PITTSBURGH — Earlier than the second time beyond regulation started, Greg McDermott seemed over at Dana Altman and the 2 coaches and shut buddies shared a smile.
“We had been each in disbelief about what was transpiring in entrance of our eyes,” McDermott stated.
They weren’t alone.
Steven Ashworth and Ryan Kalkbrenner made 3-pointers within the second time beyond regulation as Creighton edged previous Altman, the Bluejays’ former coach, to maneuver into the Candy 16 of the NCAA event with an 86-73 victory over Oregon on Saturday evening.
The three by the 6-foot-1 Ashworth and a uncommon one by the 7-1 Kalkbrenner, a defensive specialist, helped the third-seeded Bluejays (25-9) rating the primary 15 factors of the second OT to lastly put away the Eleventh-seeded Geese (24-12) and finish a sport that contained sufficient mayhem for a couple of March.
“Epic sport,” stated McDermott, who took over at Creighton for Altman in 2010 and acquired his 325th profession win, two away from Altman’s college document. “Undecided I have been a part of one fairly prefer it in 35 years.”
Ashworth scored 21 factors, Trey Alexander added 20, Kalkbrenner put up 19 and Baylor Scheierman had 18 for Creighton, which can make its third Candy 16 look in 4 years when it faces No. 2 seed Tennessee on Friday within the Midwest Regional in Detroit.
“It is an important feeling,” stated Alexander, one of many returnees from Creighton’s Elite Eight staff a yr in the past. “We love this group of fellows. We love rocking and rolling collectively. We love the whole lot that comes with the street journeys and us simply with the ability to have one other week with one another.
“We will attempt to keep within the second and simply proceed play at a stage that we really feel like we are able to play at. From there, we’ll simply type of let the dominoes fall the place they do.”
It took stability, huge pictures, clutch free throws and poise for the Bluejays to beat Oregon’s devastating one-two punch of Jermaine Couisnard and N’Faly Dante.
Couisnard, who had 40 factors within the first spherical towards South Carolina – his former college – poured in 32 and Dante dominated inside with 28 factors and 20 rebounds.
It was the second OT sport of the evening in PPG Paints Area after North Carolina State ended Oakland’s Cinderella run with a 79-73 victory within the first sport.
This one pitted the 2 winningest coaches in Creighton historical past — Altman and McDermott, shut buddies, occasional {golfing} buddies and the explanation why the Bluejays are a mid-major energy and menace contained in the brackets.
For 2 hours, their groups went toe-to-toe with neither giving an inch. It was exhilarating and exhausting because the groups exchanged the lead 14 instances. There have been 9 ties and about as a lot drama as you possibly can pack right into a event sport.
The Geese, who rode the Couisnard-Dante tandem to a Pac-12 tourney title, seemed cooked within the first time beyond regulation, trailing by three after two free throws by Ashworth put Creighton forward 71-68.
However Couisnard, the silky senior guard from East Chicago, Indiana, got here down and calmly drained an extended 3-pointer in entrance of Oregon’s bench to tie it.
“They have been enjoying their tails off all yr,” stated Altman, who misplaced three gamers to season-ending accidents. “We have been driving them. So, it was particular to observe these two guys. We had our possibilities. We simply made some vital errors there in regulation. And that is on me.”
Creighton had a final likelihood within the first OT, however Alexander missed a brief baseline jumper simply earlier than the horn, extending a Saturday evening doubleheader on a cold evening in Pittsburgh into Sunday morning.
The second OT was all Creighton.
Ashworth opened it together with his 3, and after Couisnard missed a layup, Kalkbrenner, the three-time Massive East Defensive Participant of the 12 months, took a go behind the road and drained simply his 53rd 3-point try all season.
“Mac (McDermott) informed me to make 100 (3s) after apply and 100 earlier than within the two practices we had earlier than we got here right here,” Kalkbrenner stated. “That helped put together me. I acquired confidence in myself to take that shot, and I do know that is in all probability the No. 1 shot Mac needed on that possession.”
After one other Couisnard miss, Creighton’s Jasen Inexperienced, who had 9 rebounds, dunked a putback and the Bluejays had been all however flying to the Candy 16. Ashworth then sealed it by banking in one other 3-pointer as Creighton opened an 86-71 lead.
Oregon, which solely tried 5 free throws, had an opportunity to place it away within the last minute of regulation, however Dante missed Oregon’s first shot from the road with 26.4 seconds left and the Geese up two.
Scheierman, who performed all 50 minutes, then hit a contested 10-footer within the lane to tie it, and the groups went to OT when Couisnard missed an off-balance drive within the last second.
One of many sport’s important subplots was Altman’s on-court reunion with Creighton, the place he spent 16 seasons, circled a program in disarray and helped put the varsity positioned in Omaha, Nebraska, on the hoops map.
McDermott has stored it going, and now one of many nation’s most constant profitable groups, the Bluejays have outgrown any mid-major label.
In March, they’re about as huge because it will get.