Creighton University
23-9,14-6Big East
Providence (BIG EAST Tournament Quarterfinals)
21-12,10-10Big East
Men's Basketball Falls in BIG EAST Quarterfinals vs. Providence
3/14/2024 8:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bluejays await NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday
Providence (21-12) advanced to Friday night's semifinal against the winner of tonight's quarterfinal game between third-seeded Marquette and sixth-seeded Villanova. With the loss, Creighton (23-9) will wait to hear its named called during the NCAA Tournament selection show on Sunday.
After the teams exchanged the lead three times in the opening 12 minutes, Providence built a 29-20 advantage after a 12-0 run that featured eight points from BIG EAST Player of the Year Devin Carter. It didn't take long for the Bluejays to answer, as Ryan Kalkbrenner scored six consecutive points to bring the Bluejays within three points at 31-28. CU would trail 33-30 at the half thanks in part to 11-for-11 marksmanship from the free-throw line and a 24-20 edge on the glass.
Baylor Scheierman topped CU with 10 points and seven rebounds in the opening 20 minutes, while Carter paced PC with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Freshman Rich Barron, who entered the game averaging 4.4 points per game, got the Friars off to a strong start in the second half with all of PC's points in an 8-2 run that returned the lead to nine. PC pushed the margin into double-figures for the first time on Carter's step-back three-pointer that made it 46-36 with 15:24 remaining. Providence's lead would reach as large as 53-40.
Behind the play of Kalkbrenner CU made a run. The 7-foot-1 center scored seven of CU's points in a 12-4 run that got the Jays within three at 61-58. CU took the lead on a pull-up jumper by Trey Alexander with 5:36 left at 64-63. The teams would trade the lead six times in the next three minutes and the Friars led 70-68 with 3:24 left at the game's final media timeout.
After making its first 20 free throw attempts of the game, CU went cold with three straight misses and baskets by Carter and Josh Oduro gave PC a 74-68 lead with a minute to go. The Jays halved the deficit with 46.6 left on a three-point play by Steven Ashworth. But back-to-back turnovers hurt CU's comeback attempts and Carter continued PC's perfect night at the line (14-for-14) to ice the game.
Baylor Scheierman had 16 points and 13 rebounds and Kalkbrenner contributed 19 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks, becoming CU's first duo to post double-doubles in the same conference tournament game since March 5, 2010 when Kenny Lawson Jr. and Justin Carter both did it vs. Bradley. Alexander (19) and Ashworth (16) also scored in double-figures for a Bluejay team that shot 37.9 percent form the field and made 23-of-26 free throws (88.5 percent).
Carter fueled the Friars with 22 points and 11 rebounds and Oduro had 17 points and nine rebounds. Jayden Pierre also contributed 15 points and seven assists. The Friars shot 41.4 percent from the field, won the rebound battle 40-39, and had 17 assists against five turnovers.
NOTES: Baylor Scheierman had his league-leading 15th double-double of the season, and 53rd of his career ... Ryan Kalkbrenner has scored eight points or more in 55 straight games and 10 or more points in 19 consecutive contests ... Today was Creighton's fifth meeting against Providence at the BIG EAST Tournament, its most common opponent its played inside Madison Square Garden ... Baylor Scheierman made a three-pointer in his 20th straight game and has made a triple in 78 of his last 79 contests ... Tonight was Creighton's 98th straight game on television ... Creighton has made a three-pointer in 1,017 straight games ... Creighton's 25.8 percent shooting in the first half was its second-worst half of the year, trailing only the 22.9 percent accuracy in the first half vs. Colorado State on Nov. 23rd ... Ryan Kalkbrenner made his 100th career start ... Creighton fell to 10-10 all-time in 10 BIG EAST Tournament appearances, including a 5-5 mark in the quarterfinals ... Providence has now won 3-of-5 meetings against Creighton at the BIG EAST Tournament. The "worse" seeded team has won each game ... Ryan Kalkbrenner is the fourth player in BIG EAST Tournament history with at least 19 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in a game, joining Patrick Ewing, Ryan Humphrey and Hasheem Thabeet.
BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
March 14, 2024
Kim English
Devin Carter
Jayden Pierre
Josh Oduro
New York, New York, USA
Madison Square Garden
Providence Friars
Postgame Media Conference
Providence 78, Creighton 73
KIM ENGLISH: Good win for our group. This time of the season, so many different resumés and happenings throughout the season, but some teams that are playing for their lives. I got to talk to Jim Calhoun yesterday a few times, and those guys are so wise, and I just reiterated his words to our team. We got 40 minutes.
Ups and downs all season, adverse conditions, less than ideal. Mindset and moments, bad shots, bad plays, bad turnovers, bad responses. We got 40 minutes to be our most locked-in selves. And one of our group's best efforts of the season.
Thought early against Wisconsin, Marquette, our game against Georgia without both of our point guards, this was one of our best efforts of the season, really proud of our group. They deserve all the glory.
Q. Jayden, Creighton took the lead for the first time in the second half with I think about five or six minutes left. You then scored Providence's next seven points. Can you tell me what was going through your head at that point and what you were looking for, how you found success?
JAYDEN PIERRE: Really just are trusting the process. I wasn't thinking. I had to score the points in that situation. Just really being aggressive, taking what the defense was giving me and trusting our offense.
Q. Kim, was that toughness with a capital T?
KIM ENGLISH: Yes. Yes. It was. Toughness, togetherness. And what was my third? Toughness. What was the third thing I said before the game? Toughness, togetherness. No. No. I thought I was teeing you guys up. It was intelligence. No. It was intelligence. It was intelligence. Toughness, togetherness, intelligence. That was another one. Intelligence.
You know, yeah, we're tough. You have to be. Talked about it yesterday. We talked about if you're not prepared in this league, focused, it's like a cannonball going through your chest. If you're not tough in this league, I mean, don't even put -- don't even field a team. So we're tough. We've been tough. You have to be tough to play in this conference.
Q. After you got the tech, your team just woke up.
KIM ENGLISH: I got a tech? Oh, I didn't know that.
Q. Devin just went crazy and started getting steels, basket after basket. What happened in that whole series?
KIM ENGLISH: I thought Devin got a clean block and great play. In a game of this magnitude, I lost my way a little bit, or a lot of bit. But they've had to hold me back a few times this season throughout. And these guys -- Bryce Hopkins was grabbing, pulling on my trousers telling me to calm down. And I did, and I thought our guys responded really well.
Q. Kim, talking about toughness (inaudible) and the way they finished the game.
KIM ENGLISH: It was Michael Jordanesque. Weak side, help block down low, great play. Started with the wall up. I think it was Slim who was playing -- fighting for his life against such a great big. All our guys make plays after plays, especially Devin.
Q. Coach, so you are trending a lot on Black Twitter.
KIM ENGLISH: I'm on Black Twitter?
Q. So they're wanting to know who dis, what his marital status.
MODERATOR: I think that's our first marital status question in tournament history.
Q. The exact question is: Is he single (inaudible)? (Laughs). Girls asked me to ask you.
MODERATOR: You can pass.
KIM ENGLISH: No comment. I'm locked in on this team. I'm locked in on our team right now.
Q. As a basketball fan, if you could put that hat on right now when you watch what Devin does every night, talk about that a little bit.
KIM ENGLISH: He's a warrior. He texted me when Bryce went down that he was going to take his stuff to another level. And he did. He did. Really proud of him. I enjoyed watching him. A few moments throughout the season, I'm just in awe. He's once in a lifetime.
Q. This is for Kim. Kim, talk about Rich Barron and Corey Floyd. Both of them hit big shots at key points for you in different parts of the game.
KIM ENGLISH: Yeah. We give our guys a ton of confidence. When Bryce went down, we didn't ask anyone to be Bryce Hopkins, but we asked everyone to just be the best version of themselves. If our guys are open, we tell them to shoot it. If they're not open, we tell them to pass it. So our stuff hasn't changed.
Q. Josh, we know your marital status. We made that a big deal this year. With your foul trouble can you just talk about balancing that foul trouble and what everyone else did to bail you out.
JOSH ODURO: For sure. Like Coach talked about, this is a game with really high magnitude. And I think I was a little over zealous for a couple of plays and did things that I shouldn't be doing that we talked about. But credit my teammates. They helped me keep my head and make sure I was locked in for the last couple of minutes and we came out with the W.
Q. Are you thinking about the NCAA tournament?
JOSH ODURO: For sure. I think that's in all of our minds, but, honestly, the number one thing is about the next 40 minutes we have.
Q. Devin, it had been a while since you took a shot and then you made the shot that gave you guys the lead at the end of the game. What did it mean to you to come through for your team in a must-win game in that moment?
DEVIN CARTER: Yeah. I'm just glad my teammates, they have the confidence in me to make the plays and make the right reads and everything. So just going off of them, I feed off their energy and they gave me the confidence to get the bucket.
Q. Devin, big moment for this entire program. You kind of personify what this team is a little bit about. Can you explain your mindset going into this game. How you walked on the court, what were you thinking?
DEVIN CARTER: You know, I think it was a must-win game. We want to keep our tournament dreams alive and we also want to get a Big East championship. So we knew coming into the game that we had another 40 minutes. And that was just the mindset. Just everybody have great energy and discipline and see where it takes us.
Q. Devin, it appeared you got injured at some point later in the game. You showed physical signs of exhaustion. What was it that kept you motivated?
DEVIN CARTER: Yeah. Just knowing that it was a must-win game. I looked over at Baylor, and Kalkbrenner and I knew they haven't came out the game. So I was like I could do the same thing as well. So it was motivation, seeing them pushing through it and trying to outlast the opponent.
Q. Coach, this could go to the players, too, but discuss the importance of communication and defensive switches, especially with an offensive team like Creighton?
KIM ENGLISH: Yeah, when you're playing Creighton, Marquette, Connecticut, communication is so important. They run such good stuff. They play at your natural instincts and reactions. So communication has to be over the top to guard them.
Our guys did an incredible job to hold this team to 37 percent. Maybe a couple of games in the noncon. UNLV. Colorado State maybe. Those guys guarded well. St. John's a few nights ago. Yeah, communication is critically important.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP SportsMarch 14, 2024
Greg McDermott
Baylor Scheierman
Ryan Kalkbrenner
New York, New York, USA
Madison Square Garden
Creighton Bluejays
Postgame Media Conference
Providence 78, Creighton 73
GREG MCDERMOTT: First of all, congratulations to Providence. I thought, obviously a very physical game. We had some chances late. I'm proud that we didn't quit. We weren't quite ourselves, you know, defensively for a good portion of the game.
But having said that, you know, Oduro gets 17, but takes 20 shots. Carter gets 22, but on a low percentage, inefficient. But he killed us at the free throw line. And I thought we had some decent looks from three and didn't make them.
And then during that stretch -- I think there was a three-possession stretch, we missed the front end of a one on one. Ashworth had a three that was basically all the way down and popped out, and we missed two free throws the next possession. And when you're trying to win a close game against a good team, we couldn't afford those empty possessions.
MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. In the big scheme of things -- and this could be for the guys or Coach. In the big scheme of things, when you lose an event like this, which you're going to be in the tournament anyway, is there any negatives that -- other than just losing, I mean, going into the tournament, is it -- I guess what I'm saying is how much of this do you consider a setback?
GREG MCDERMOTT: I mean it's a setback as we came here to win a championship. Now, we don't -- we didn't have the pressure on our shoulders that maybe some of the other teams that are still playing have. So we know we're going to play next week, and that's a comforting feeling.
But we've been to the championship game four times. We want to get there again and see if we can knock that door. This has been a really special group and they've had a heck of a year. We knew we were getting Providence's best shot.
But the other side of it, to your point, we'll go home, we'll get some rest. We'll have an opportunity for a day or two to work on ourselves and maybe sharpen some things up that we need to sharpen up before we find out who we play next week.
Q. Coach, when Oduro got the fourth, was there anything that didn't happen that you wanted to do or you were hoping to do during that time that maybe you could have done differently when you went out?
GREG MCDERMOTT: I thought we were able to establish Kalkbrenner, which we wanted to do, in the second half. I didn't think we did a very good job of that to start the game. Now I have to watch the film.
I also thought we had some pretty looks that we didn't make and we've got a bunch of guys that have really shot the ball pretty well all season long. But we wanted to establish him regardless of who was in the game. But obviously Josh had some big baskets for them.
Q. Providence held you to 23.1 percent three-point shooting. Did you think the Friars did something different that gave you guys trouble in that area?
GREG MCDERMOTT: Until I watch the film, I'd hate to judge that. There were certainly some possessions where we got deep into the possession, and we had to take a very difficult shot because of their defense. But there were also a number of possessions where we had pretty good looks and we didn't lock it down. It's no secret that's a big part of our offense. And 6 and 26 isn't going to get it done for us most nights.
Q. Baylor, going off of that last question, you struggled, I guess. You got off to a good start and struggled in the last 30 minutes or so. What did Providence do? Do you feel this is a hiccup or what can you do to get back? You've had such a good season. What can you do to get things back before the NCAA Tournament?
BAYLOR SCHEIERMAN: You gotta move on to the next game, trust my preparation and the work I put in. Steph Curry has games where he goes for 12, and the next game, he comes out firing. I mean, the guys have a lot of trust. The coaches have a lot of trust in me because of the way I prepare, and nothing changes for me going into the next week. I'm going to prepare like I always do. And sometimes the result isn't always what it is.
Q. Coach, you held Devin Carter to 6 of 16 from the floor today. How hard is it to control or stop keeping check a guy like that?
GREG MCDERMOTT: He's so talented, and you could -- there's a lot of guys that really made a lot of improvement this year, and certainly Desmond Claude was most improved. I thought Davis at Seton Hall made a big jump. But you could also argue that Devin was one of the most improved players in the league, which is -- to improve on what he did last year is pretty incredible.
But we had some different guys on him. Trey started on him, got in some foul trouble. Baylor spent a fair amount of time on him. Farabello guarded him some. So we tried to give him some different looks, tried to keep it out of his hands. Tried to make his life as difficult as possible.
He's so complete and he can get to that mid range, and he's creative and he can get to the rim. And obviously he shot the three well all year. It's the reason he's the Player of the Year in the league. He's really talented and at a very good three-level scorer.
Q. Baylor, what role did Ryan play in the comeback you guys had in the second half in the offense and defense?
BAYLOR SCHEIERMAN: We were able to get him involved offensively, and a couple of times he got offensive rebounds and put backs as well. And defensively he had a couple blocked shots. In the ball screen coverage we play, he was able to veer switch on and make Carter's life difficult and we were able to switch it back. So he played a big part in it.
Q. You guys have hit the 40 minute mark a number of times this season. Do you want to speak to your preparation that gets you guys ready to take on that load of minutes and maybe are you going to change anything moving into the tournament as far as you guys get prepared tore playing big minutes again?
RYAN KALKBRENNER: That's the process that you start all year. Even in the summer, you kind of go into it knowing you're going to be playing a lot of minutes. So that's where it kind of starts.
And our strength and conditioning guy, Jeremy, does a really good job of -- like he's really smart. He knows what he's doing. So he pretty much just says what do I need to do and he tells you what you need to do. And if you do it, you'll be able to play a lot of minutes. And I've been playing a lot of minutes all year and I feel just normal.
Like you're going to have end-of-the-year aches and pains, but I feel good heading into the NCAA and I'll be ready for another heavy minutes game.
Q. You had mentioned earlier you might need to iron a couple of things out before the tournament. Anything in particular that you think you definitely need to work on a little bit more?
GREG MCDERMOTT: Yeah. I mean, I didn't like the 11 turnovers. We can't -- we forced 5 and they forced 11, and those extra 6 possessions end up -- some of them were breakout points, too. So 9 points to 4 points and points off turnovers doesn't jump off the page. It's pretty big in a 5-point game.
So we have to clean some of that up. They're not turnovers that are born out of selfishness. They're turnovers about trying to make the right play, trying to get their teammate the ball in the spot where they can be successful. And I thought we made a few foolish decisions at times that we have to clean up.
And then defensively I thought, especially during that stretch in the second half, we lost -- the point of the screen is so important to our defense and Providence's because we were both playing the drop coverage. Whoever can win that point of the screen, whether it's the defensive player when we're on defense or the offensive player when we've got the ball in the hand, that really dictates the kind of shot you get oftentimes.
And there was a stretch there when they made the run where we really lost that battle on both ends of the floor.
Q. Coach, what does it say about how special this conference is and how deep this league is when Providence is a 7 seed with the Big East Player of the Year and you guys had a great season and they gave you trouble all night and you guys still battled back.
GREG MCDERMOTT: The league's been great all year. I think the strength of the league speaks for itself. And you've seen St. John's make a great run late in the season. Really every team has had their moments where they've played really good basketball, and we're one of the few that hasn't really had a sustained tough stretch. We've had some bumps in the road, but we've kind of been able to get through it.
And I hope this is just a little bump in the road as we get ready for next week. But the league has been outstanding. I've said it many times. It prepares you for just about anything you're going to see in the NCAA tournament. So I'm hopeful that we get five or six teams in, and I think once we get teams in there, I think what we've gone through during the season competing against each other really prepares us for what's ahead.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
