PITTSBURGH, Pa. — It took 50 minutes, but the Creighton men’s basketball team is returning to the Sweet 16 for the third time in four seasons after a hard-fought 86-73 double-overtime win over Oregon on Saturday, March 23rd in Pittsburgh, Pa. With the win, Creighton (25-9) advances to next Friday’s Regional Semifinal in Detroit, Mich. against Tennessee.
Down 62-58 with under 30 seconds remaining, the Bluejays rally to force overtime began with a pair of free throws from Baylor Scheierman. A missed front end by the Ducks opened the door and Scheierman took full advantage, knocking down a pull-up jumper with 9.0 seconds remaining to knot the game at 62-62. Oregon had a shot to claim the win, but came up just short as the game moved to an extra five minutes.
In the first overtime Oregon denied Bluejay fans as the Ducks got a game-tying three-pointer from Jermaine Couisnard with 16 seconds remaining and Trey Alexander’s attempt to knock down a buzzer beater fell off the rim.
In the second overtime the Bluejays left no doubt, scoring the first 15 points. Steven Ashworth and Alexander each had five points in the second overtime, ignited by a three-pointer from Ashworth, followed by a trey from Ryan Kalkbrenner to make it 77-71 with 3:09 remaining. A tip-dunk from freshman reserve Jasen Green, his first slam of his collegiate career, put the Jays up eight and on their way to the Regional round. Creighton went on to extend its lead to 86-71, not allowing Oregon to score until 34 seconds remained in the second overtime.
The first half featured six ties and two lead changes as neither team was able to put together an extended scoring run. Just two days after scoring 40 points, Couisnard picked up two early fouls and was sent to the bench. He went to work after checking back in, scoring 15 points to lead all players in the first half. The Ducks led 32-30 with 1:46 to play in the opening stanza before CU closed the half with trifectas from Scheierman and Ashworth to take a 36-34 lead into the break.
Kalkbrenner led CU with 12 points and seven rebounds at the break, while Alexander and Scheierman each added eight points and Green and Scheierman hauled in six rebounds. Creighton launched 23 three-pointers in the first half, making six, after shooting 10-of-17 from downtown in Thursday’s win vs. Akron.
Each of Oregon’s (24-12) first 26 points after halftime were scored by either Couisnard or N’Faly Dante. The Ducks used a 9-0 run to take its biggest lead at 58-52 on a trey by Couisnard before Ashworth broke the drought with a three-ball after a Bluejay timeout, starting a 6-0 Creighton run as Kalkbrenner contributed two free throws and Mason Miller knotted the game with 1-of-2 from the line.
Cousinard finished with 32 points and eight rebounds, but shot just 13-for-33 to get there. Dante continued his dominance in March with 28 points and 20 rebounds. His 20 rebounds were one shy of his career-high done in the season-opener vs. Georgia. The Ducks shot 31-of-77 from the floor (40.3 percent) and made 7-of-21 three-pointers (33.3 percent).
Ashworth finished with 21 points and four assists and Kalkbrenner added 19 points, 14 rebounds and five swats. Alexander turned in 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists and Scheierman 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists as both men played all 50 minutes. The Jays shot 38.7 percent (29-75), made 15-of-39 three-pointers, and shot 13-of-14 at the line. CU won the rebound battle 48-43 and won despite being outscored 40-18 in the paint.
