluejays retook the lead at 64-62 on a Patton lay-in, only to have Macura answer with his sixth trey of the evening to put the Musketeers up one with 4:14 to play. CU called a timeout and wound up with a huge trey by Tyler Clement, returning the lead to CU.
Xavier tied it on two foul shots by Malcolm Bernard with 3:06 left, but Foster drained a three-pointer at the 2:15 mark to give the Bluejays the lead back. Bluiett answered with a hoop, but Patton matched it on the CU end with a tip-in and CU led by three with under a minute to go. Xavier's Bluiett missed the front-end of a bonus, and then the Musketeers committed five straight fouls to get CU into the bonus. The Jays would miss that free throw and see Bluiett drain a triple with 15.6 seconds left to tie the score. With fans from the sellout MSG crowd of 19,812 on their feet, Creighton eschewed a timeout and Foster drained the game-winning trey with 6.6 seconds left. Macura missed a deep trey that could have tied it in the final seconds as CU held on for its 12th straight league tournament win in a game decided by four points or less.
Patton and Foster each scored 21 points for Creighton, combining for 25 points after intermission. Foster added six assists, while Khyri Thomas dished a career-best eight assists and added 10 points. Huff also scored in double-figures with 11 points. The Bluejays sank 13-of-20 three-pointers on the night (65 percent), part of a 29-for-53 shooting night overall (54.7 percent). Creighton dished 20 assists and added four blocks and two steals.
Xavier was paced by 22 points from Macura, while Bluiett tallied 18. The Musketeers won the rebound battle 31-24 and shot 48.2 percent from the field.
#6 Creighton 75, #7 Xavier 72
THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Creighton, Marcus Foster, Justin Patton and Coach McDermott.
COACH MCDERMOTT: That was quite a game. Xavier obviously really jumped on us early, and we spent a good portion of the evening trying to dig ourselves out of that hole. Defensively, the second half, while we weren't great, our fight on the backboards was better.
They had ten second-chance points at halftime. We had two. Second half we got five; they got four. Something we talked about in the locker room at halftime, that that had to change, that we had to hit them before they hit us on the glass.
And our efficiency offensively, we talked at halftime about when we penetrate against some of their switches, we have to penetrate to make a play for a teammate, not make a play for ourselves. That changed the second half from the first half. Marcus gets six assists, Khyri gets eight. Those are the two guys that are putting on it the floor to make plays for our team and they made great plays for their teammates.
Terrific win for us. We've been in this league four years. This will be the second trip to the championship game, which is a credit to the people in the locker room, staff and the players.
We've been through a lot the last five or six weeks, and for us to be sitting on the stage getting ready to play tomorrow night is a credit to the character of the people I have in that locker room.
Q. What does it mean as a team and as a locker room to advance to a game against Villanova tomorrow night?
MARCUS FOSTER: It means a lot to us. We've been putting in work since last spring, since the season was over, so I feel like we deserve it. Our guys in the locker room, great guys, great teammates to be around and we work so hard together. So it showed tonight on the court by how we kept fighting and getting back into the game even when they kept on giving us their best shot.
Q. Coach, you just mentioned how you handled their defensive switches. Was that why you resulted in such great efficiency from 3 in the second half and overall in the game?
COACH MCDERMOTT: We were able to collapse the defense versus some of the switches with their bigs. And Justin slipped out of some early, got a few baskets at the rim, and all of a sudden your defense mindset changes because you're giving up an easy two, and they're late getting to some shooters. Then we executed an out-of-bounds play that we just put in this morning that we saw from last time we played them that we thought we could get a corner 3. And Khyri did a great job dribbling up the floor and Marcus hit that corner 3 which was a huge play, and obviously Marcus made a big-time play at the end of the game.
Q. Marcus, we've talked a lot about the journey to certain points throughout the year, based on this being your first year at Creighton. What does it mean to you today to even in that moment give up a game-tying 3 and walk down the court and with all the confidence in the world try to put your team into the title game?
MARCUS FOSTER: Means a lot to me, especially growing up always wanting to play in Madison Square Garden and having this moment. It's just an amazing feeling to have. And me and Justin redshirting last year and not seeing much time on the court, it means a lot, shows how all the hard work and effort we're putting in is paying off.
Q. You knew Marcus was talented. But everything you've gotten this year, obviously being a great scorer, before Maurice went down, and expanding his game since Maurice was hurt, has he surprised you with how well he's handled everything?
COACH MCDERMOTT: What he and Khyri have done is really difficult to do. They had to really change their stripes in terms of their responsibilities with the team right in the middle of the season.
And if you -- Marcus, I would guess, has close to twice as many assists in the last 13 or 14 games than he had in the first 19, because our team, if we were going to be successful moving forward, our team -- it was going to be required that he does that.
So he's added a lot to his game in the time he's been here. His ball handling has improved. His defense I'd like to say could get a little better, but it's come a long ways as well. But he's always had the confidence in himself, in situations like that. I remember obviously we recruited him out of high school. I watched him freshman year against Oklahoma.
MARCUS FOSTER: Sophomore.
COACH MCDERMOTT: Sophomore against Oklahoma both games he hits a game-winning 3 at the end. He's got confidence. He works on that shot. Obviously gets it off quick. And now that he has the ability to attack the rim, it makes guarding that 3-point shot all the more difficult.
Q. When Maurice was down I read you talked to Marcus about having to change his game. Do you remember exactly what he said to you?
COACH MCDERMOTT: The biggest thing he had to change was we needed his voice. Maurice's voice was a dominant voice with our team; he was our leader.
And somebody had to take that and last night we don't win the game, Marcus is in foul trouble, but if you watch his actions on the bench and watch how engaged he was during that game and timeouts when he was sitting there with foul trouble, it's a sign of maturity as a player.
But Marcus embraced what we've asked him to do. And his assist numbers, they speak for themselves. He's not only scoring the basketball for us but he's making plays for other people.
Q. Justin, Tyrique had quite a game in Omaha the last time you played Xavier, was that matchup weighing on you tonight, was it personal in any way, and what does it mean to come out and have the game you did particularly in the interior tonight?
JUSTIN PATTON: He's a really good player. I try not to make things personal when I play basketball. He just happened to be the opponent tonight in front of me.
And with all my other big men I play with, they did a good job of wearing him down. And like Coach said, we wanted move the ball. And he got tired and they all got tired. That made it better for us and that's why we got the tip-ins and the extra points and the slip-ins.
Q. Marcus, can you just go through the sequence that led to your game-winning shot?
MARCUS FOSTER: Yeah, Trevon Bluiett made a great move. I thought he was going all the way to the goal but he stepped back to the 3 and made a good shot. Pulling it down I stood by Coach Mack just to hear what he was thinking if they were going to call a timeout or what he said just let's play. And by then I got into my routine of how I usually play and just took a big shot for my team.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Big East Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
Friday, March 10, 2017
Chris Mack
Quentin Goodin
Xavier
Creighton - 75, Xavier - 72
COACH MACK: Obviously a great game between two teams battling, and a team that had, I shouldn't say
had the ball last, because we obviously had the ball last. But big shots on both sides. And a lot of times
when teams hit 3s on you like that, you really want to complain about your defense.
I thought a lot of their 3s were really contested looks. Cole Huff specifically. They shot the lights out. Not
a whole lot you can do about it.
We tried to go zone a little bit, and they were getting the ball where they needed to in zone. And when a
team's shooting that well, I don't know if our secondary defense is one that's going to contain a team
that was shooting that well.
So we have nothing to hang our head about. Guys competed for three days. And I think our team grew
up over the weekend. And so hats off to Creighton. They played extremely well, especially in the second
half. And they earned the victory.
Q. Chris, obviously your stay here in the city won't be as long as you would have liked, and you kind of
just alluded to this, but are you happy with the work you got in this week, and do you think you're an
NCAA Tournament team at this point?
COACH MACK: Yeah, I don't think there's any doubt. It's hard to say I'm happy after we lose. We came
here with different intentions. But so did nine other teams. So we gave it what we could.
We had guys that were playing heavy minutes all weekend. They battled. It's all you can ask for as a
coach. And I'm proud of my team just as I was last night. And we'll live to fight another day.
Q. You mentioned that you contested all those 3s pretty well. What's that like to watch you contest it
so well and just three after three go in?
COACH MACK: It's tough. That's the thing I really appreciate about my guys is they didn't hang their
head. They didn't cave.
They responded on the other end, and we did what we could defensively against a team that was having
a terrific shooting night. But we battled for it to be a one-possession game down the stretch. I think it
says a lot about the quality of our team as well.
Q. Quentin, would you say fatigue was a factor, this being the third game in three days, did that come
into the equation at all down the stretch? And, Chris, if you wanted to weigh in on that?
QUENTIN GOODIN: For it being such a close game going down the stretch, I honestly don't think fatigue
was a factor. I feel like we really wanted to win. We would do anything to win that game.
You would think, outside looking in, fatigue was a factor. But going down the stretch there was a whole
lot of timeouts and that allowed us to get our breath back.
COACH MACK: Yeah, I feel fine. (Laughter).
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
With the win, sixth-seeded Creighton advances to play second-ranked and top-seeded Villanova, which defeated Seton Hall 55-53 in the day's first semifinal. Xavier dropped to 21-13 with the setback.
Creighton led 5-2 out of the gates before an 8-0 run fueled by J.P Macura gave Xavier the lead for the rest of the half. Macura and All-BIG EAST guard Trevon Bluiett combined for 15 straight Musketeer points at one juncture as Xavier went ahead 18-9. The Musketeers pounded CU on the glass to the tune of 23-12 in the opening half, turning seven offensive rebounds into 10 second-chance points.
Foster led Creighton with 11 points at the break, becoming the 11th different player in Creighton history to amass 600 or more points in a season. Macura had nine points at the break to lead Xavier.
Xavier took a 39-31 lead on the opening trip of the second half before Creighton scored on six straight trips to take a 46-45 lead. The Bluejays would build a lead of 53-48 in the first eight minutes of the second half, opening the stanza on a 22-11 flurry reminiscent of a 10-0 run to open the second half in Thursday's win over Providence.
Creighton led 60-54 with 7:51 left before Macura and Bluiett scored all the points in an 8-2 run to tie it. The Bluejays retook the lead at 64-62 on a Patton lay-in, only to have Macura answer with his sixth trey of the evening to put the Musketeers up one with 4:14 to play. CU called a timeout and wound up with a huge trey by Tyler Clement, returning the lead to CU.
Xavier tied it on two foul shots by Malcolm Bernard with 3:06 left, but Foster drained a three-pointer at the 2:15 mark to give the Bluejays the lead back. Bluiett answered with a hoop, but Patton matched it on the CU end with a tip-in and CU led by three with under a minute to go. Xavier's Bluiett missed the front-end of a bonus, and then the Musketeers committed five straight fouls to get CU into the bonus. The Jays would miss that free throw and see Bluiett drain a triple with 15.6 seconds left to tie the score. With fans from the sellout MSG crowd of 19,812 on their feet, Creighton eschewed a timeout and Foster drained the game-winning trey with 6.6 seconds left. Macura missed a deep trey that could have tied it in the final seconds as CU held on for its 12th straight league tournament win in a game decided by four points or less.
Patton and Foster each scored 21 points for Creighton, combining for 25 points after intermission. Foster added six assists, while Khyri Thomas dished a career-best eight assists and added 10 points. Huff also scored in double-figures with 11 points. The Bluejays sank 13-of-20 three-pointers on the night (65 percent), part of a 29-for-53 shooting night overall (54.7 percent). Creighton dished 20 assists and added four blocks and two steals.
Xavier was paced by 22 points from Macura, while Bluiett tallied 18. The Musketeers won the rebound battle 31-24 and shot 48.2 percent from the field.
VIDEO || Postgame interview with Marcus Foster on @FS1 #GoJays #TakeFlight #BIGEASThoops pic.twitter.com/oiEJ6eHp66
— Creighton Basketball (@BluejayMBB) March 11, 2017
VIDEO || @FS1's postgame interview with the self-proclaimed "little kid from Omaha" – Justin Patton #GoJays #TakeFlight #BIGEASThoops pic.twitter.com/WHxLUr2mXs
— Creighton Basketball (@BluejayMBB) March 11, 2017
#6 Creighton 75, #7 Xavier 72
- Before tomorrow's Villanova/Creighton final, the last #1 seed vs. #6 seed BIG EAST Tournament final came in 2015 (#1 Villanova 69, #5 Xavier 52). It also took place in 2009 (#1 Louisville 76, #6 Syracuse 66).
- With Creighton's win, teams trailing at the half in this year's BIG EAST Tournament have won five of the eight contests. The leading team won twice (St. John's vs. Georgetown, Villanova vs. St. John's). There was one halftime tie (Seton Hall vs. Marquette).
- Xavier's J.P. Macura sank six 3-pointers, coming up two shy of the BIG EAST Tournament record of eight set by Boston College's Dana Barros vs. St. John's in 1989.
- Creighton is 2-0 in the BIG EAST Semifinal and last posted a win in 2014 in its first year in the league. The Bluejays also defeated Xavier in the 2014 semifinals before falling to Providence in the title game.
- Xavier is 1-3 in the BIG EAST Semifinals.
- The Bluejays rallied by shooting 72% (18-for-25) and 7-for-9 from the 3-point line in the second half.
- Villanova won both regular-season meetings with Creighton, taking an 80-70 victory in Omaha on Dec. 31 and a 79-63 victory Feb. 25 at the Pavilion.
- Creighton's Justin Patton shot 10-of-13 from the floor (76.9%), the best shooting performance for a Bluejay in the BIG EAST Tournament.
- Saturday will be the first Creighton/Villanova matchup in the BIG EAST Tournament.
Big East Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
Friday, March 10, 2017
Greg McDermott
Justin Patton
Marcus Foster
Creighton
Creighton - 75, Xavier - 72THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Creighton, Marcus Foster, Justin Patton and Coach McDermott.
COACH MCDERMOTT: That was quite a game. Xavier obviously really jumped on us early, and we spent a good portion of the evening trying to dig ourselves out of that hole. Defensively, the second half, while we weren't great, our fight on the backboards was better.
They had ten second-chance points at halftime. We had two. Second half we got five; they got four. Something we talked about in the locker room at halftime, that that had to change, that we had to hit them before they hit us on the glass.
And our efficiency offensively, we talked at halftime about when we penetrate against some of their switches, we have to penetrate to make a play for a teammate, not make a play for ourselves. That changed the second half from the first half. Marcus gets six assists, Khyri gets eight. Those are the two guys that are putting on it the floor to make plays for our team and they made great plays for their teammates.
Terrific win for us. We've been in this league four years. This will be the second trip to the championship game, which is a credit to the people in the locker room, staff and the players.
We've been through a lot the last five or six weeks, and for us to be sitting on the stage getting ready to play tomorrow night is a credit to the character of the people I have in that locker room.
Q. What does it mean as a team and as a locker room to advance to a game against Villanova tomorrow night?
MARCUS FOSTER: It means a lot to us. We've been putting in work since last spring, since the season was over, so I feel like we deserve it. Our guys in the locker room, great guys, great teammates to be around and we work so hard together. So it showed tonight on the court by how we kept fighting and getting back into the game even when they kept on giving us their best shot.
Q. Coach, you just mentioned how you handled their defensive switches. Was that why you resulted in such great efficiency from 3 in the second half and overall in the game?
COACH MCDERMOTT: We were able to collapse the defense versus some of the switches with their bigs. And Justin slipped out of some early, got a few baskets at the rim, and all of a sudden your defense mindset changes because you're giving up an easy two, and they're late getting to some shooters. Then we executed an out-of-bounds play that we just put in this morning that we saw from last time we played them that we thought we could get a corner 3. And Khyri did a great job dribbling up the floor and Marcus hit that corner 3 which was a huge play, and obviously Marcus made a big-time play at the end of the game.
Q. Marcus, we've talked a lot about the journey to certain points throughout the year, based on this being your first year at Creighton. What does it mean to you today to even in that moment give up a game-tying 3 and walk down the court and with all the confidence in the world try to put your team into the title game?
MARCUS FOSTER: Means a lot to me, especially growing up always wanting to play in Madison Square Garden and having this moment. It's just an amazing feeling to have. And me and Justin redshirting last year and not seeing much time on the court, it means a lot, shows how all the hard work and effort we're putting in is paying off.
Q. You knew Marcus was talented. But everything you've gotten this year, obviously being a great scorer, before Maurice went down, and expanding his game since Maurice was hurt, has he surprised you with how well he's handled everything?
COACH MCDERMOTT: What he and Khyri have done is really difficult to do. They had to really change their stripes in terms of their responsibilities with the team right in the middle of the season.
And if you -- Marcus, I would guess, has close to twice as many assists in the last 13 or 14 games than he had in the first 19, because our team, if we were going to be successful moving forward, our team -- it was going to be required that he does that.
So he's added a lot to his game in the time he's been here. His ball handling has improved. His defense I'd like to say could get a little better, but it's come a long ways as well. But he's always had the confidence in himself, in situations like that. I remember obviously we recruited him out of high school. I watched him freshman year against Oklahoma.
MARCUS FOSTER: Sophomore.
COACH MCDERMOTT: Sophomore against Oklahoma both games he hits a game-winning 3 at the end. He's got confidence. He works on that shot. Obviously gets it off quick. And now that he has the ability to attack the rim, it makes guarding that 3-point shot all the more difficult.
Q. When Maurice was down I read you talked to Marcus about having to change his game. Do you remember exactly what he said to you?
COACH MCDERMOTT: The biggest thing he had to change was we needed his voice. Maurice's voice was a dominant voice with our team; he was our leader.
And somebody had to take that and last night we don't win the game, Marcus is in foul trouble, but if you watch his actions on the bench and watch how engaged he was during that game and timeouts when he was sitting there with foul trouble, it's a sign of maturity as a player.
But Marcus embraced what we've asked him to do. And his assist numbers, they speak for themselves. He's not only scoring the basketball for us but he's making plays for other people.
Q. Justin, Tyrique had quite a game in Omaha the last time you played Xavier, was that matchup weighing on you tonight, was it personal in any way, and what does it mean to come out and have the game you did particularly in the interior tonight?
JUSTIN PATTON: He's a really good player. I try not to make things personal when I play basketball. He just happened to be the opponent tonight in front of me.
And with all my other big men I play with, they did a good job of wearing him down. And like Coach said, we wanted move the ball. And he got tired and they all got tired. That made it better for us and that's why we got the tip-ins and the extra points and the slip-ins.
Q. Marcus, can you just go through the sequence that led to your game-winning shot?
MARCUS FOSTER: Yeah, Trevon Bluiett made a great move. I thought he was going all the way to the goal but he stepped back to the 3 and made a good shot. Pulling it down I stood by Coach Mack just to hear what he was thinking if they were going to call a timeout or what he said just let's play. And by then I got into my routine of how I usually play and just took a big shot for my team.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Big East Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
Friday, March 10, 2017
Chris Mack
Quentin Goodin
Xavier
Creighton - 75, Xavier - 72
COACH MACK: Obviously a great game between two teams battling, and a team that had, I shouldn't say
had the ball last, because we obviously had the ball last. But big shots on both sides. And a lot of times
when teams hit 3s on you like that, you really want to complain about your defense.
I thought a lot of their 3s were really contested looks. Cole Huff specifically. They shot the lights out. Not
a whole lot you can do about it.
We tried to go zone a little bit, and they were getting the ball where they needed to in zone. And when a
team's shooting that well, I don't know if our secondary defense is one that's going to contain a team
that was shooting that well.
So we have nothing to hang our head about. Guys competed for three days. And I think our team grew
up over the weekend. And so hats off to Creighton. They played extremely well, especially in the second
half. And they earned the victory.
Q. Chris, obviously your stay here in the city won't be as long as you would have liked, and you kind of
just alluded to this, but are you happy with the work you got in this week, and do you think you're an
NCAA Tournament team at this point?
COACH MACK: Yeah, I don't think there's any doubt. It's hard to say I'm happy after we lose. We came
here with different intentions. But so did nine other teams. So we gave it what we could.
We had guys that were playing heavy minutes all weekend. They battled. It's all you can ask for as a
coach. And I'm proud of my team just as I was last night. And we'll live to fight another day.
Q. You mentioned that you contested all those 3s pretty well. What's that like to watch you contest it
so well and just three after three go in?
COACH MACK: It's tough. That's the thing I really appreciate about my guys is they didn't hang their
head. They didn't cave.
They responded on the other end, and we did what we could defensively against a team that was having
a terrific shooting night. But we battled for it to be a one-possession game down the stretch. I think it
says a lot about the quality of our team as well.
Q. Quentin, would you say fatigue was a factor, this being the third game in three days, did that come
into the equation at all down the stretch? And, Chris, if you wanted to weigh in on that?
QUENTIN GOODIN: For it being such a close game going down the stretch, I honestly don't think fatigue
was a factor. I feel like we really wanted to win. We would do anything to win that game.
You would think, outside looking in, fatigue was a factor. But going down the stretch there was a whole
lot of timeouts and that allowed us to get our breath back.
COACH MACK: Yeah, I feel fine. (Laughter).
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Team Stats
XU
CU
FG%
.482
.547
3FG%
.429
.650
FT%
.818
.667
RB
31
24
TO
12
12
STL
8
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
10
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
21
FGM
7
3FGM
4
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballG
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