Published Saturday, March 23, 2013 at 12:00 am / Updated at 1:22 am



MATT MILLER/THE WORLD-HERALD
The games in Philadelphia are a homecoming for Creighton's president, the Rev. Timothy Lannon. Lannon came to CU from St. Joseph's University.

Shatel: In their first Big East brawl, Jays show they can take a punch
Column by Tom Shatel / World-Herald Staff Writer

PHILADELPHIA — Welcome to the Big East.

Austin Chatman, who spent 37 minutes dribbling between flying ninjas, walked around the Creighton locker room with an ice pack taped to his back.

Gregory Echenique, a mountain of a man playing at his peak, had a row of stitches above his right eye, and another new set on the back of his head. To go with a wide grin.

“Surprisingly, my body doesn't feel too bad,” the Creighton center said. “I'm actually happy about that.”

Over on the other side of the room, the glue man was being held together by tape. Grant Gibbs sat in a chair with oversized ice packs strapped to both knees. He hadn't moved from that chair in an hour.

But the pack of reporters surrounding Old Man Gibbs was more interested in the blood stain splattered on his game shorts.

“I think it was when I got tripped bringing it down toward the end,” Gibbs said. “I've got an old-man knee, and I rolled my ankle on that play. Oh, well. I've got a day to rest.”

Back in the press room, Gibbs' blood stain would be known as a symbolic badge of courage for CU's 67-63 win over Cincinnati on Friday. But the fact is: Gibbs started the year with blood on his jersey and a bandage under his eye after the season opener against North Texas.

These Jays have been a tougher outfit than we gave them credit for. But sometimes to get a reputation, you have to stare down the lion in the pit.

Or, in this case, in an NCAA tournament game here in south Philly, off Broad Street, against a brass-knuckle crew from the Big East.

It was a salty win for the lads from Omaha. Their reward: Duke and coach Mike Krzyzewski, live and in color on Sunday in the NCAA tournament.

The Dookies didn't come up much in the locker room. Not yet. There was so much at stake in this game: not only to advance and survive, but show their wares to a Wells Fargo Center crowd of more than 18,000 who were checking out the new Big East addition and seeing if it could hold up under Big East, um, conditions.

The Jays have played some athletic teams this year, and Wichita State is big and physical. But the Bearcats were a different breed of oomph.

And very rarely, if ever, have the Jays had to pluck out a win like this. By going toe to toe with their combatant. By outmuscling a bigger foe on the boards, 32-31. By manufacturing baskets against Big East-tested, in-your-grill defense.

UC provided the most athletic and long and physical defense the Jays had seen this year. Fortunately, the Bearcats don't have a lot else to offer. They made some tough shots. But they don't run. They aren't skilled offensively. They're just good enough to make it ugly and make you look uglier.

The Valley boys won it the East Coast way, and for the hoop aficionados in the gallery, it had to be a sign that these new guys are going to be all right.

“I know I speak for everyone at Creighton that we're honored to be part of (the Big East) and excited to contribute,” CU coach Greg McDermott said. “We've got some work to do, but hopefully today was a sign that maybe we're not quite as far away as we think we are.”

Whatever more Creighton is going to spend on the transition to the Big East, it's definitely going to need more ice for the training room.

“We talked all week about how it was going to be a fight, and taking the fight to them,” Ethan Wragge said. “Rebounding was a point of emphasis. We knew they were going to think of us as an offensive team from the Valley, so we had something to prove.

“It was tough. They muscle you around, jack you in the back. That's the first time I've ever seen Doug (McDermott) get blocked.”

These kinds of wrestling matches tend to take the paint brush out of McDermott's hands. Cincinnati forward Titus Rubles smothered Doug, fronting him, bodying him out of the paint and all but placing handcuffs around his wrists. Rubles did a top-notch job on the CU star. Twice, Doug made his patent spin move to the hoop and had the scoop shot blocked. Twice.

“Oh my gosh,” Doug said. “I don't remember when that's happened.”

Rubles was so good on Doug that the Bearcats didn't need to double-team him. But Doug still had 27 points and 11 rebounds. He's THAT good.

Up on the tube, Charles Barkley was calling for the superstar to take over the game. But this wasn't that kind of game. And it took all four of Wragge's bombs and all five of Echenique's power baskets inside, and all the other grinders CU threw in, to get this one done.

And it still almost unraveled. CU was up 60-54 and had the rebound with 53.1 seconds left when Doug grabbed a rebound. Things looked good. Then they didn't. Engulfed by two defenders, McDermott brought his elbows up to pass it and struck a UC player in the head. Flagrant foul.

Tough break. It's the right call. It's just a bad rule.

Fortunately, the Bearcats had no idea how to close this. They missed free throws and finally a 3 near the buzzer.

Maybe there are teams in the Big East that would have finished them off. But the Jays just beat one of the NCAA teams from the Big East. And they haven't even started recruiting Big East players yet.

Then again, looks like they have some on this roster. Including one former Big East guy with something to prove — 40 fewer pounds and lots of muscle later.

“It's definitely a good feeling, because I know I took a lot of heat when I left Rutgers and went to Creighton,” Echenique said. “People questioned it, why would I leave a Big East team. It's good to prove to people why I did what I did.”

Life is good at Creighton, period.

“What a week,” said CU's president, the Rev. Timothy Lannon, as he bounded out of the victorious locker room. “The Pope is a Jesuit, we're in the Big East and we're playing Duke.”

Contact the writer:

402-444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com, twitter.com/tomshatelOWH

http://www.omaha.com/article/20130322/BL...ke-a-punch

MATT MILLER/THE WORLD-HERALD
Creighton's Doug McDermott gets a basket after he is fouled by Cincinnati's Jermaine Sanders. McDermott scored 27 points and grabbed 11 boards to lead the Bluejays past the Bearcats on Friday.

McDermott's 27 points help Bluejays advance
By Steven Pivovar / World-Herald staff writer

PHILADELPHIA — Creighton came into Friday's NCAA tournament game against Cincinnati peppered with questions about whether it was tough enough to play with a Big East team.

It left with a 67-63 victory that might have some folks in Big East country wondering if they are tough enough to hang with the Bluejays.

The same team that its coach called out a month ago for maybe being too nice for its own good traded body blows for 40 minutes with a Cincinnati team that was supposedly bigger, stronger and tougher. In the end, it was a bunch of Bluejays who walked away, and in a few cases limped away, with the second-round victory that sets up Sunday's matchup with second-seeded Duke.

“We've been working for this moment since we lost to North Carolina last year,” Creighton forward Doug McDermott said, referring to the defeat that knocked the Bluejays out of last year's tournament. “It is every kid's dream to get a chance to play against Duke in the NCAA tournament.

“It really doesn't get much better than that.”

Chances are, the seventh-seeded Bluejays won't face many games tougher than the one they survived Friday in front of 18,431 at the Wells Fargo Center. Cincinnati won't win any prizes for its offensive skills, but the Bearcats can man-up on defense with the best teams in the Big East or anywhere else.

And they attack the glass with abandon.

So, which team won the rebounding battle Friday? Creighton by one.

Which team held the other to lower shooting percentages? The Bluejays: They limited Cincinnati to 42.2 percent shooting from the field and 25 percent from beyond the arc.

And which team refused to back down? Well, that one was a draw, but the supposedly soft guys in the white uniforms more than held their own.

“People always question our toughness,” Creighton center Gregory Echenique said. “We can definitely play tough. We've showed that before and we just proved it again today.

“We take it personal. Obviously, it's disrespectful when people say that, but it's OK. We had a chance to prove it and we did. And if we get challenged again, we'll be there.”

After the game, Echenique received three stitches for a cut above his eye and five more in his head. Grant Gibbs talked to reporters wearing shorts spotted with blood. Anyone would have loved to have a cut of the ice concession, because the Bluejays will need plenty for the bumps and bruises they sustained.

“That was one of our most physical games of the year,” Gibbs said. “There were not a lot of easy shots to be had. Buckets definitely were at a premium.”

Especially down the stretch for the Bluejays. They made just one field goal after Cincinnati tied the game at 54-54 with 3:31 to play. Echenique battled inside for a layup to put his team back in the lead for good 27 seconds later, and Creighton scored its final 11 points from the free-throw line.

Still, Cincinnati had a chance to extend its season when Sean Kilpatrick launched a 3-point attempt with six seconds to play and his team trailing 66-63. The ball appeared to be in but popped out, to the relief of the Bluejays.

“You really can't put into words the kind of feeling you have when that ball came out,” forward Ethan Wragge said. “You just know that you've put a lot of work and sweat into this, and it's good to see that pay off.”

Cincinnati's Cheikh Mbodj came up with Kilpatrick's miss but turned the basketball over before he could attempt a shot. Creighton then got the ball in to Austin Chatman, who missed his first free throw with three seconds to play but sealed the victory by making his second.

The sophomore also made two free throws with 1:07 to play and two more with 14 seconds left to keep his team in front.

“I knew I had to make those,” Chatman said, “and it felt good to knock down those shots.”

Chatman finished with eight points, Wragge 12, Echenique 13 and McDermott a game-high 27. That helped offset the four players who scored in double figures for Cincinnati.

Kilpatrick led the Bearcats with 19 points. He made 7 of his first 15 shots. He won't likely soon forget his 16th and final attempt of the season.

“It was a clean look,” he said. “It felt good going off my hand, but it just rolled right out. I mean, it was really in the rim, and then it just came out.”

The loss was Cincinnati's eighth in its past 14 games and ended the Bearcats' season at 22-12.

“Our effort was tremendous, as it's been all year,” Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. “It's obviously a tough result for us, but at the end of the day, you've got to base your judgment on a team on 'do they give everything they have?'

“I think these guys are A-plus in that category.”

Creighton coach Greg McDermott was saying the same about his bunch, which will take a 28-7 record into Sunday's game against Duke. Entering Friday's game, McDermott thought his team would have to get the tempo in its favor.

The last thing he wanted was a fistfight with the Bearcats. In the end, maybe he was underestimating the punch his Bluejays pack.

“Our toughness was good the whole game,” he said. “Our guys were tough enough to stay in the fight on the backboards, and that was the difference in the game. It's not easy against a team like Cincinnati, because they're not going to stop coming.

“I was hoping we could get the pace more in our favor. In some ways, we had to beat them at their own game.”

Contact the writer:

402-679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com; twitter.com/PivOWH

http://www.omaha.com/article/20130322/BL...ys-advance

I have nothing but respect for Creighton after that game yesterday. Those guys are highly skilled. We had the obvious advantage in athleticism but they didn't back down. They battled like heck and played a tough game. Props to them. Hope they take it to the Dookies.

Considering how many wide open easy looks Duke gave to Albany, if Creighton is shooting close to as good as they did against us, the Blue Jays will beat Duke. I actually felt like we had a legit chance to beat Duke with our defense and their lack thereof.

Did anyone else take that headline as a shot at UC because of the brawl?

Beercat, they were talking about Thug McDermott and his propensity to throw elbows in the face of opponents.

I didn't see it as relating to "The Brawl" more as relating to the tough physical play that the Big East is known for. But the writer might've been alluding the the Crosstown Brawl and giving UC a backhanded slap.

(03-23-2013 09:20 AM)mptnstr@44 Wrote:  I didn't see it as relating to "The Brawl" more as relating to the tough physical play that the Big East is known for. But the writer might've been alluding the the Crosstown Brawl and giving UC a backhanded slap.

Agreed.

If you can't beat the higher-seeded team, you at least want them to know they've been in a game. There's no doubt that Creighton knew they'd been in a ballgame.

(03-23-2013 09:11 AM)QSECOFR Wrote:  Beercat, they were talking about Thug McDermott and his propensity to throw elbows in the face of opponents.

Youre not serious, right?

McDermott would have been flagged twice in the NFL under the new rules for leading with his head as he bullrushed the defender. Obvious charges

I thought McDermott got away with traveling when he drove to the basket some of the time too.
He's a foot shuffler.

(03-23-2013 01:41 PM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  

(03-23-2013 09:11 AM)QSECOFR Wrote:  Beercat, they were talking about Thug McDermott and his propensity to throw elbows in the face of opponents.

Youre not serious, right?

The refs called him for a Flagrant 1 after reviewing the tape. You know more than the refs?

(03-23-2013 09:04 AM)BeerCat Wrote:  Did anyone else take that headline as a shot at UC because of the brawl?

After much thought, I believe the use of the terms "big east brawl" and "take a punch" in the same headline is a clear and intentional reference to the fight with Xavier. In particular, I see this as a reference to Gates punching of Frease.