Creighton University
22-10,12-7Big East
Providence
25-5,14-3Big East
Men's Basketball Routs #11 Providence, Advances to BIG EAST Title Game
3/11/2022 7:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bluejays use 31-2 run spanning halftime to advance to fourth final in nine years.
Creighton (22-10) advances to Saturday's 5:30 p.m. Central final against either Villanova or UConn in a game that will air on FOX and KOZN (1620 AM). Providence will enter NCAA action with a 25-5 mark.
Alex O'Connell gave Creighton a 15-13 lead at the 11:34 mark and the Bluejays would not trail the rest of the game. Freshman Arthur Kaluma scored eight consecutive Bluejay points on an array of moves as the CU margin grew to 33-25. CU then unleashed a 7-0 run, the last five from Kaluma, to grow the lead to 37-25 with 2:13 to go before intermission. The Bluejays owned a 42-27 lead at the break, led by 15 from Kaluma, 11 by O'Connell and 10 points from Ryan Kalkbrenner.
PC was led by Al Durham's 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, but the rest of the Friars team shot just 5-of-29.
The Bluejays didn't let up out of the gates to open the second half, forcing back-to-back shot clock violations and getting a pair of Trey Alexander jumpers to extend the lead to 46-25 to ignite a 10-0 run. After a PC bucket the Jays answered with an alley-oop to Kalkbrenner to force the second timeout in 45 seconds by the Friars. A Kaluma drive and reverse lay-in saw BIG EAST Coach of the Year Ed Cooley burn his final timeout with CU ahead 52-27.
Creighton's lead would stretch as large as 84-52 after a putback dunk from senior KeyShawn Feazell with 1:19 remaining.
Creighton was led in scoring by O'Connell with 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including a 4-of-6 mark from behind the arc. Kaluma added 17, while Alexander and Kalkbrenner also scored in double figures with 15 apiece. Hawkins grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds as the Jays out rebounded the Friars 42-40. Creighton shot 53.6 percent (30-of-57) from the field, 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from three and 80.0 percent (16-of-20) from the free throw line.
PC was paced by Al Durham with 21 points, while A.J. Reeves added eight for the Friars. The Friars finished the night shooting 30.8 percent (20-of-65) from the floor, 12.5 percent (3-of-24) from three and 68.2 percent (15-of-22) from the free throw line.
NOTES: Creighton's 27 point win was the largest margin of victory in a semifinal game since Boston College also beat Seton Hall by 27 points in 2001. ... It's the first time a top seed has lost by more than three points since 2010 (Georgetown beat Syracuse by 7) .... It was the most lopsided loss by a No. 1 seed in BIG EAST Tournament history, surpassing Villanova's 18-point loss to Georgetown in the 1982 final ... The No. 1 seed had not lost by double-figures at the BIG EAST Tournament (not including years with divisional play) since 1997, when Boston College beat Villanova by 12 in the final ... Creighton entered the day ranked No. 64 in the NET ... Ryan Kalkbrenner had four offensive rebounds today and now owns 121 on the season, the most by a Bluejay since at least 1987-88 ... Ryan Hawkins made his 132nd consecutive start ...Creighton has made a three-pointer in 945 games in a row and a trey before halftime in 316 consecutive contests ... Rati Andronikashvili had a career-high four rebounds ...Creighton is 17-0 this season and has won 25 straight games when holding foes to 40 percent shooting or worse ...Creighton is 0-3 all-time in the BIG EAST Tournament title tilt, losing in 2014, 2017 and 2021 ... Creighton improves to 2-2 all-time at the BIG EAST Tournament against Providence ... Teams with Ryan Hawkins improve to 181-18 at the college level, and 42-1 at neutral sites ... Creighton improves to 9-7 all-time at the BIG EAST Tournament, including a 4-0 mark in the semifinals. The Bluejays are now 2-1 all-time at the BIG EAST Tournament as a No. 4 seed, and 8-7 all-time in conference tournament action as a No. 4 seed (including the MVC Tournament) ... Creighton is now 1-1 all-time at the BIG EAST Tournament against No. 1 seeds. Creighton's last previous win over a top seed in a conference tournament came in 2007 when it defeated Southern Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference title tilt. That Saluki team, like Providence, was ranked 11th in the nation ... The win was Greg McDermott 275th victory as Creighton head coach ... Creighton is now 5-5 vs. top-25 teams this season. Only the 2019-20 team (with six) has more top-25 wins ... Creighton is now 11-6 in its last 17 conference tournament games when playing a better seed ... Tonight's Bluejay victory ensures the top two seeds won't meet in the BIG EAST Tournament final. That hasn't happened since 2004 ... Creighton is trying to become the first No. 4 seed to win the BIG EAST Tournament since Providence topped Creighton in the 2014 final ... Creighton improved to 47-155 all-time against top-25 teams. Only Villanova (7), Texas Tech (7), Marquette (6) and Tennessee (6) have more top-25 wins ... Creighton is now 29-40 under Greg McDermott against top-25 teams. Before his arrival, all other coaches were 18-115 ... Creighton improved to 5-0 this season on neutral floors when leading at halftime.
Coach Greg McDermott, Alex O'Connell, Arthur Kaluma Postgame Media Conference
THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Creighton.
COACH MCDERMOTT: Wow. We beat a really good team. Championship team. And we did it our way. We did it with defense. They really hurt us from the 3-point line at their place. We knew we had to clean that up. And we're blessed with the ability -- not a lot of teams in our conference, let alone in the country can play Nate Watson one-on-one. Because we have Ryan Kalkbrenner we can. That allows us to take some other stuff away.
But our young team doesn't play like a young team anymore. They've really grown up. I told Arthur this a couple of weeks ago, he's made the most progress of anybody in our program from the first practice until today.
His everyday work ethic in practice, outside of practice, and then gradually learning how we play and how he can be effective and efficient within that system, he's really slowed down. And the fruits of his labor are paying off now for him and for us.
And then Alex has been kind of mired in a shooting slump, but he hasn't wavered in his confidence, and he hasn't wavered in getting extra shots up after practice. And when the lights were the brightest tonight, he came out of it. So really proud of this team.
Obviously Providence has had a heck of a year and they're going to be a tough out for anybody in the NCAA Tournament. I wish them all the best. But this is a really good win for our program, and this is our fourth time in the championship game in the eight or nine years we've been in the league. And we haven't been able to quite kick that door down. Hopefully tomorrow that's the time to do that.
Q. You guys were without a very good player, obviously. But you've managed to beat three tournament teams without him, 3-2. Was there anything that happened when he went down? I remember the night at St. John's you were talking about how proud you were of the win. But since then is there anything you guys have done to mitigate his absence?
COACH MCDERMOTT: That particular night we didn't have time to think about the magnitude of what happened. Like, we had to play the game. We found a way to grit it out and gut it out and get a win against a St. John's team that doesn't lose much at home.
And then I think it really hit us those next few days leading up to the Providence game. We went right to Providence. We were there three nights. And I think it hit our team, like, this is a big deal, and how are we going to get ourselves out of it?
And then we played Providence on a night, like I said, that nobody was probably going to beat them. We've gradually grown and improved since then. I think Trey has settled into that role. The pace isn't quite the same. But he's got great vision for a young player.
And fortunately we moved him to the backup point guard in the middle of January. He probably played 5 or 10 percent of his minutes there. At least he was familiar with it.
But the leadership from Alex and Hawk and Keyshawn has been terrific. And these young guys just haven't wavered. Maybe it's because they don't know any better. They don't know the stage that they're on. But they don't really care. This is a connected group.
They don't really care who gets the credit. They get along extremely well. They have each other's back. And I'll go to battle with a team like that any day.
Q. And you referenced that quote you had yesterday about when you went to Providence a couple of weeks ago, you said not even the Golden State Warriors could have gone in there and beat them that night. With the way your team played tonight, can you say the same about the two guys sitting next to you and the rest of your squad?
COACH MCDERMOTT: We made some shots tonight. Let's face it, it's a make-shot, miss-shot game. We had some go in. And our defense is pretty good. We lead the league in defense.
We're comfortable with teams taking certain shots against us. And I think we forced Providence into a lot of mid-range stuff. And I think that frustrated them.
But we were pretty special tonight on both ends of the floor. Those possessions early in the second half, when you knew Providence was going to try to make a run, we made them take some tough shots, forced back-to-back shot clock violations against a really, really good team.
We've grown leaps and bounds defensively from the start of the season, and it's what you have to have if you're going to win in a tournament like this to win in the NCAA Tournament.
Q. Arthur, the last six minutes of the first half you had ten points in that stretch. The ball just kind of found its way to you, or are you just looking to be more aggressive during that period?
ARTHUR KALUMA: I just felt throughout the game I was telling myself, let it come to you, don't try to force anything, because I just didn't want to give up bad shots. I wanted us to get possessions. The last six minutes the ball was finding me and I was hitting my shots. So it was working out.
Q. Alex, 18 points, did you anticipate this outcome tonight?
ALEX O'CONNELL: I don't know if you can really anticipate scoring or whether your shot goes in. But kind of like Coach said, I haven't been shooting the ball too well in the last few games, but I stayed confident.
And credit to my teammates for finding me in the open spots. And my shot fell, and it feels good when your shot falls and builds confidence for the rest of the game for the rest of the guys.
Q. Alex, you're one of the few guys, I guess, that's actually played in the NCAA Tournament with fans. And how much -- I'm sure it was nice to play at Hinkle last year, and that was a great experience, but how much were you going to appreciate environments like tonight going into next week?
ALEX O'CONNELL: I think I'm really going to appreciate it. Especially with what we went through last year with limited fans and being in the bubble.
And also just how much I love this group of guys and just how much fun we've had. I'm really excited for us all to experience that together. That's what I'm looking forward to the most.
Q. How much is it when you have a big guy in the middle that just opens up the shooting lanes for you guys?
ARTHUR KALUMA: Kalkbrenner played amazing this game. Coming in, doing what he does, especially against Nate Watson, who is obviously a big, physical guy. It was everything for us. And then him taking up the middle and allowing us to get to our shooters, it was big.
Providence Friars (Ed Cooley, Jared Bynum)
Postgame Media Conference
COACH COOLEY: Take a deep breath on that one. A lot to unwind in that right there.
You've got to give -- I thought Creighton played great. I thought they played well yesterday. They had great energy that carried over today.
Again, something that caught us -- I thought their energy was tough. I thought we pressed and it just snowballed and snowballed. I thought we were pressing -- we didn't play it well. Call it what it is. They played well and we didn't. And they were a big reason why.
I'm happy for Coach McDermott, really happy for him. He's great for our league. He's done great in this league. I think he's been in this championship game now maybe three or four times and his team really earned it.
We picked a bad time to play bad in a great arena. Unbelievable crowd. Unfortunately we didn't have an opportunity to coach today. So I am very, very proud of our team. I told them you can't just look at this game -- and we can be upset, we can be hurt, we can be mad. But our job is to respond.
And I think we earned the right to play next week. It's unfortunate that we played bad today. But it's a game and it's another 40-minute opportunity waiting for us some four, five days from now. But credit Creighton, they were big time today. Made shots and we just didn't. I think they had a lot to do with it.
Really happy for them. Hurting for our players. Life will move on and we'll look forward to preparation in practice and see where we're going next week.
Q. Is there anything that you plan to take away from this game to use for the upcoming tournament?
COACH COOLEY: I've got to process that one, because there wasn't a lot of positive to take from today. Again, I thought we pressed. Honestly, I've got to think about that one. Positive? I don't know what positive you can take from that. There wasn't a lot of positivity out there. But let me think about it for a second. If I have an answer -- I don't have one to give you right now.
Q. When they have a guy like Kalkbrenner who can match up on Nate one-on-one that way, how much did it frustrate not only Nate but getting something going offensively?
COACH COOLEY: I thought he was a big impact in today's game. He was up for the challenge. Nate traditionally has played well against him. And he took it to us today. He was good. He impacted the game in every way in front of the rim. I think we went two days without a basket. And I think he was a big reason why.
Q. You called three timeouts over a minute and a half of game time. What were the messages during those moments?
COACH COOLEY: Again, you feel it. You feel it. You feel it. You're trying to get them dialed in. Probably the first time I've ever done that.
Just trying to change their rhythm, trying to get our attention. Obviously that didn't work. Didn't work too well. If anything it probably helped them because it gave them energy when I called timeout. And that's something I'll learn from and get better because of it.
Q. Six assists as a group tonight. Shots weren't falling but was it more maybe the ball was sticking too much? And how much is that a credit to what Creighton did to you guys?
JARED BYNUM: Probably a mixture of both -- ball was sticking too much and not making shots. In order to get assists you have to make shots. Definitely want to get back in the gym and work on what we've been working on all year and watch film and try to find that offensive flow we had going into this game. And hopefully we can get it back going into the tournament next week.
Q. Looked like A.J. got banged up at one point, went back to the locker room. Any idea on what his status is going forward?
COACH COOLEY: I don't know. He definitely got banged up and nicked up a little bit. Our team docs will take a look at him. Hopefully we have a couple of days to rest him. And hopefully he can heal up and try to get back on the floor.
Q. You talk about perspective all the time. How do you make sure that the guys know this is just one of 30 this year?
COACH COOLEY: Right. And it's our job as the leaders and as the coach to continue to instill confidence in our men. When you play a game like this, you know, A, your ego can be shattered; B, your confidence can get shattered.
I just want them to understand that it is only one game. Obviously it's a really big stage, great arena, great support, great crowd. That's what the Big East Tournament is all about.
And at the same time we're a confident group. I'm very proud of our group. I love this team. And our best basketball is ahead of us. And, quite frankly, I didn't think we played well yesterday. We just found a way to win. I thought that caught up to us today. We've got some warts, just like everybody else, but we'll get better.
Q. It's 25-25, 6:41 to go, what went wrong in that last six minutes? Kaluma, I think, had 10 down the stretch.
COACH COOLEY: Again, very, very good player. We missed some shots. We missed in layups. We missed a couple of wide-open shots that we'd been making, and then we pressed. It was a big turnover, I think we had a defensive rebound. He just made a basket. Then it was a turnover, then he made a 3.
How about the confidence of that young man to shoot that? It goes to tell you the job and the confidence that Greg instills in his players. So it's a credit to him. I still think we're at 25 points, and it's an hour after the game.
Q. What sort of impact do you think the performance tonight might have on your seeding?
COACH COOLEY: I mean, that's something I can't control. Hopefully our body of work throughout -- I don't want our seeding to be impacted on one game, you know what I mean? I don't know what the committee thinks. That's not my job. I try not to worry about stuff I can't control.
My job right now is to make sure our players know we're a hell of a team. We didn't play well. We have great players, and I want us to know we can win our next game regardless of who the opponent is.
Q. Back on January 4th, Marquette beat you by 32. And you responded from that by winning your next eight straight. So with this loss from tonight, how confident are you, knowing that they responded by getting hot and stringing a lot of wins in a row, that you could do the same in the NCAA Tournament next week?
COACH COOLEY: You know what's funny, were you in that locker room? That's exactly what I told our team. Great question. That's exactly what I told our team. But we don't need to win eight. We don't need to win eight. Whatever it is, I know it's not eight.
