Friday, March 16
Charlotte, N.C.
5:50 PM
Creighton University
21-12
59
vs
69
Kansas State
23-11
1
2
F
Kansas State
32
37
69
Creighton
26
33
59
Toby Hegner and Mitch Ballock
Photo by: Dave Weaver
Men's Basketball Drops NCAA First Round Matchup to Kansas State, 69-59
3/16/2018 9:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bluejays end season 21-12
Charlotte, N.C. -- The Creighton men's basketball saw its 2017-18 season come to a close on Friday, March 16 as the Bluejays fell to Kansas State 69-59 in the First Round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
The loss moved Creighton to 21-12, while Kansas State moves on to the Second Round with a mark of 23-11. The Wildcats will meet UMBC, who pulled one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history on Friday night with a 74-54 win over top-seeded Virginia in the first 16/1 upset ever in 136 tries.
The Bluejays fell behind 10-2 in the opening minutes and never led in the game. The Bluejays fell behind by as much as 25-16 with 4:52 left in the first half before an 11-4 burst got the Jays within a basket at 29-26. However, K-State's Mike McGuirl doubled that lead to six with a three-pointer just before the halftime buzzer as the Wildcats took a 32-26 lead into intermission.
Creighton fell behind by nine in the opening minutes of the second half before Mitch Ballock and Khyri Thomas combined for a 7-0 run to bring CU within two points. Creighton got a defensive stop and had a chance to tie it, but missed, and the Wildcats responded with consecutive hoops to move back up by six. CU got no closer than six the rest of the way.
The Wildcats lead grew to double-figures for the first time at 51-41 with 9;34 left when Kamau Stokes split through the lane for a hoop. The margin eventually grew to 16 before Marcus Foster and Mitch Ballock combined for a trio of three-pointers in the final 130 seconds.
Ballock led Creighton with 16 points and eight rebounds in his NCAA Tournament debut, while Hegner finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. Creighton shot a season-low 33.8 percent from the field, and were 26.5 percent from three-point range. The Bluejays won the rebound battle 43-35, but were outshot 25-5 at the foul line.
Kansas State got a game-high 18 points from Barry Brown. McGuirl added 17 points, eclipsing his total of 13 for the entire season entering the evening. The Wildcats shot 46 percent from the field and drained 9-of-19 three-pointers (47.4 percent).
With the victory, Kansas State advances to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012.
The loss moved Creighton to 21-12, while Kansas State moves on to the Second Round with a mark of 23-11. The Wildcats will meet UMBC, who pulled one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history on Friday night with a 74-54 win over top-seeded Virginia in the first 16/1 upset ever in 136 tries.
The Bluejays fell behind 10-2 in the opening minutes and never led in the game. The Bluejays fell behind by as much as 25-16 with 4:52 left in the first half before an 11-4 burst got the Jays within a basket at 29-26. However, K-State's Mike McGuirl doubled that lead to six with a three-pointer just before the halftime buzzer as the Wildcats took a 32-26 lead into intermission.
Creighton fell behind by nine in the opening minutes of the second half before Mitch Ballock and Khyri Thomas combined for a 7-0 run to bring CU within two points. Creighton got a defensive stop and had a chance to tie it, but missed, and the Wildcats responded with consecutive hoops to move back up by six. CU got no closer than six the rest of the way.
The Wildcats lead grew to double-figures for the first time at 51-41 with 9;34 left when Kamau Stokes split through the lane for a hoop. The margin eventually grew to 16 before Marcus Foster and Mitch Ballock combined for a trio of three-pointers in the final 130 seconds.
Ballock led Creighton with 16 points and eight rebounds in his NCAA Tournament debut, while Hegner finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. Creighton shot a season-low 33.8 percent from the field, and were 26.5 percent from three-point range. The Bluejays won the rebound battle 43-35, but were outshot 25-5 at the foul line.
Kansas State got a game-high 18 points from Barry Brown. McGuirl added 17 points, eclipsing his total of 13 for the entire season entering the evening. The Wildcats shot 46 percent from the field and drained 9-of-19 three-pointers (47.4 percent).
With the victory, Kansas State advances to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012.
CREIGHTON NOTES
Creighton's Khyri Thomas had 3 steals, all in the first half. It was his fourth straight game with three or more swipes. Tonight was the 12th time the two-time BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year has had at least three steals this season.
Toby Hegner had 12 points, his most since scoring 16 vs. Georgetown on January 27th and his 14th double-figure contest of the season.
Marcus Foster was held to single-figures for just the second time in his last 51 games. His five points were his lowest in 68 games as a Bluejay, and least since he was scoreless in his final game at Kansas State in 2014-15.
Marcus Foster finished with one three-pointer, and 306 in his career. He made a 3-pointer in each of the final 20 games of his career.
Marcus Foster finishes his Creighton career with 1,293 points, 21st in school history, and most ever by a two-year player.
Tonight was the first time all season that Marcus Foster had been scoreless at halftime. Previous low was 2 points vs. Nebraska December 9th (Creighton won 75-65). Foster's only previous scoreless first half as a Bluejay came last season at Nebraska. Creighton won that game, 77-62.
Mitch Ballock became the first Creighton freshman to lead the Bluejays in scoring during an NCAA Tournament game since Kevin McKenna had 18 points vs. DePaul on March 12, 1978.
Creighton's 26 points at the break were a season-low for the first half. The previous low was 28 in an eventual 75-65 win over Nebraska on December 9th.
Creighton's 59 points tied a season-low.
Creighton, which had 107 dunks entering the night, was held without a dunk.
Creighton ends its season with a 21-12 record.
Creighton and Kansas State have now split the all-time series 8-8, though this was the first meeting since December 5, 1987.
Kansas State Notes
- Kansas State improved to 23-11 and advanced to meet the winner of the Virginia-UMBC game on Sunday, March 18, in the second round of the South Region.
- The Wildcats won their opening tournament game for the sixth time in their last eight appearances. They are 11-5 all-time in the first round.
- It was K-State's first victory as a lower seed since defeating No. 6 seed USC as the No. 11 seed in the first round of the 2008 Midwest Region, 80-67.
- Its10-point margin of victory was its largest margin of victory in the tournament since defeating BYU by 12 in the second round of the 2010 West Region.
- K-State evened its all-time series with Creighton at 8-8 in the first meeting between the border state rivals since 1987.
- The Wildcats improved to 18-2 when leading at halftime and 23-2 when shooting a higher percentage than its opponent.
- Freshman Mike McGuirl scored a career-high 17 points. He had scored just 13 points this season entering the game. He also matched his career-high for rebounds with four.
- Junior Barry Brown matched his career-high for rebounds with six. He grabbed six rebounds in three other games.
FRIDAY, MARCH 16 | CREIGHTON INTERVIEW QUOTES
HEAD COACH GREG McDERMOTT
Opening statement
"Congratulations to Kansas State. I thought they played a heck of a game. Defensively, we were very disruptive, especially early in the game that forced us into some uncharacteristic decisions. Rather than maybe using their pressure against them, we probably fell into the trap of trying to beat it too early in the possession. We probably didn't get as good as shots as we'd like, especially early in the game. Defensively, they had 32 points at the half. They hit two threes as the shot clock was running down. Their center, who's made two all year, hits one. I really feel like defensively, we really did what we needed to do to be in a good position. We just weren't very good offensively, and K-State certainly had a lot to do with that."
GUARD MITCH BALLOCK
On K-State's defense
"They came out, they pressed us a little bit, they got up in us and it took us a while to get comfortable in the game. Offensively, we just didn't have it tonight. I felt like, I don't really know what we shot from the field, but it couldn't have been too good. We just didn't have it offensively, but credit their defense. They were up in us and played us really hard so respect to them.
"We talked about it all week that they were going to get up in us and be physical on the ball screens and physical in the gaps and just be strong with the ball and come off ball screens. Nothing really surprised us, we just kind of, I don't know, we didn't execute the game plan offensively."
FORWARD TOBY HEGNER
On K-State's ability to make tough shots
"You have to give Kansas State a lot of credit. They made a lot of tough shots when they needed to. I felt like we were in the right spot a lot of the time. Sometimes tough shots go in and you have to give credit to them. I wish the best for them."
GUARD KHYRI THOMAS
On the turning point of the game
"Our momentum began to pick up around at the end of the first half we got into about a six-point lead. Then we came out, threw a little punch, and they just, you know, they really just executed what they were trying to do real well."
On whether he'll turn pro or return to school
"I'm not sure, I honestly don't know. I'll probably have a meeting with Mac and see from there. I haven't even thought about it to be honest."
FRIDAY, MARCH 16 | KANSAS STATE INTERVIEW QUOTES
HEAD COACH BRUCE WEBER
Opening statement
"Obviously we are so thrilled for our guys. Since day one of last spring when we got back after we lost in the NCAA and took our couple of weeks off, Barry [Brown Jr.] took leadership. They didn't question anything. They came every day and worked their tails off. We said this is what you work for is to get this opportunity. They took advantage of it. We were very well prepared. We said we have to guard them, they're one of the best offensive teams in the country with one of the best offensive players in the country. We did a great job defensively and made it really tough on them.
"Barry did a great job on Marcus [Foster] who is a really great player. All of our guys. It was team defensive. You know, you hold them to 59. I don't know if anyone has done that all year. I looked at that closely. It was pretty impressive. We always talk about somebody stepping up and having a special moment and obviously Mike McGuirl. I've said since the beginning he was the surprise of our summer and then he had injuries. And to his credit, he has been very, very patient and took himself out of redshirt when Kam [Stokes] got hurt. He came back and he got his chance the last couple of games and he rose up and played like a veteran, made a lot of big plays. Kam got us off going. It was good for him to get a shot going. You could see a little smile on his face. He had his struggles and then Barry took it over in the second half. He made the plays we needed him to make so it was a great win for our guys. So happy for them and now we get to move on and see who we play on Sunday."
GUARD KAMAU STOKES
How big of a relief was it to come out and make your first three shots, get your team out to a lead that you pretty much held for the entire game?
"Seeing the ball go through the rim, it really felt good. Credit to my teammates for getting me open. It all came down to focusing on getting the shots and seeing the ball go through the hoop felt good."
GUARD BARRY BROWN JR.
What was the key in shutting down Marcus? I know it was a team thing but you were on him most of the day.
"I watched a lot of film on him with Coach [Chester] Frazier, just trying to see where he picks spots, seeing what he likes to do on offense. Memorizing their plays, a little bit. I kind of knew the play they ran it through so I was just jumping stuff and denying them a little bit. It worked out. My teammates had my back on back doors and stuff like that. Especially on switches, hedges and ball screens. It worked out."
What was different about the way you guys operated without D. [Dean] Wade tonight?
"We had our backs up against the wall a little bit knowing D. Wade wasn't going to play tonight. Like coach said, credit to Mike [McGuirl]. He stepped up big time and gave us a big lift off the bench that we needed. We miss some of the stuff D. does but some of the guys just stepped up, rebounded like it was our last game. That's our mindset going through this tournament."
GUARD MIKE MCGUIRL
On his individual performance
"It was what the coaches prepared us for. We had a good idea of what they were going to do and the coaches prepared us well and we were ready to execute."
On what was clicking for him
"Everything. It was really our defense that led to all our offense. We trusted the game plan and that is what went right for us."
On if he ever imagined having a game like this in the NCAA Tournament
"It was always something that was a hope in the back of my head. It is sort of like a dream come true."
On what it feels like to beat Creighton
"It feels good but we are not content yet. We are not done."
GUARD CARTIER DIARRA
On not many people thinking they could beat Creighton
"Yes, but coach always says that we have played 20 tournament teams. The Big 12 is arguably the best conference in the nation and we have seen great scorers and people that score at a high clip. TCU is an example. And we have defended them very well and won games against them. We treated it like another Big 12 game. You have to defend. Defense wins games, so that is what we did tonight."
On how much confidence teammate Kamau Stokes can take from his performance
"It is going to be great. He needed to see a couple of shots fall and he has seen that. Hopefully, that pushes him and he makes more shots next game and just keeps moving forward. He is a huge threat. Before he got hurt, he was averaging 15 [points]. He is very capable. He has been in a little shooting slump, but tonight it seemed like he was getting out of it, so we are really happy with that."
Team Stats
KS
CU
FG%
.460
.338
3FG%
.474
.265
FT%
.560
.800
RB
35
45
TO
11
13
STL
6
6
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
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