Creighton 73, Southern Illinois 72 (OT)

The Great Escape

What’s better for Jays fans? A blowout win against SIU or a close, come-from-behind victory against the Salukis? It sounds like the makings of a trick question, doesn’t it? The only thing truly tricky, though, is how Dana Altman’s Bluejays were able to make a solid halftime lead disappear, only to then pull not one but two rabbits out of the proverbial hat and escape with a one-point win against their conference arch rival.

A rival, believe it or not, Creighton now owns a 2-game win streak against. Not since the Arch Madness title game in 2002 and a raucous home game at the Civic the next winter have the Bluejays beaten the Dawgs from Carbondale in repeat attempts. The recent success of both teams (CU’s under Altman, SIU’s under a triumvirate of Bruce Webber, Matt Painter, and now Chris Lowery) has escalated the intensity of the matchups each season to levels not felt by both players and fans of the Jays for quite some time inside Valley play.

Looking past the immediate decade and examining the results a bit further, there seems to be a specific ebb and flow to the one-sidedness of these CU-SIU showdowns. Coming into last night’s game, the Jays had beaten SIU just 2 times in the past 11 games dating back to the famous Arch Madness title game in 2003. And while the early 2000s saw each school split the meetings almost right down the middle, it was Creighton that won 8 of 10 meetings between January 1996 and the beginning of 2001. Before that, SIU won 7 out of 8 games from 1992 to 1995 (a.k.a. “The Dark Years”).

Is last night’s second win over SIU in as many chances the changing of the tides? Based on what 15,000-plus CU fans in attendance and a regional television audience saw last night, both teams seem primed for a couple of years of a back and forth struggle to retain supremacy in the MVC.

Did That Really Just Happen?

Oh yeah, the game. It had everything one has come to expect from a CU-SIU tilt: strong Saluki defense (sometimes too strong), streaky Jays shooting (sometimes too streaky for the crowd’s liking), questionable calls (see previous in list), and a game that came down to the final couple of possessions (in this case, a few possessions in regulation and overtime). I've never seen so many heads shaking back and forth (in a positive, quizzical way, mind you) walking through the concourses of the Q and down the streets in the Old Market following a game before tonight.

Sure, there have been other memorable evenings during which the Qwest Center has magically morphed into the Cardiac Q. But never has there been a back-and-forth game, full of lead changes and equal play, in which the home team came back from the dead twice and actually win. The video below will set the scene for you, but just in case you want the abridged version:


Holthus and Spoon were here, too; icing on the cake

• Creighton led by 8 points at halftime and opened a 9-point lead 30 seconds into the second half.
  
  
• After making 13 field goals (including 5 3-pointers) in the first half, CU made just 5 field goals (and 1 long-range shot) in the second stanza – good for a bad 24% shooting from the field.
  
  
• Meanwhile, the Salukis were busy shooting 50% from the floor in the second 20 minutes, led by sensational freshman Kevin Dillard’s 18 second-half points.
  
  
• CU’s lead was gone by the 12 minute mark and the two teams exchanged leads for much of the second half, until Carlton Fay drained a 3-pointer with 4:36 to go in the game. SIU would lead the rest of the way.
  
  
• That is, of course, until the waning moments of regulation. Cavel Witter, trying desperately to give his team a chance to play more basketball, was fouled by Dillard shooting a 3-pointer (the first of a few unfortunate late-game events for the freshman in his first trip to Omaha).
  
  
• Cavel knocks down 3 free throws with 3.3 seconds left on the clock. He wears jersey number 3. Panon yells that into my ear 3 times while we are crossing our fingers and heaving prayers to the heavens as Witter attempts – and buries – all of the shots. OVERTIME.
  
  
• The Jays score first in OT, but then Tony Boyle (yep, he’s still in Carbondale) takes over (something I never thought I’d write in this blog). Two free throws, a dunk, and a layup later, Boyle has the Jays in a load of trouble – down 4 with a little more than a minute to play.
  
  
• That’s where 1:05 of the video above takes us: Cavel gets called for a charge with about 55 seconds left to play, and SIU looks like they’ll leave Omaha with a victory. Then, in a very particular order...
  
  
• Josh Dotzler, the filthiest thief on the CU roster, takes the ball away from Dillard after the inbounds play, dishes to P’Allen Stinnett, who drains his 5th 3-pointer of the night to make it a 1-point deficit.
  
  
• On the ensuing play, Stinnett (whose 29 points and 5 rebounds marked one of the sophomore’s most important and impressive all-around outings of his 1-plus year as a Bluejay) steps in front of freshman Ryan Hare, drawing a charge (Hare’s 5th foul) and giving the Jays the ball back down 1 with 30-ish seconds left.
  
  
• After struggling through another game with a bad ankle, Booker Woodfox loses his defender (paging Mr. Dillard, yet again), gets a solid screen from Mr. Offensive Foul Kenton Walker, and nails a 3-pointer to put the Jays up 2.
  
  
• Oh, and in the middle of that action, an entire arena was transformed from grown men and women, some with children in attendance or grandchildren in their laps, to raving lunatics clamoring for a Jays win and celebrating excessively as the final horn sounded and both teams, drenched in sweat and effort, exited the arena floor. Or maybe that was just section 123. I think I blacked out.

The video above, while wonderful, does not do justice to how cold it was in Omaha last night, how hot it was in the Qwest Center during Creighton’s rabid comeback, and how testy the feelings are between the SIU and CU players and fan bases. The names and faces have changed, but a game like this will go a long way to cementing the status of these two teams as nemeses and the class of the Valley.