Creighton off to Cleveland

SychoBC · Post by **SychoBC** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 9:26 pm

Creighton will take on West Virginia in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The game will be on Thursday in Cleveland, Ohio. Interestingly enough, Kyle Korver and the Philadelphia 76ers will be in Cleveland on Friday to take on the Cavaliers.

If Creighton wins they will take on the Wake Forest/Chattanooga winner. I smell CU/UTC rematch.

The selection party this afternoon was fun, but I though our fans were smarter, you don't cheer a bad seeding!

Go Jays!

Post by **Coyote** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 9:32 pm

No you don't cheer for a bad seeding... but...

If you had a 9th seed and won we would have had to go after a #1 seed.
Has a #1 seed ever lost in the first round? A few in the second.
But a #2 seed has fallen in the first and the second rounds.

CU was heading for a #9 seed before G Tech, and Iowa St and a few other major bubble teams made their way into the dance. I'd rather be a 10 seed than an 8 seed in this scenario.

SychoBC · Post by **SychoBC** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 10:13 pm

Yes but the fact is, Washington shouldn't be a number 1 seed. Wake is a much better team than UW. We would have a better shot at UW than Wake.

A #1 seed has never lost in the first round btw. A 2 seed has gone down only 2 times I believe.

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 10:02 am

mmmmmmm... I remember Iowa State being a 2-seed back in 2002, and dropping in the first round to Hampton. I wasn't too happy.

Not really sure what the other 2-seed was that went down, but I believe you're right saying that there have been two of them.

custudent · Post by **custudent** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 9:54 am

It's all about matchups now and I like this matchup for us.

WVU is like us in one sense because they're primarly an outside shooting teams. That said, they shoot a LOT more threes than we have, over 100 more on the year. They also don't make them at the sort of clip we do (41 to 34%- we are top 5 in D-I in 3pt percentage). The Mountaineers have some size advantages, but a lot of their big men are more likely to step out to the perimeter than they are to post up. They are also a big zone team, especially with the 1-3-1.

If we can shoot the sort of percentage we are capable of, I like our chances. Also, if Tolliver and Day can keep playing like they have the past month, that will be a huge boost as well. They are definately better players than they were to start the year and i'm not willing to concede the inside game as such a massive disadvantage.

These two teams are very close, IMHO. I believe we can win this game, definately.

OhioStreetKid · Post by **OhioStreetKid** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 10:41 am

Coppin State is the other 15 seed to win, they beat an overrated South Carolina team a couple years back. And of course our own Nebraska Cornhuskers are one of the few 3 seeds to lose

when they lost to Xavier about 15 years ago.

icejammer · Post by **icejammer** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:38 am

#15 Hampton beat #2 Iowa State in 2001.

#15 Coppin St. beat #2 South Carolina in 1997.

#15 Santa Clara beat #2 Arizona in 1993.

#15 Richmond beat #2 Syracuse in 1991.

eomaha · Post by **eomaha** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:03 pm

Jays played a heck of a game... this was a West Virginia team that has beaten like a 1/2 dozen ranked opponents and played in the Big East title game. Not too shabby.

Post by **Coyote** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:32 pm

61-63. Jays had a shot at the end. This was quite a game. CU starting on a 10-0 run - falling behind by 12 coming back to take a 5 pt lead. WVU's defense seemed to cause many problems for the Jays.
Good season all and all. MVC Champs!

Post by **Coyote** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:48 pm

OWH wrote: Jays suffer heartbreaking loss

CLEVELAND (AP) - The instant the ball left his hand, Nate Funk thought his 3-pointer was on target to give Creighton another last-minute win.

He didn't see Tyrone Sally coming up to block it. He couldn't believe the next thing he saw: Sally running downcount for a fast-break dunk to win it.

Sally partially blocked Funk's shot, then finished the play with a dunk with 2.9 seconds to play Thursday night, rallying West Virginia to a wild 63-61 first-round NCAA tournament win.

"That's one I'm going to have to think about for seven or eight months," a dejected Funk said in a teary locker room.

West Virginia (22-10) will play second-seeded Wake Forest on Saturday. The Demon Deacons beat Chattanooga 70-54 to advance to the second round in the Albuquerque Regional.

Creighton (23-11) was knocked out because for once, everything didn't go the Bluejays' way in the final seconds. They'd won four games this season on their last possession, and nine of their last 11 that were decided by a point.

This time, their two final shots never even touched the rim.

Sally, who had only two points in the first half, played the leading role down the end. His two free throws tied it at 61 with 42 seconds left. He then got a piece of Funk's 3-point shot, deflecting it to a teammate to start a fast break.

"It seemed like I had a good look," said Funk, who led Creighton with 23 points. "It seemed like he came out of nowhere."

Then, Sally was off to catch a pass and make the uncontested dunk that provided a storybook ending to a personal performance that started with disappointment - the senior had only two points in the first half.

"I was having a terrible game," said Sally, who finished with 12 points. "I figured if I keep playing and do the little things, I'd get myself into the game and things would start to happen for me."

After his dunk, Creighton had one more shot. Funk caught in inbounds pass from midcourt with 1.7 seconds left, turned and fired a 22-footer that easily cleared defender Mike Gansey and flew harmlessly over the rim at the buzzer.

"From my view, the shot looked good," Gansey said. "It was just too long."

The Mountaineers then raised their arms and celebrated career win No. 500 for coach John Beilein, who also has led Canisius and Richmond to NCAA tournament appearances.

Kevin Pittsnogle had 17 points for West Virginia, which went 8-of-20 from behind the arc.

Creighton's Johnny Mathies, the Missouri Valley tournament's MVP, made all of his five shots in the first half and had 14 points. He picked up his fourth foul with 9:22 left and fouled out with 2:21 to go, scoring only two points in the second half.

The Creighton cheering section included famous graduates Kyle Korver, in town with the Philadelphia 76ers for an NBA game the next night, and Cavaliers coach Paul Silas, sitting a few feet away.

Both teams love to push the pace and fire away from behind the arc. West Virginia set a school record for 3s this season and made an average of 8.9 per game, one of the top figures in the nation. Creighton was right behind at 8.6 per game.

Double-digit leads evaporated in the time it took to swish a few 3s.

Creighton stunned West Virginia by hitting its first four shots - two of them from behind the arc - and pulling ahead 10-0. Beilein called a 30-second timeout to regroup Mountaineers, who are experienced at putting together 3-point binges but not at defending them.

Pittsnogle, a 6-foot-11 center, ended West Virginia's scoreless streak with a jumper, then hit a 3 from the top of the key as part of a tying 10-point run. Once their bulky center with the feathery touch started hitting 3s, the Mountaineers were rolling. Pittsnogle had a three-point play during another 10-point spurt that put West Virginia up 33-22.

The Bluejays opened the second half the way the did the first, hitting their first three shots from behind the arc - two by Funk - for a 40-36 lead.

The Bluejays' lead fluctuated between two and five points for the next 12 minutes, until Sally hit a tying 3 and Gansey's fast-break dunk put West Virginia up 55-53. There were three more lead changes before Sally's two free throws tied it again at 61 with 42 seconds to go.

eomaha · Post by **eomaha** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:11 am

I didn't see that Coyote... these two teams were evenly matched the entire second half... with the Jays leading most of the way. Given some more time... the game could have gone the other way. The Jay's were giving up some turnovers early on as a result of poor passing... but later in the game we were forcing more turnovers from WV.

Post by **Brad** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:30 am

This was an awsome game to watch. Can you imaging if that last 3 pointer would have gone in!

Finn · Post by **Finn** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:54 am

Or if McKinney had made that layup to put us up by 4 with about one minute left. And Funk slipping on the court and then having to rush the last shot to beat the clock!

We had our shots. Good game and a good season. I am already pumped for next year!

eomaha · Post by **eomaha** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 10:24 pm

No comments on Altman being at the top of Tennessee's coach prospect list?

Post by **Coyote** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 10:36 pm

Altman and the UW-M and Charlotte's coach are the top three.
I don't know if he would like to go to a school that has had 6 coaches in the last 16 years - a team that is a second tier SEC team in a school where football and women's basketball are top dogs.

But there is speculation that UNO's Kevin McKenna would be a possible replacement.

OmahaDevelopmentMan · Post by **OmahaDevelopmentMan** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 7:29 pm

Ahh the yearly recruiting of Dana Altman. He pry won't go, think he passed down Illinois a few years back and if he was willing to pass up that I doubt he'll take the job.