Creighton endures 2OT fight to end Ducks’ run

Mar 24, 2024, 12:52 AM ET

Before the second overtime started, Greg McDermott examined at Dana Altman, and the two coaches and close friends shared a smile.

“We were both in shock about what was transpiring in front of our eyes,” McDermott said.They weren’t alone.Steven Ashworth and Ryan Kalkbrenner made 3-pointers in the 2nd overtime as Creighton edged past Altman, the Bluejays’previous coach, to move into the Sugary food 16 of the NCAA competition with an 86-73 success over Oregon on Saturday night.Editor’s Picks 2 Associated The 3 by the 6-foot-1 Ashworth and an uncommon one by the 7-1 Kalkbrenner, a defensive specialist, assisted the third-seeded Bluejays( 25-9)score the very first 15 points of the 2nd overtime to lastly put away the 11th-seeded Ducks (24-12 )and end a game which contained enough mayhem for more than one March.”Epic game,” said McDermott, who took over at Creighton for Altman in 2010 and got his 325th career win, two away from Altman

‘s school record.”Not exactly sure I have actually been part of one quite like it in 35 years. “Ashworth scored 21 points, Trey Alexander included 20, Kalkbrenner set up 19, and Baylor Scheierman had 18 for Creighton, which will make its

3rd Sugary food 16 appearance in 4 years when it faces No. 2 seed Tennessee on Friday in the Midwest Regional in Detroit.” It’s a terrific feeling,”stated Alexander, among the returnees from Creighton’s Elite 8 group from a year back. “We like this group of guys. We like rocking and rolling together.

We enjoy whatever that features the journey and us simply having the ability to have another week with each other. “We’re going to attempt to remain in the moment and just continue play at a level that we seem like we can dip into. From there, we’ll just kind of let the dominoes fall where they do

.”It took balance, huge shots, clutch totally free tosses and poise for the Bluejays to conquer Oregon’s devastating one-two punch of Jermaine Couisnard and N’Faly Dante.Couisnard– who had 40 points in the preliminary

against South Carolina, his previous school– poured in 32 on Saturday, and Dante dominated inside with 28 points and 20 rebounds.It was the 2nd overtime game of the night in PPG Paints Arena,

after NC State ended Oakland’s Cinderella run with a 79-73 victory.Saturday’s contest pitted the 2 winningest coaches in Creighton history: Altman and McDermott, buddies, periodic golfing pals and the factor the Bluejays are a mid-major power and a hazard inside the brackets.For two hours, their teams went toe-to-toe with neither offering an

inch. It was exciting and stressful as they exchanged the lead 14 times. There were 9 ties and about as much drama as you can load into a tournament game.The Ducks, who rode the Couisnard-Dante tandem to a Pac-12 tournament title, looked prepared in the first overtime after 2 free tosses by Ashworth put Creighton ahead 71-68. But Couisnard, the smooth senior guard from East Chicago, Indiana, boiled down and calmly drained a long 3-pointer in front of Oregon’s bench

to tie ball game.”They’ve been playing their tails off all year, “said Altman, who lost three players to season-ending injuries.”We’ve been riding them. So it was special to view those two guys. “We had our chances. We simply made some vital errors there in policy. Which’s on me.”Creighton had a last opportunity in the very first overtime, however Alexander

missed a short baseline jumper right before the horn, extending a Saturday doubleheader on a chilly night in Pittsburgh into Sunday morning.The second overtime was all Creighton.Ashworth opened it with his 3, and after Couisnard missed a layup, Kalkbrenner, the three-time Big East defensive player of the year, took a pass behind the line and drained pipes simply his 53rd 3-point attempt all season.”Mac [McDermott] informed me to make 100 [Threes] after practice and 100 before in the 2

practices we had before we came here,”Kalkbrenner said.”That assisted prepare me. I got confidence in myself to take that shot, and I know that’s probably the No. 1 shot Mac wanted on that belongings.”After another Couisnard miss, Creighton’s Jasen Green, who had nine rebounds, dunked

a putback, and the Bluejays were all however flying to the Sugary food 16. Alexander sealed it by banking in a 3-pointer as Creighton opened an 86-71 lead.Oregon, which attempted just five free tosses, had a possibility to put the game away in the last minute of policy, but Dante missed out on Oregon’s very first shot from the line with 26.4 seconds left and the Ducks up by two points.Scheierman, who played all 50 minutes, then struck an objected to 10-footer in the lane to connect it, and the groups went to overtime when Couisnard missed out on an off-balance drive in the final second.One of the game’s primary subplots was Altman’s on-court reunion with Creighton, where he spent 16 seasons, turned around a program in disarray and assisted put the school located in Omaha, Nebraska, on the hoops map.McDermott has actually kept it going. Now one of the country’s most consistent

winning groups, the Bluejays have actually outgrown any mid-major label.In March, they have to do with as big as it gets.The Associated Press contributed to this report.