Creighton University
6-1,0-0Big East
Arizona
6-0,0-0Pac-12
#10 Men's Basketball Falls in Maui Thriller to #14 Arizona
11/23/2022 5:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game-ending 12-2 run falls two points short
The Wildcats improve to 6-0 on the season, while Creighton suffered its first loss to drop to 6-1.
Oumar Ballo made 14-of-17 shots and finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds to lead Arizona. He would be named MVP of the Tournament. The rest of the All-Tournament Team will be named later tonight.
Ryan Nembhard had 20 points and six assists for Creighton, while Ryan Kalkbrenner (16), Trey Alexander (15) and Baylor Scheierman (11) also scored in double-figures. Scheierman also grabbed 11 defensive rebounds to earn his third double-double of the winter.
The teams exchanged four ties and four lead changes in the opening 12 minutes, as Alexander heated it up early on 5-for-5 shooting for the Bluejays. The Wildcats created some separation with four consecutive baskets to build a 32-25 lead and force a Bluejay timeout with just under six minutes left in the first half. Three pointers by Cedric Henderson Jr. and Courtney Ramey helped the Wildcats go up by 11 before two Alexander free throws with 9.1 seconds moved UA's halftime lead to 39-30. Alexander paced CU with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first half while also adding five rebounds. Arizona was topped by 16 points and nine rebounds on 7-of-8 shooting by Ballo at the break.
Arizona built a 46-33 lead before the Jays rallied. Back-to-back-to-back three-pointers from Alexander, Kalkbrenner and Scheierman trimmed the deficit to 47-43 with just under 15 minutes to play, but the Wildcats countered with a 12-2 run over the next three minutes. Just when it looked like Arizona had the championship in hand, Creighton answered with five points in 23 seconds, narrowing the Bluejay gap to 79-72 with 2:38 left. A three-pointer from Scheierman cut the gap to four at 81-77 with 1:39 left. Kalkbrenner hit a foul shot with 48.6 left to set up a frantic finish with Arizona up 81-78..
The Jays got a stop it needed and called timeout in the frontcourt with 7.4 left. Nembhard was fouled with 2.0 left. He made the first and intentionally missed the second one off the side rim and Arizona grabbed the rebound. Time would expire as Creighton used two fouls it still had to give and Arizona threw an inbounds pass of Kalkbrenner's knee to run off the final 0.2 seconds.
Creighton returns to the court on Thursday, Dec. 1, for a 6 p.m. game at No. 4 Texas. The contest will be televised by ESPN and can be heard on 1620 The Zone and 101.9 The Keg.
Maui Jim Maui Invitational
Wednesday, November 23, 2022
Maui, Hawaii, USA
Lahaina Civic Center
Creighton Bluejays
Greg McDermott
Trey Alexander
Ryan Nembhard
Postgame Press Conference
Arizona - 81, Creighton - 79
THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and get started with an opening statement from coach and then take questions for the student-athletes.
GREG MCDERMOTT: Very proud of my team. We showed some grit in getting ourselves back in that. That stretch end of the first half was really probably pretty critical. We were up, I think, 26-25 and then we scored on two of our last 16 to end the game -- or end the half.
And then you're down nine, and then it felt like in the second half, every time we would get it to three or four, they'd stretch it back to nine or ten, and we just couldn't quite crack the seal, so to speak, to get 'em where they were really, really nervous.
And then we executed some stuff down the stretch pretty well to give ourselves a chance, you know, on the free-throw line there to cut it to two, and then ran a play where we thought we could get a good look at a three there to tie it, and obviously didn't work.
Arizona's a heck of a basketball team. They're hard to guard. One of the things we set out to do was try to keep 'em off the free-throw line and we won that battle. But Ballo was just, he was a load down there. And you have to make some decisions when you play them because of their ability to shoot the basketball. And we decided to play 'em one-on-one and did a better job the second half than we did the first. But he had a heck of a game.
And then they, it felt like whenever we were gaining some momentum, it seemed like Kerr would hit one of those threes or long twos off the dribble, which are kind of backbreaking against our defense.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for our student-athletes?
Q. Ryan, as coach was saying, you were trying to find a way to break in after 10 points. It seemed like after you hit the floor, hit the three, they went down, Baylor got the steal and came down and got the layup. It seemed like y'all got going. At that point, did you feel like y'all could make a run?
RYAN NEMBHARD: Yeah, definitely. We kind of made a run. That was kind of just a momentum swing. We had a little run. It just came down to the last play and we just, we had a look, but it just didn't work, fell short. Credit to Arizona.
Q. For either of you, how do you think being here in this environment playing that kind of game can help you for the rest of your season?
TREY ALEXANDER: Well, me personally, I feel like, us as a team, I feel like we grew tremendously. I feel like we played a couple teams that wouldn't be able to give us a look in the conference that we're in. Like, a lot of teams don't play drop coverage, a lot of teams don't have bigs that are as good as theirs at the 4 and 5, so obviously, we grew in that type of sense.
From statistics-wise, that's a hard team to defend. They're one of the best teams in the country at offense and scoring points. So I feel like that helped us grow on the defensive end and we can be able to watch this film and grow on the offensive end as well.
RYAN NEMBHARD: Same thing. I think just playing these games this week kind of prepared us for post-season play. You get a bunch of teams with a different style of play, and I feel like that just prepares you for March.
So I think it was great for us. We grew a lot as a team. We got better. We're going to take this as motivation and improve for the rest of the year.
THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you, guys. We'll let you go, and we'll take questions for coach.
Q. Kind of the same question. This atmosphere, this week, how does that kind of catapult you guys on to the rest of your season?
GREG MCDERMOTT: Yeah, as I told the team, there's so much learning that can take place as a result of three games like this. You play three ranked teams, essentially, in 52 hours or whatever it was, it seemed like.
But it's everything that you have been working on, everything you've been practicing. You really find out, it's a barometer to where you are and where you have to grow, both from a team perspective, but also as an individual perspective, is your spacing correct, are you making the right cut at the right time, are we moving the ball when we're supposed to move the basketball.
Then some of our defensive coverage, where are there holes and gaps and what did some people exploit during the course of these three days. So there's a lot to learn from a game like this and a week like this.
But I think we also found out that, you know, we got punched in the mouth against Texas Tech at the start of that game and came back and found a way to win the game.
The Arkansas game had so many momentum changes during the course of the game where you had to kind of gather yourself and get ready.
Then same thing this afternoon. We're down 11, 12, whatever it was with five minutes left, and you just keep executing and playing defensively and make a few shots, execute a few plays, and you put yourself in a chance to at least have a chance to tie the game.
So there's a lot of good things that come out of it, but a lot of things that, we're going to be off for a couple days, but we'll get back to the practice floor Saturday and be able to really work on ourselves on Saturday. We haven't been able to do that for awhile.
There will be plenty of film that we can learn from. This team, as you can imagine watching 'em play, they're a blast to coach, a lot of fun to coach. It's going to be a fun year in that regard because they really, they're about each other, and that makes it pretty enjoyable from a coach's perspective.
Q. Curious, yesterday the atmosphere, the game itself, was one of an all-time Maui Invitational games. I was curious, between the turnaround, the quick turnaround, you got a noon tip, much did yesterday impact your guys today, do you think? From a neutral perspective, we feel like maybe the emotions of last night carried over today. Is that something that you sensed in your locker room?
GREG MCDERMOTT: What I was worried about was the start of the game. Arizona was here last night late too, later than us. We had our feet up while they were still playing. I think probably both of us wondered how our teams would start after that.
We scored 16 points in 10 possessions. They scored 15. So there wasn't many ill effects, at least on the offensive end, maybe on the defensive end.
But obviously that took a lot out of both teams yesterday. You play an Arkansas team that's as athletic and talented as they are, and they had to play a very good, physical San Diego State team. So, you know, you would love to have more prep. We both run a lot of stuff that can be kind of tricky to defend. So you were kind of adjusting on the fly because you didn't have any preparation time.
But that's what makes these games fun. You get to see a little bit of everything. But I thought our guys, I was proud of their preparation and how we started the game. Again, we gave ourselves a chance at the end.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
127421-1-1044 2022-11-24 00:35:00 GMT
Maui Jim Maui Invitational
Wednesday, November 23, 2022
Maui, Hawaii, USA
Lahaina Civic Center
Arizona Wildcats
Tommy Lloyd
Oumar Ballo
Kerr Kriisa
Postgame Press Conference
Arizona - 81, Creighton - 79
THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and get started with an opening statement from coach and then take questions for the student-athletes.
TOMMY LLOYD: Thank you, guys. Obviously, I'm super proud of these guys. They played their butts off. These tournaments are hard. To play three games in three days against three really good teams with very distinct styles and to come out of it on top the way we did, it says a lot about this group.
But before I really get started here, I want to kind of mention a few names here, and I had 'em write 'em down so I wouldn't forget 'em. This wouldn't have been possible without our support staff. And Justin Kokoskie, our trainer, we call him J-Rock, he's a GOAT and he does an amazing job of keeping these guys ready to play to play three games in three days.
And then, hey, our strength and conditioning coach, Chris Rounds. I mean, he and Oumar are going to share this trophy because they did it together. And he's done an amazing job with Oumar getting him ready to play.
Our nutritionist, Tanner. He's keeping these guys well-fed at home. Our massage therapist, Paul. It's a beautiful thing, yes, we have massage therapists these guys days. It's a real nice thing.
Our physicians, Dr. Paul and his staff, do an amazing job with this.
Our sports psychology department does a great job with these guys, making sure we're mentally sharp, with Rachel running that thing.
And then our student managers are amazing. I mean, I was probably on their you know what's a little more this week than ever to make sure our guys were hydrated and giving them water at shoot around and stuff like. They just did an amazing team effort to make sure these guys were primed and ready to play. And without them, this wouldn't be possible. I mean, I don't even -- did we have one cramp the whole tournament? I don't know, did we? I don't think we did. I mean, you see a lot of these teams cramp up in this deal. So it says something about these guys.
So thank you for our support staff. They're first class and they're the best in the business.
THE MODERATOR: All right. We'll take questions for our student-athletes?
Q. How do you guys feel about being the champions in Maui?
KERR KRIISA: First of all, I want to say I actually did have a cramp the first game, end of first half, but okay.
But we feel good. We've been working hard all summer, guys did in Tucson. We have a great group of people. Like coach said, the staff, everybody surrounding us, it's just like a great place to be, and Bear Down.
Q. Can you talk about what Oumar means to your team, what he brings to the table for you guys.
KERR KRIISA: I mean, if you watch the game, he brings everything. He rebounds, he scores. He had 14-17. That's outstanding. Oumar's been putting a lot of work in during the summer trying to get his body better, his fat down, which he has done. So we are all. It's, not me, but --
TOMMY LLOYD: Who has higher body fat, you or Oumar?
KERR KRIISA: Me. (Laughing.)
But we are proud of Oumar and he definitely deserves this. But I don't want to give too much credit to Oumar too right now because, you know, we had, Pelle played hard on defense, Courtney made great shots. Like, that was a team effort.
So Oumar doesn't need to get above the clouds now because we have, because, you know, next Thursday we play again, and then this tournament is already finished and we got to start playing again.
Q. Kerr, just what was the key to getting Oumar the ball? For all you guys, really, like you said, it was a team thing getting him the ball in some really good spots there.
KERR KRIISA: Yeah, if you have two best bigs in the country, then you got to give them the ball, if you play smart. If you're trying to win, then you give them the ball, and you let them do their work. Zu played, obviously, outstanding this whole tournament. It's funny how Zu scores 12, but you don't even realize how he scores 12.
So it comes, you know, it shows our how explosive our offense is and obviously our guard play is getting better too. So I think we're just in a great spot right now.
Q. Oumar, how do you feel? There's been a lot of talk about just the long progression you've had in college basketball so far. When you have a game like this in a tournament like this, does it feel like you've finally arrived or it's been worth it kind of thing?
OUMAR BALLO: I actually haven't arrived because we haven't done anything yet. It's a long season. It's a marathon. So I'm just trying to run with the pace and trying to be available for my team.
Q. Oumar, in the second half there was, you had a two-hand dunk with, and one, I think, and then you pointed toward your Arizona fans, put your hand to your ear and kind of waved them on. Just wondering how that felt in that moment with the fan support you had.
OUMAR BALLO: I mean, we got to give a lot of credit to those people because they have our back and no matter what the scoreboard is, those people will show up and cheering on for us. For them to book a flight, book hotel, to come all the way to Hawaii to support us, it means a lot to me, and it means a lot to my team. So the only thing we can do is just play hard and do anything we can do for them.
Q. If I'm doing the math right, you've shot 27-34 here from the field in three games. Wow, man, what can you say? Is this the best three basketball games you've ever played?
OUMAR BALLO: Probably. Well, I didn't even know that. But that is a little bit crazy. But it might be, honestly.
KERR KRIISA: It was the rims.
OUMAR BALLO: Yeah, probably. Yeah, the rim was really soft, so I had a lot of balls rolling in there. (Laughing.)
Q. Were the passes from Kerr?
OUMAR BALLO: Yeah, absolutely. Because he too -- I'm going to give a lot of credit to the guards. Because they really found me today in those duck-ins and rolls. And this is a team that I love playing because like no one is selfish, we share the ball and we turn down a good shot to take a great shot. So I'm really proud of each of those guys in here.
Q. Oumar, 30 minutes today, 29 last night, how did you get through it? Did you have a lot of massages or anything like that?
OUMAR BALLO: No, I have zero massage. I just drank a lot of water. And, man, I want to play those games. I want to play those minutes. This is why I'm here. And I will do anything to be available for my team.
THE MODERATOR: All right, thank you guys. We'll take questions for coach.
Q. How do you feel about the win today?
TOMMY LLOYD: I love it. I love you guys. You guys were awesome. Great job.
Q. You talked about it. Three games, three days here. These guys got to come back so quick. What can this experience do for you guys for this rest of the season?
TOMMY LLOYD: Well, it gives you incredible experiences to learn from. It's important to learn from the good things as well as the mistakes. Our staff's going to do a great job dissecting these three games -- really haven't had a chance to dissect anything yet -- and try to figure out what direction we need to take this team.
Part of it is going to be reinforcing the things we did well and some of it is going to be areas we need to get better.
Q. Coach McDermott did say that he felt because of your shooters he made a decision to play Oumar a lot one-on-one. Is that something you expect to see the way things are developing with this team?
TOMMY LLOYD: Well it's game to game. Teams are going to throw different things at us and that's what's really cool about it. I think we're pretty well rounded in our approach. I've coached a lot of good big guys before and I'm comfortable with double teams and things of that nature.
A good friend of mine a guy named Mr. Arvydas Sabonis once told me, If you don't get double teamed as a post player you're not any good. So we ascribe to that and we love it when posts can draw multiple defenders and we'll play out of it if that's the way it is.
Q. That last couple minutes there Creighton made that final push. What was going on there?
TOMMY LLOYD: Well I was just kept looking at the score and the time and our timeouts. And I thought we had enough separation to kind of ride it out.
But you're just hoping for a miss. You hate to say that, you need to make 'em miss. But one of those shots bounces off, you know, and we rebound it, you know, the game could have been over a little bit earlier. But they didn't. They went in.
I think we had one or two maybe poor decisions that, you know, a little bit, you know, frustrating, but we'll learn from that. We practice situations a lot. So a lot of the situations came up there and I felt comfortable not calling a timeout.
I wanted our guys to rock a little bit. I want them to figure it out on their own. We practice for a reason. They don't need me to come over and script everything for 'em because they're smart players. We think we do a good job with the situations. I think down the stretch at least we handled the press situations, the last free throw situation, those types of things really well.
Q. A little bit off topic, but as an Indiana native and a Pacers fan I was curious if you have any statement on the budding Bennedict Mathurin Rookie of the Year campaign?
TOMMY LLOYD: Stud. We miss him. We love him. But he's doing his thing. He made a huge impact on this program and he really blossomed in this program. I think he's going to set an example for others. If you come here and, you know, buy into what we're teaching and how we play and being great teammate and playing team basketball, you can go to the next level and have a lot of success.
Benn, when I think about the fundamental gains he made in his game the last year, it's pretty impressive. I watched him play quite a few times and just to see him making floaters now and getting to the free-throw line. That's stuff he wasn't doing before. Handling the ball much better. So he's awesome. Looks like he's going to have a great NBA career.
Q. Wondering, the big picture for you guys. Did you -- and was this kind of comparable to last year where you played those games at home, not really sure what you got there. And then you go and win Vegas and same thing here you come win this thing?
TOMMY LLOYD: Well, you know me better than anybody in here. You know I'm a day-to-day guy. Okay? Paycheck to paycheck, bottleneck to bottleneck. We ain't getting more complicated than that. So let's just stay locked in here and keep getting better. We just wanted to win the game. I don't even know when our next game is.
Q. I know it's in the moment now, but you said going in you were looking forward to learning some things about this team. Off the top of your head what are you thinking now about what you did in these three days?
TOMMY LLOYD: I learned that we're good. We're tough. We're gritty. I think there's going to be some great things for us to really double down on and some things to show our guys where we went the wrong way.
So that's what you're looking for in these things. You're looking to reinforce good things, learn from the tough things. But we needed that. We needed to come here and get tested. We got tested every game. No game felt comfortable until the final horn went off.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
127422-1-1044 2022-11-24 00:49:00 GMT
