Saturday, February 10
Omaha, Neb.
1:30 PM
Creighton University
18-7, 8-5BE
71
vs
72
Xavier
23-3, 11-2BE
1
2
F
#5 Xavier
43
29
72
Creighton
35
36
71
Marcus Foster was honored by coach Greg McDermott for scoring 2,000 college points before Saturday's game
Photo by: A.J. Olnes
Free Throws in Final Second Lift #5 Xavier Past Men's Basketball, 72-71
2/10/2018 4:38:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bluejays rally falls short as #5 Xavier scores winning points with 0.3 left
OMAHA, Neb. -- Two free throws by Quentin Goodin with 0.3 seconds left helped No. 5 Xavier to a 72-71 victory over Creighton on Saturday before a sellout crowd of 18,257 at CenturyLink Center Omaha. Goodin's dramatics came not long after Creighton's Ronnie Harrell Jr. made three free throws to give Creighton the lead with 4.6 seconds left.
Xavier won its eighth straight game and is now 23-3 (11-2 BIG EAST). Creighton's 14-game home win streak was snapped as the Bluejays fell to 18-7 (8-5 BIG EAST).
Marcus Foster led Creighton with 29 points, including 20 points in the second half. Foster, who was honored in a pregame ceremony for surpassing 2,000 career points on Wednesday at DePaul, has now scored 20 points in each of his last seven games. Khyri Thomas added 14 points, reaching the 1,000 point milestone on a three-pointer at the 17:31 mark of the first half. The Bluejays shot 42.2 percent from the field (27-64) and made 32.4 percent from downtown (11-34), in addition to being perfect on six attempts from the free throw line.
Goodin topped Xavier with a career-high 17 points, and Kerem Kanter added 14 points. J.P. Macura had 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while Sean O'Mara added 12 points. Trevon Bluiett entered the afternoon averaging 19.4 points per game but was held to single-figures for the first time all season and finishing with six points on 3-of-9 shooting. Bluiett was also 0-for-4 from three-point land, snapping a streak of 18 straight games with a trey. Xavier shot 46.3 percent for the game despite making just 3-of-19 three-point shots (15.8 percent). The Musketeers won the rebound battle 42-29 and held a 50-20 advantage in the paint.
The game featured six ties and 10 lead changes and Saturday marked the 19th time in 27 all-time meetings between the schools that the game was within five points in the final minute.
The Musketeers led 30-20 before Creighton countered with a 10-0 run in a span of 2:07 to knot the score. Xavier would answer that challenge with a 13-5 run to close the first half and led 43-35 at the break. The Musketeers converted seven Bluejay turnovers into 17 points and five offensive rebounds into nine points in the first half.
The Bluejays would regroup at halftime and make a rally. Seven straight defensive stops helped Creighton take a 55-54 lead on a lay-up by Mitch Ballock. A hoop from O'Mara with 7:21 to go gave XU a 62-61 lead, and the Muskies stayed in front until Davion Mintz buried two free throws with 1:13 left to even the score at 68. After the teams traded empty possessions, Macura would tip in a O'Mara miss with 21 seconds left. Creighton would go to Foster, who owns four career game-winners, but his jumper was left short. Foster grabbed the offensive rebound and found an open Harrell in front of the CU bench, who was hit on the elbow while launching a three-pointer.
Harrell sank all three foul shots to give CU a 71-70 lead, but after two timeouts Goodin would go the length of the court and draw a foul with 0.3 left. He would make both free throws for the final margin, and Creighton's last chance was a baseball pass that went the length of the court untouched to turn it over to XU.
Creighton returns to the court on Tuesday at 7:01 p.m. when it hosts Bemidji State. That contest will air on FS2 and can be heard on 1620 The Zone.
NOTES: Creighton fell to 3-6 this season against top-25 opponents, and 30-141 all-time ... Creighton's nine games this year against top-25 teams are tied for the most nationally with Oklahoma State ... Xavier's last three wins at Creighton have come by a combined four points ... Creighton and Xavier have played 10 (of 12) games decided by eight points or less since the reconfiguration of the BIG EAST in 2013. Butler/Seton Hall (8 of 10) is next leaguewide ... Marcus Foster moved to 28th in Creighton history with 1,154 points as a Bluejay, while Khyri Thomas climbed from 41st to 39th all-time and now owns 1,009 career points ... Khyri Thomas needed 94 games to reach 1,000 points ... Marcus Foster has led CU in scoring in each of the last nine games ... Marcus Foster joined Doug McDermott and Paul Silas as the only Creighton players to score 500 points or more in their first two seasons on the court as Bluejays ... Creighton made 100 percent of its free throws for the first time since making all 12 attempts at Providence on March 2, 2016 ... Creighton has now played consecutive one-point games for the first time since January of 2015, and is 80-74 all-time in one-point contests ... The crowd of 18,257 was the 14th-largest home crowd in program history ... Creighton's 14-game home win streak was tied for its fourth-longest in CenturyLink Center Omaha history. The record is 24 (Feb. 19, 2013 - Dec. 9, 2014) ... Creighton is now 7-8 all-time at CenturyLink Center Omaha in games with a go-ahead score in the final 10 seconds. Creighton last fell behind in the final second of a home game on Jan. 12, 2016, when Kris Dunn's jumper as time expired handed Providence a 50-48 win ... Prior to Saturday, the last time Creighton lost a home game in the final second on free throws came February 3, 2002, when Southern Illinois' Kent Williams drained two foul shots with 0.3 left to lead the Salukis to a 79-77 win at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
Xavier won its eighth straight game and is now 23-3 (11-2 BIG EAST). Creighton's 14-game home win streak was snapped as the Bluejays fell to 18-7 (8-5 BIG EAST).
Marcus Foster led Creighton with 29 points, including 20 points in the second half. Foster, who was honored in a pregame ceremony for surpassing 2,000 career points on Wednesday at DePaul, has now scored 20 points in each of his last seven games. Khyri Thomas added 14 points, reaching the 1,000 point milestone on a three-pointer at the 17:31 mark of the first half. The Bluejays shot 42.2 percent from the field (27-64) and made 32.4 percent from downtown (11-34), in addition to being perfect on six attempts from the free throw line.
Goodin topped Xavier with a career-high 17 points, and Kerem Kanter added 14 points. J.P. Macura had 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while Sean O'Mara added 12 points. Trevon Bluiett entered the afternoon averaging 19.4 points per game but was held to single-figures for the first time all season and finishing with six points on 3-of-9 shooting. Bluiett was also 0-for-4 from three-point land, snapping a streak of 18 straight games with a trey. Xavier shot 46.3 percent for the game despite making just 3-of-19 three-point shots (15.8 percent). The Musketeers won the rebound battle 42-29 and held a 50-20 advantage in the paint.
The game featured six ties and 10 lead changes and Saturday marked the 19th time in 27 all-time meetings between the schools that the game was within five points in the final minute.
The Musketeers led 30-20 before Creighton countered with a 10-0 run in a span of 2:07 to knot the score. Xavier would answer that challenge with a 13-5 run to close the first half and led 43-35 at the break. The Musketeers converted seven Bluejay turnovers into 17 points and five offensive rebounds into nine points in the first half.
The Bluejays would regroup at halftime and make a rally. Seven straight defensive stops helped Creighton take a 55-54 lead on a lay-up by Mitch Ballock. A hoop from O'Mara with 7:21 to go gave XU a 62-61 lead, and the Muskies stayed in front until Davion Mintz buried two free throws with 1:13 left to even the score at 68. After the teams traded empty possessions, Macura would tip in a O'Mara miss with 21 seconds left. Creighton would go to Foster, who owns four career game-winners, but his jumper was left short. Foster grabbed the offensive rebound and found an open Harrell in front of the CU bench, who was hit on the elbow while launching a three-pointer.
Harrell sank all three foul shots to give CU a 71-70 lead, but after two timeouts Goodin would go the length of the court and draw a foul with 0.3 left. He would make both free throws for the final margin, and Creighton's last chance was a baseball pass that went the length of the court untouched to turn it over to XU.
Creighton returns to the court on Tuesday at 7:01 p.m. when it hosts Bemidji State. That contest will air on FS2 and can be heard on 1620 The Zone.
NOTES: Creighton fell to 3-6 this season against top-25 opponents, and 30-141 all-time ... Creighton's nine games this year against top-25 teams are tied for the most nationally with Oklahoma State ... Xavier's last three wins at Creighton have come by a combined four points ... Creighton and Xavier have played 10 (of 12) games decided by eight points or less since the reconfiguration of the BIG EAST in 2013. Butler/Seton Hall (8 of 10) is next leaguewide ... Marcus Foster moved to 28th in Creighton history with 1,154 points as a Bluejay, while Khyri Thomas climbed from 41st to 39th all-time and now owns 1,009 career points ... Khyri Thomas needed 94 games to reach 1,000 points ... Marcus Foster has led CU in scoring in each of the last nine games ... Marcus Foster joined Doug McDermott and Paul Silas as the only Creighton players to score 500 points or more in their first two seasons on the court as Bluejays ... Creighton made 100 percent of its free throws for the first time since making all 12 attempts at Providence on March 2, 2016 ... Creighton has now played consecutive one-point games for the first time since January of 2015, and is 80-74 all-time in one-point contests ... The crowd of 18,257 was the 14th-largest home crowd in program history ... Creighton's 14-game home win streak was tied for its fourth-longest in CenturyLink Center Omaha history. The record is 24 (Feb. 19, 2013 - Dec. 9, 2014) ... Creighton is now 7-8 all-time at CenturyLink Center Omaha in games with a go-ahead score in the final 10 seconds. Creighton last fell behind in the final second of a home game on Jan. 12, 2016, when Kris Dunn's jumper as time expired handed Providence a 50-48 win ... Prior to Saturday, the last time Creighton lost a home game in the final second on free throws came February 3, 2002, when Southern Illinois' Kent Williams drained two foul shots with 0.3 left to lead the Salukis to a 79-77 win at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
Team Stats
#5XU
CU
FG%
.463
.422
3FG%
.158
.324
FT%
.778
1.000
RB
42
29
TO
13
12
STL
4
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
29
FGM
12
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
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