Creighton 70, Nebraska 44

(A side note: That title is not a typo. I just want to get that out of the way. People who watched the game yesterday might say something like, “I can’t believe that score.” Trust me, if you were at the game you would not only believe the score, but you’d be shaking your head, knowing that the Jays should have had at least 10 more points. At least.)

I want you all to know that I woke up early Sunday, with a stomach still full of Sgt. Peffer’s Italian sausage pizza, and prepared myself to write this piece two ways – win or lose.

I had never done that before. I never think the Jays are going to lose. Call me crazy, or a fanatic, but losing isn’t an option for me. I thought Creighton would beat Florida in 2002, and they did. And while most Jays fans were ecstatic with that win, I figured why shouldn’t they have won, they’re as good as the Gators. And when they lost to Illinois two days earlier, I felt the same way as I did when Tony Barone’s team lost to Seton Hall in the second round of the 1991 NCAA tournament – I honestly thought they would win.

So, anyway, I tried my hardest to prepare for a Jays team forced by injury to host in-state rival Nebraska with just 8 scholarship players – 9 total – on a Sunday afternoon in front of a record 15,621 basketball fans, and a state-wide audience on Nebraska Public Television. I knew it would be difficult, and the Jays were going to be fighting a battle against fatigue, foul trouble, and fairly talented opponents in the Huskers.

And then, as I sat down to scribble some notes, a Bluejay flew across the sky and passed right by my window.

I’m not making this up. It happened. For some reason, I live in a neighborhood that is highly trafficked by bluebirds.

So, I took it as a sign. The Jays would fly high, and win this game. Why get pessimistic now? Just because Nate Funk, Pierce Hibma, Jimmy Motz, and Steve Smith were all going to miss the game due to injuries, and Manny Gakou isn’t eligible until Dec. 21, doesn’t mean that Creighton couldn’t win. Maybe it was illogical, or maybe I’m overly positive, but I decided Creighton would win.

I didn’t think the Jays would throttle the Huskers, though. I mean, this game wasn’t as close as the score shows (even though it was a 26-point margin). It was ugly, but in the end heart and effort won.

You Will Suffer Humiliation When the Team from My Area Defeats the Team from Your Area – The Onion

That headline from The Onion always makes me laugh, and I was reminded of it when found it again on one of the first pages of Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer by Warren St. John. This book is about the fandom of Alabama Crimson Tide football, and I just started reading it last night.

My team from my area did humiliate the team from your (“your” being most of the state of Nebraska) area, and it is the “area” idea that is the tastiest of this quote … not the “humiliate.”

I could care less how many points Dana Altman’s team beats Nebraska by, I just want it to happen. Every year. Without fail. I figure it could happen each year that Barry Collier coaches the Huskers, as I profiled after last year’s last second Creighton win in Lincoln.

Here’s a quote from the final paragraph the piece I wrote last year:

“I will pick Creighton to beat Nebraska each and every time they play, and I won’t make that decision based on player talent, skill, height, or depth. I will go with the Jays every time because of Altman. He is the quintessential collegiate basketball head coach, and it is for this simple reason – he puts in as much effort and sweat for his team as he expects from them. He is the reason the Jays won today, and he is the reason the Jays will continue to win for years to come.”

He was at it again on Sunday, stomping his feet, yelling instructions and encouragement at his players, and never sitting from the opening tip until he probably got to the interview room at the Qwest Center OMAHA. Altman presumably knew that he would have to coach his remaining roster near perfection in order to maximize the effort and ability of the dwindling number of players on his bench.

And he did. And it is no surprise. No Bluejays flying across windows were needed, and no amount of blundered coaching by Collier. This was Altman, tried and true, getting the most from his players.

And it shouldn’t have ever been that close.

Behind the Box Score

• You can’t begin to understand how jacked up the Jays were for this game by reading the box score. Anthony Tolliver came out to warm-ups with a shaved head. Dominic Bishop had a smile from ear-to-ear, slapped the floor in front of Huskers while he defended them, and jawed constantly while guarding Husker freshmen Marcus Walker. You just knew that Creighton came ready to play, thinking this was there game to win, and Nebraska just couldn’t answer that passion.
  
  
• OK, so I’ll get back to the box score. How about Tolliver, who continues to evolve into an extremely solid post player. His numbers weren’t awe-inspiring from the field (1-7) but he brought hustle (6 rebounds) and timely defense (career-high 4 blocked shots, multiple shut-downs of Nebraska’s post-up offense) to a game where both elements were crucial for the Jays. Anthony got The Q rocking with a breakaway, one-handed slam, and continued to feed off the crowd’s energy.
  
  
• The other half of Jeffony Tolliday, Jeffrey Day, played just 17 minutes but turned in his best hustle performance of the season. Day finished with 7 boards (although two of those came on his own misses point-blank at the hoop) and 2 blocked shots, along with 4 points. Combined, Jeffony Tolliday finished with 10 points, 13 rebounds, 6 blocks, and just 1 turnover.
  
  
• Speaking of rebounding, the Jays lost the battle of the boards 50-43, but individuals recorded meaningful totals on their own. In addition to Tolliver and Day, Dane Watts also hit the boards hard, bringing down a career-high 12 rebounds.
  
  
• Dane finished with 9 points, and added 5 steals. Watts did a great job of stepping into the passing lanes and fronting some of the bigger wing players he was asked to guard. Now if he could just get a couple of those three-pointers to fall…
  
  
• The game wasn’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but one thing was absolutely beautiful: the play of Johnny Mathies. Mathies picked up where he left off in his last game at The Q, pouring in a career-high 29 points on 8-15 shooting from the field. He hit 5-8 from three-point range, 8-11 from the free-throw line, pulled down 4 rebounds, dished out 2 assists, grabbed 3 steals, and had no turnovers. That, folks, is a wonderful game, and hopefully breaks Johnny’s two-game slump just in time for a big showdown against Xavier.
  
  
• I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention walk-on Dustin Sitzmann’s three-point bucket (his first points of the season) with 1:07 left in the game. Even though most Husker fans were gone, dreaming about volleyball and the Alamo, Jays fans went absolutely nuts – Bresnahan-style.