Live "Glog" --- CU @ UNI (ESPN2, 6 p.m.)

OK. Something new.

It is a chilly night in The Big O, so my wife and I decided to stay in tonight and watch ESPN2's non-HD broadcast of tonight's Creighton-Northern Iowa tilt.

To make things even more interesting, I decided to introduce a new challenge to Bluejay Basketball. Tonight will be the premier of the in-game "glog," which we all know is shorthand for "game log." Not as sexy and catchy as "blog," mind you; in fact, it sounds like some sound that would follow a winter cough or sneeze.

The glog will serve a couple specific goals. Two specifically:

• It will help me work on my swearing problem during heated Jays games. Hopefully with a minute-by-minute deadline I'll be too busy typing away and listening to both my wife's heady commentary and my buddy Panon's hilarious observations to swear at lazy turnovers or missed box out opportunities.


• It will help me work on my speed typing, which is always important. Maybe I can take over for the fired Hollywood writers and quickly pen a few pilots once I get my typing speed up to Cavel Witter-type speed.

So, here we go. We'll post during every ESPN2 commercial. If it was an NFL game, we'd be able to write a book. However, we'll see how many updates that translates to during an ESPN2 basketball broadcast.

Just two Jays fans sharing their thoughts. As Stuart Smalley would say, "is that so wrong?!"

6:00 p.m.: We have our first technical difficulty -- the DVR just shorted out. But we're back, just in time to see P'Allen Stinnett drain a 3. Why not, he's made almost everything lately.

With 14:37 left in the 1st half:

Pro: great steal by Josh Dotzler near the timeline. Con: Overthrows a 6-9 Kenny Lawson on an alley-oop attempt. Hard to throw it over a guy's head when he has arms longer than someone from the Fantastic Four.

P'Allen launches his second long-range shot, this time it is waaay out. He shot that thing from Waterloo. And it was nothing but nylon (T. Scott Marr-style).

Note to Panthers fans: Don't beg for ESPN broadcasts if you don't plan on filling the seats. LOTS of empty spots in the lower sections. Is this Qwest Center Northeast?

Commentator (and frequent turnover artist against the Jays) Doug Gottlieb says that UNI 7-footer Jordan Egelseder could turn into a pro. Like Patrick O'Bryant? That's for you, Braves fans.

Lawson should take notes from his fellow frosh, Kenton Walker, re: dunking. USE TWO HANDS.

With 10:21 left in the first half:

What? Illegal screen on UNI? Jeez, I thought only the Bluejays were the only team called for that foul in the MVC.

Nick Bahe hit is first three-pointer, but misses two good looks with two in-and-out 3s.

P'Allen all over the place, yet can't finish on an inside lob further away from the hoop than initially planned, and can't corral a steal in front of UNI's Eric Coleman. Those would have been two huge momentum-swinging plays.

Coleman is a flat-out beast. Not that we needed an in-game, live "glog" to point that out.

With 7:56 left in the first half:

Gottleib just started dropping the "when I was at Oklahoma St., we played Creighton twice. Boy, they were good." That's because you turned the ball over all the time, Doug. Plus, you missed a bunch of free throws.

Booker Woodfox = Ice Man. Cold water runs through the veins in his shooting hand, I swear.

The Bluejays are putting TONS of defensive pressure on the Panthers right now, but they've been burned on a couple of sell-out lunges for steals between the three-point arc and midcourt.

With 5:45 left in the first half:

Bahe another wide-open miss. Panon asked if he's too wide open.

And just when he gets done saying that, Bahe with the hoop and the harm after a steal by Walker. Makes the free throw.

Kaleb Korver makes his first apperance in 54 minutes of game action.

And just as that happens, Coleman get an offensive goal tend, errr, I mean a tip-dunk, and then future Gottleib NBA draft pick Egelseder gets a travel, errr, I mean a lay-up after picking up his dribble in the lane and not deciding what he wanted to do with it until Walker had seemingly lost interest in defending the shot.

CU 28, UNI 26. Jays timeout to slow things down.

With 3:25 left in the first half:

Missed 3 by Watts with a good look in the corner

Egelseder again with a missed shot but gets his own tip to go. Draft stock moving up. Where would Kiper put him?

Dotzler with the jump shot. Nope, that's not a typo.

30-second timeout by UNI, but to quote the play-by-play dudes, "we'll keep it right here."

With 3:13 left in the first half:

Immediately following coming back from the 30-second timeout, UNI knocks the ball out of Korver's hands and out of bounds. So, it's the under-4 media timeout. Time to catch a few breaths around here.

It must not be such an exciting game, since my wife is cheering while reading a novel. That's why she's brilliant, though: best multitasker around, I'll put money on it.

Jays up by 5 with the basketball, but have gone a little colder since starting the game absolutely torrid from the field. Dana Altman's got his sub pattern working its magic, and you can almost hear Coleman gasping for air as he sees Lawson and Walker and Millard and Watts check in and out for one another. Jealous much?

With 0.00 left in the first half:

Coleman now with a goal tend on both sides, and neither were called. He "blocked" a Millard shot on the drive. Whatever.

P'Allen catches the ball in the corner. Quick pump fake, makes a few moves, and blows past Poor Guy #22. Foul. Not surprised.

Watts with a spin move but loses it because of double team pressure. That's his kryptonite, those double-teams just under the foul line.

Stop me if you've heard this before: Witter moves the ball quickly and easily into the frontcourt, but then ... wait for it ... can't seem to slow down and turns it over. Oh well.

Egelseder looks like Buffalo Bill from "Silence of the Lambs." He's about one more basket away from throwing on a mumu and dancing with make-up on.

UNI misses their final shot, the clock runs out, and the Jays head to the break with a 7-point lead, 35-28.

HALFTIME BREAK ... PASTA DINNER by the wife ... perfecto!

Let's start the second half ....

Watts steps out and hits a three, followed by Stinnett's mid-range jumpshot. Getting close to a big run from the Jays.

And it commences, as Bahe misses a shot, but Watts keeps it alive for Lawson, who slows down his game a bit and waits for P'Allen to cut to the hoop for the nifty dish and layup. AND ONE!

(Side note: Poor Guy #22, unlike Poor Guy #14, is from Ankeny, my wife's home town. And unlike the Ankeny Bulldog, Ryan Sears, this Poor Guy isn't playing well. At all. His hip check on P'Allen is his 4th foul, which will most likely relegate him to the bench with a seat next to non-playing Ben Jacobsen.)

With 14:30 left in the 2nd half:

Gottleib manages to mess up Stinnett's halftime shoe switch story. Doesn't matter, though ... P hits the free throw.

And Gottleib won't let his mistakes in the story rest. Give it up, self-proclaimed champion of the mighty mid-major MVC.

Bahe makes a dude fall with his crazy moves in tradition (actually, the dude just fell down. We'll credit it to Bahe's shifty moves), then with two Jays converging on the wings, he decides to pull up and MAKE a mid-range jumper. Nice execution

Lawson just got P'Allen'd; oh, wait, I mean posterized by Coleman. Watts didn't help, either. Makes the free throw after the and-one opportunity.

How many tip chance can you get? What is this, Vegas? Jeez ... more than five opportunities for an offensive put-back after a missed 3 by Milard, but Pierce and Kenton can't make it happen.

With 11:01 left in the 2nd half:

Here comes Creighton's 3rd straight game blowing a double-digit lead. A 15-point bulge to start the half has now dwindled to 9 after a 1 for 2 trip to the free throw line for Millard. Hold your breaths starting now...

Watts not strong with the ball again facing a double team. He needs to get the ball out quicker. it is a necessity. (Side note: Dane got a hair cut, and looks Marine-esque. He's grabbing some rebounds with Marine-like intensity, too.)

UNI is now on a 14-1 run, which leads Altman to call a timeout.

All of this Panther offense occurred with their best player on the bench catching a rest.

Panon keeps whispering "deja vu," and he couldn't be more right. It's like Harriman and Millard are out there trying to guard Spencer Laurie, PJ Couisnard, and Gal Mekel.

Millard answers with a big 3, then Harriman takes a charge! Let's go to the break.

With 7:56 left in the 2nd half:

Always looking for a slogan or a selling point, this week has been dubbed by the brains at ESPN as "A Week of Impact." Seriously? "A Week of Impact"? From now on, I'm calling this week "AWOI".

Rodney "Rodzilla" Buford reference by Gottleib. I miss Rodney.

Jays are ICE COLD, and the Panthers hit another trey.

49-45 Jays, who are in danger out giving up their hard-earned lead again.

Watts get drilled by Mr. Double Double, Eric Coleman. But he makes both free throws.

Lead back to 7, heading into a timeout on the floor.

With 5:17 left in the 2nd half:

Bahe's shifty moves get him in trouble, as he's called for palming and carrying the basketball. Turnover Jays, their 10th of the night.

What a flop by Coleman! And JACOBSEN GETS A GREGG MARSHALL TECHNICAL!

Gregg Marshall in the house! Coleman flopped, little contact (nothing malicious, for sure, especially from Millard, the elbow-wielder), but Jacobsen thought it was and Bahe knocks down his second set of technical free throws in as many games.

Wow.

Bahe on the other end of a beautiful backdoor pass by Millard! Jays up 9!

Watts for three after a great steal by Stinnett! Jays up by 12!

Altman with a smile, are you kidding me?!?!?

Panon says DE JA VU again, this time because of the similar run CU went on after Marshall's techincal no-no Saturday against Wichita. Just don't blow this lead now, Bluejays.

With 3:44 left in the game:

GREAT stat by ESPN2 during the game. The Jays started the game 4-4 shooting, then went on a 2-16 slide, and has now made their last 3 shots. To quote Altman from last week's Omaha World-Herald, these guys are "consistently inconsistent".

Jays turn it over, then Watts bails out a Panther guard trapped in the corner with 5 left on the shot clock with a foul. Under-4 media time out is here.

With 2:46 left in the game:

Altman's "Hurry Down" offense does it again. No shot on the possession after UNI hits some free throws, as Millard and Dotzler pass up open looks to run out the clock. This isn't Big 10 football, guys.

And just like that, UNI hits a 3 off the turnover. This is shaping up to be another cardiac finish for our Jays...

With 1:06 left in the game:

Jays run the clock down again after a missed attempt by the Panthers, but this time Bahe gets a shot off on a nice dribble penetration by The General, Dotzler, and he HITS A HUGE THREE.

Dotzler then hits two free throws, the Jays force a turnover by Coleman, and with a minute left they're up by 12 and going to the stripe to add to their total.

With less than a minute left in the game...

Watts misses the front end of a one-and-one, P'Allen only connects on one of two shots, and then he tries to steal it from behind and puts Jared Josten (second-best free throw shooter in the Valley) on the line again. Jays up 9. Bahe gets trapped in the backcourt and has to take a timeout.

Seriously, try HARDER to give the game away. Although, Altman can't get mad because of defensive intensity ... Stinnett and Millard are trying to steal, but they shouldn't be.

And then Dotzler throws it down the court ... to a Panther. Out of a timeout. And UNI scores 2 points. Ugh. Makes. Me. Sick.

With 34.9 seconds left in the game:

Jays give it away on a tie ball. Seriously, I'm not making this up. However, Creighton dials up a nice defensive set and forces a turnover as UNI tries to inbounds the ball. Watts get fouled, but he had a clear path the hoop for a layup. He makes me forget that, though, because he hits two free throws.

And the Jays win!

68-59 is your final, in a game the Jays could have easily won by 15 points. But as they say, and win on the road is a good win, and I'm sure Altman will take this one. But Creighton's lack of ability to close out other teams (regardless of where the game is) leaves me scratching my head.

So for Panon and my wife, we'll sign off and I'll go ice my fingers ... this live updating thing has taken its toll.

Go Jays! Next up, a Saturday Showdown during "AWeek of Impact" (wow, it makes me shiver with akwardness to type that "slogan" from The Sports Leader) with Indiana State. The Jays are looking to exact revenge upon the Sycamores.