Awefull's Bluejay thread!

[awefullspellare]

Creighton 99, Ind.-Pur.-Indpls 52

November 25, 2002

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Kyle Korver hit five 3-pointers and scored 20 points as Creighton beat Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis 99-52 on Monday night in the semifinals of the Guardians Classic.

Creighton (3-0) will play in the championship game Tuesday night against Notre Dame, which beat Furman 75-50 in Monday night's second semifinal.

Korver had only seven points at the half but scored eight straight points early in the second half for Creighton. Nathan Funk added 10 points for the Bluejays, while Brody Deren had nine points and 11 rebounds.

Thirteen players scored for Creighton, which shot 55 percent (36-for-65) from the field, including 60 percent (15-for-25) from 3-point range.

At halftime, the Bluejays led 56-19 -- without a player in double figures.

IUPUI (2-2) committed 23 turnovers and shot just 35 percent (18-for-52) from the field. The Jaguars were 1-for-14 from long range.

Creighton took control with a 12-0 run early in the game and led 33-7 with 9:22 left in the first half.

Reserves Dannorris Harvey and Odell Bradley led IUPUI with 12 points each, and Matt Crenshaw added 10 points.

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20021126/thumb.1038273080.ind_pur_indpls_creighton_ksow101. jpg
Creighton guard Tyler McKinney, left, is fouled by IUPUI forward Josh Mullins during the first half Monday, Nov. 25, 2002, in Kansas City, Mo. The winner will advance to the finals of the Guardians Classic and play either Furman or Notre Dame. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

[awefullspellare]

Final-------------- 1st 2nd Total
Creighton--------56 43 99
IUPUI ------------ 19 33 52

Creighton PLAYER MIN FG FT 3PT OFF TOT AST PF ST TO PTS
M Lindeman 18 Min. 2-5 FG 1-2 FT 1-2 3PT 1 OFF REB 2 TOT REB 2 AST 1 PF 1 ST 0 TO 6 PTS
K Korver----21 Min. 7-12 FG 1-1 FT 5-8 3PT 1 OFF REB 1 TOT REB 2 AST 4 PF 0 ST 1 TO 20 PTS
B Deren-----21 Min. 4-8 FG 1-1 FT 0-0 3PT 3 OFF REB 11 TOT REB 2 AST 2 PF 0 ST 1 TO 9 PTS
L House-----16 Min. 4-7 FG 0-0 FT 1-1 3PT 1 OFF REB 1 TOT REB 6 AST 1 PF 2 ST 0 TO 9 PTS
T Mckinney- 15 Min. 1-1 FG 2-2 FT 1-1 3PT 0 OFF REB 1 TOT REB 2 AST 3 PF 2 ST 2 TO 5 PTS
B Sims------- 13 Min. 2-4 FG 0-0 FT 2-3 3PT 0 OFF REB 1 TOT REB 1 AST 0 PF 0 ST 0 TO 6 PTS
D Bowden--- 20 Min. 2-5 FG 4-6 FT 1-3 3PT 1 OFF REB 3 TOT REB 6 AST 1 PF 0 ST 2 TO 9 PTS
N Funk------- 18 Min. 4-5 FG 0-0 FT 2-3 3PT 0 OFF REB 1 TOT REB 1 AST 1 PF 2 ST 2 TO 10 PTS
K Miliner------21 Min. 2-5 FG 2-2 FT 1-3 3PT 1 OFF REB 2 TOT REB 2 AST 2 PF 1 ST 0 TO 7 PTS
J Dabbert-----4 Min. 3-6 FG 0-0 FT 1-1 3PT 0 OFF REB 5 TOT REB 0 AST 1 PF 1 ST 1 TO 7 PTS
D Bresnahan 7 Min. 1-2 FG 0-0 FT 0-0 3PT 1 OFF REB 1 TOT REB 0 AST 1 PF 0 ST 0 TO 2 PTS
M Grimes----- 13 Min. 3-4 FG 1-2 FT 0-0 3PT 0 OFF REB 2 TOT REB 0 AST 1 PF 0 ST 1 TO 7 PTS
D Finklea----- 3 Min. 1-1 FG 0-0 FT 0-0 3PT 0 OFF REB 0 TOT REB 0 AST 0 PF 0 ST 1 TO 2 PTS
Totals 200 Min. 36-65 FG 12-16 FT 15-25 3PT 9 OFF REB 31 TOT REB 24 AST 18 PF 9 ST 11 TO 99 PTS

Percentages: FG .554, FT .750, 3PT .600
Team Rebounds: 33
Blocked Shots: 3 (B Deren 2, L House)

IUPUI
Totals 200 Min. 18-52 FG 15-23 FT 1-14 3PT 9 OFF REB 28 TOT REB 10 AST 18 PF 6 ST 21 TO 52 PTS

Percentages: FG .346, FT .652, 3PT .071
Team Rebounds: 33
Blocked Shots: 1 (J Murray)



Technical fouls: None.
Attendance: N/A.
Officials: Bryan Kersey, Duke Edsall, Leslie Jones.

[awefullspellare]

Creighton 80, Notre Dame 75
November 26, 2002

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Kyle Korver hit seven 3-pointers and scored 24 points as Creighton Bluejays beat Notre Dame 80-75 in the championship game of the Guardians Classic on Tuesday night.

Korver, who was named the tournament's Most Valuable player, also had 10 rebounds and three assists. He was 7-for-11 on 3-point tries as Creighton went 7-for-11 from long range.

Tyler McKinney added 14 points for the Bluejays (4-0), including five in an 8-0 run that put Creighton up by 10 points with just over 14 minutes left.

Notre Dame (4-1) got within 77-75 on Chris Thomas' 3-pointer with 1:33 remaining, but the Fighting Irish would not score again.

McKinney made two free throws with 23 seconds left, and DeAnthony Bowden's free throw with 9 seconds left iced the victory for Creighton.

Thomas led Notre Dame with 22 points, and Matt Carroll had 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Both were named to the All-Tournament team along with Creighton's Brody Deren, who had 13 points in the title game, and Karim Souchu of Furman.

The shorter Bluejays outrebounded Notre Dame 36-19 and shot 62.7 percent (31-for-50) from the field overall.

The Fighting Irish started sluggish, missing five of their first six field-goal attempts and their first five free-throw tries, but came back to lead 35-28 with just under 3 minutes left in the half.

The Bluejays closed out the half with a 10-0 run, though, and never trailed after the break.


http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20021126/capt.1038367268creighton_notre_dame_ksow103.jpg

Creighton guard Nathan Funk (10) and Notre Dame guard Matt Carroll (13) reach for a loose ball during the first half Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2002, in Kansas City, Mo., in the final of the Guardians Classic. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

[BPBlueSox]

That's a pretty big win for Creighton....

Aweful, are they considered the favorite in the MVC..or is Southern Illinois?

[awefullspellare]

they are the favorite ranked first or second in the MID MAJOR poll i think!

There is talk aobut them and maybe the salukis moving to another conference adn being filled by some old D-2, NCC, teams.

[awefullspellare]

Creighton savors return to Top 25

December 10, 2002

OMAHA, Neb. -- Not so long ago, it wasn't much of a stretch to say you could find more students in Creighton University's main library than at the Civic Auditorium when the school's basketball team played.

"You'd hear people say, 'Why go? It's just Creighton basketball. I have studying to do,' " said Sam Herrera, a senior at Creighton and ardent fan.

So far this season, the Bluejays have given the student body and the city of Omaha a lot to cheer about and, suddenly, going to games is the thing to do.

Creighton's appearance at No. 23 in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll is its first rating since March 4, 1975.

With its five returning starters and a deep bench, the Bluejays have built on the momentum they created from their double-overtime upset over Florida in the first round of the 2002 NCAA tournament.

It's been a long time coming for those who followed Creighton in the lean years.

In the three seasons before coach Dana Altman arrived in 1994, the Bluejays won a combined 24 games and had finishes of 10th, ninth and sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Altman has overseen a building process that has led to four straight NCAA tournament appearances.

This season, the Bluejays are off to a 6-0 start that includes an 80-75 victory over No. 10 Notre Dame -- the only blemish on Irish's 8-1 record.

In a state where the Nebraska Cornhusker football team is far and away the No. 1 passion of the sporting public, the tiny, 6,000-student Jesuit school that is Creighton is enjoying its days in the sun.

Not only is the basketball team excelling, Creighton's soccer team will play this weekend in the NCAA Final Four for the second time in three years.

But basketball always has been Creighton's flagship sport, and that's what the buzz has been about around the compact campus near downtown Omaha.

This is a school where Paul Silas and baseball Hall-of-Famer Bob Gibson played and where Eddie Sutton and Willis Reed coached. There were periods of national prominence in the 1940s, '60s, '70s and '80s, yet the program didn't have much of an identity.

"When I first came to this school, people back home used to ask me, 'Where is Creighton?' " said guard DeAnthony Bowden, a senior from Hammond, Ind. "I had to remind them that it was in Omaha. Now people are starting to know."

Ren Smith, president of the Jaybackers booster group, said Creigton's recent success is a far cry from the hard times in the '90s when the team couldn't even qualify for its conference tournament.

"Creighton was at a pretty low level and season tickets and fan interest were at an all-time low," Smith said. "Dana has turned it around, and he's kind of put Creighton on the map."

Altman has done it with a group that uses hard work, chemistry and balance to overcome opponents that posses superior physical talent.

The Bluejays have one pro prospect in senior forward Kyle Korver, who's averaging a team-leading 18.2 points a game. The next eight players on the scoring chart average 6 to 9 points.

Korver was the hero of the Notre Dame game, making a career-high seven 3-pointers and scoring 24 points to key one of the notable early upsets of the season.

But Bowden said it was the 75-72 exhibition win over Division II Nebraska-Omaha that laid the foundation for Creighton's season-opening run.

UNO briefly led Creighton in the second half of what turned out to be a closer-than-expected game. The Bluejays, Bowden said, knew from then on that they couldn't take any opponent for granted.

"We knew right then and there that we had to become a better team," Bowden said. "The progress has come game by game."

Now, they're the toast of the town.

"It feels good to go eat somewhere and for people to know who you are," Bowden said. "People love us."

Copyright 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[rfc17]

I saw they only beat BYU by 10 points. Wasnt it tied at half or Creighton only up by a couple?

BYU isnt that good of a team are they?

[awefullspellare]

BYU was 5-0 and near the bttom of the top 25! They beat Notre Dame by 5.

[awefullspellare]

KM3 News and Creighton Agree To Broadcast Basketball Games

KM3News (CBS) Omaha and Creighton University have agreed to broadcast three men’s college basketball games in the 2002-2003 season. The games are:

Wednesday, January 8, 2003 Creighton @ Bradley 7:05 p.m.
Wednesday, January 15, 2003 Evansville @ Creighton 7:05 p.m.
Monday, January 20, 2003 Illinois State @ Creighton 7:05 p.m.

Additionally, in a separate agreement, KM3News will broadcast the December 21, 2002 Creighton-Nebraska contest beginning at 7:05 p.m. KM3News will originate live coverage for all 4 games.

KM3News Vice President and General Manager Jim McKernan had this to say about the agreement: "We are ecstatic to be involved with the Creighton Bluejays. Our respect for Coach Altman and his program was the driving force behind this deal. We are fortunate to have a team of this caliber in Omaha and we look forward to a long relationship with the team."

KM3News will pair Sports Director Travis Justice doing play by play with color analysts Cary Cochran for the games on December 21st and January 15th, and Greg Sharpe doing the games on January 8th and January 20th. Cary Cochran is a former Nebraska stand-out and one of the best three point shooters in school history. He is also the all-time scoring leader in Iowa high school history. Sharpe was the longtime voice of basketball and football for Kansas State University and formerly worked for WIBW-TV in Topeka, Kansas.

Coach Dana Altman had this to say about the partnership with KM3News: "I look at it as a chance for the people to see our ballclub play and the opportunity for our program to grow. Anytime you can be on TV and get yourself some exposure it helps your basketball program and University in so many ways. We really appreciate the opportunity that KM3News has given us."

Creighton Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen offered these comments: "We’re excited about KM3News and Jim McKernan’s commitment to Creighton Athletics. It’s great to have the coverage and commitment from an Omaha TV station and we look forward to a long relationship with them."

Both parties are discussing a long term contract to broadcast Creighton basketball well into the future.

[awefullspellare]

im glad to see the deal made, KM3 has been broadcasting a few games a year now for several years. If they caould get a long term deal iwht more games i tihnk it coudl really boost popularity!

[awefullspellare]

Creighton is about to tipoff with Deleware St. THey are no reanked 20th and 19th!!! GO BLUEJAYS!!!:clap2:

[awefullspellare]

they beat Deleware St. 68-48 i think! low shooting but good D!

[rfc17]

well they better hold them to 48 points. its delaware st. they should cruise until their xavier game. but i dont think xavier is all that great. i bet creighton can beat them.

[awefullspellare]

Creighton Nebraska tonite!! chreighotn winning 32-19 right now!!! :clap2:

[awefullspellare]

9-0!!!!!!!!
81-73!!!!
NEBRASKA LOSES!!!
:clap2:

[awefullspellare]

First Loss :hmm: 75-73 at Xavier, hopefully the Jays can stay in the top 20 still get back on track!!! Korver had 32 points and had 8 3's. HE hit a enormous three with under a minute to go but West's bank shot with 4 seconds left won it. Korver didnt get the ball on the last possesion but Tyler McKinneys 3 banked off the backboard high! GOOD TRY BLUEJAYS!!!!

[rfc17]

i am surprised they lost to xavier. xavier hasnt looked that good this year. squeaked by a cincy team who couldnt make a basket that game, lost to stanford, and was getting killed my miss st but made the score look respectable at the end.

[awefullspellare]

Men's Basketball Moves to 2-0 in MVC Play with 84-63 Win Over Drake

OMAHA, Neb. — The Creighton men’s basketball team withstood a second-half Drake rally to win by 21 points over its Missouri Valley Conference foe, 84-63. CU (11-1, 2-0 MVC) got back to its winning ways after its narrow two point loss to Xavier on New Year’s Eve. The Bluejays held a double-digit lead for over 33-minutes of the game. After the first 10-plus point lead the Jays would only relinquish it for 23-seconds in the second-half. The Bulldogs (5-8, 0-2 MVC) cut the lead to eight points with 14 minutes remaining in the second-half and that is as close as the Jays would let them get as CU took the game over and were up by 27 at one point near the end.

The Bluejays got out of the gates early as the Bulldogs couldn’t compete with their offensiveness. Creighton started the game off with a 15-2 run in the first 6:45 of the game and stretched it to 28-10 when the Bulldogs were finally able to hit double-digits with 7:59 remaining in the first-half. Drake managed to score 20 points in the remaining minutes to close the half out trailing 48-30.

The second-half was close scoring wise as Drake came out firing and cut the18-point lead down to eight points on a 17-4 run 5:37 into the second-half. But that was as close as Drake could get as the Jays went out and had a 20-3 run of their own covering nearly 10-minutes of action. The Bulldogs could only manage three free throws in that 10-minute span. The Jays managed to increase their lead from eight to 27 in just over 11-minutes of play to the final 2:51 mark of the half.

The Jays were led offensively by Kyle Korver. Korver led the team with 23 points, shooting 7-of-9 from the field, and hitting 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Korver was 6-of-6 from the free throw line and grabbed seven boards on the day. DeAnthony Bowden and Mike Grimes each scored 11-points to tie as the next highest point total for the Jays.

Drake’s Greg Danielson had the game’s lone double-double of the day. Danielson scored 14 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in a losing effort for the Bulldogs. J.J. Sola and Luke McDonald each contributed 13 points for Drake in the game.

Creighton shot 51% (29-of-57) in the game to Drake’s 41% (21-of-51). The Bulldogs did shoot better from the three point line as they hit 4-of-11 (36%) to the Jays 6-of-19 (32%). The Bluejays outrebounded the Bulldogs 34-to-31 in the game. Each team shot well from the charity stripe as CU nailed 83% (20-of-24) of their freebies to DU’s 65% (17-of-26).

Creighton hits the road in its next to contests as they take on conference foes Bradley on Wedesday, Jan. 8, and Illinois State next Saturday, Jan. 11.

Post-Game Quotes
Creighton center #43 Brody Deren:
On the spurt after letting Drake within eight in the second-half: “Well we gave them 15-points in the first five minutes and they had carried momentum over into the second-half. Coach was upset, and we were upset coming into that media timeout at the fifteen minute mark. We just knew we had to lock them down. I didn’t expect us to hold them to nine points in the next 13-minutes. DeAnthony (Bowden) gave us some good energy and some of the other guys did. And we made some really good defensive plays and they turned into a few baskets for us.”

On Kyle Korver and his shot selection: “I think he is one of the top shooters in the nation, so we all understand that and we want him to get shots because we need him to get shots for us to be successful. It is nice to know that we have a guy like that that we can go to when we really need it. And everyone has to define and play their role. He isn’t selfish about it, he shoots open shots, he doesn’t shoot selfish shots.”

Creighton guard #3 DeAnthony Bowden:
On coming from the bench: “I think coach (Dana Altman) has me coming off of the bench for a reason. And every game I come in and try to give this team energy. If there is one thing I’m going to give to this team is that I’m going to try to be a defensive leader. I think a lot of my teammates feed off of me and I like the fact that if I’m not giving what they know I can then they jump on my back. I just try to bring a lot of energy into the game all of the time and it works, so I’m going to try to keep on doing it.”

Creighton Head Coach Dana Altman:
On Kyle Korver: Kyle is an unselfish young man, he scored 23 points on the night, he had an open three in the first-half and kicked it down to Kellen (Miliner) underneath the basket. He is not selfish. He plays the game the way it is supposed to be played. He is better than a lot of people think he is and he’s a good basketball player. He is team-oriented, hard working, he’ll dive after a lose ball, he runs the front end of our press having to expell a lot of energy. He can do a lot for us, besides shoot it. A lot of young men couldn’t handle that kind of success all they worry about is points. Kyle is very unselfish and has a lot of character.”

Click Here for the Article from GoCreighton.com (http://www.gocreighton.com/sports/common/news_releases_detail.asp?articleID=2766)

[awefullspellare]

GAME DAY RECAP Saturday, February 01
Creighton 88, Drake 68

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RECAP | GAME LOG
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) _ Larry House scored 23 points, DeAnthony Bowden added 17 and No. 16 Creighton shot 67 percent in the second half to beat Drake 88-68 Saturday night.

Creighton (19-2, 9-1 Missouri Valley Conference) got only six points from leading scorer Kyle Korver, who was averaging 19.1, but it didn't matter because the Bluejays had so many other players contributing.

Tyler McKinney scored 14 points, while Brody Deren and Mike Grimes had 11 each. Korver helped out with eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals.

Drake (7-13, 2-7) stayed with Creighton for 26 minutes but did not have the firepower to keep up down the stretch and lost for the eighth time in 10 games. Greg Danielson led Drake with 18 points. Luke McDonald and J.J. Sola each scored 16 for the Bulldogs.

The game drew a record crowd of 7,152 to Drake's Knapp Center, a figure swelled by Creighton fans who made the two-hour drive from Omaha, Neb., and friends and relatives of the five Iowans who play for the Bluejays.

They saw Creighton take control after Josh Robinson hit a baseline jumper to pull Drake to 57-55 with 14:33 left. Bowden countered with a jumper, starting a 19-4 run that stretched the lead to 76-59. Five different players scored during that burst and Drake never recovered.

After Bowden hit a 3-pointer from the right corner with 12:05 remaining, Creighton began breaking down Drake's interior defense and got 11 of its final 12 baskets on layups. When Korver threw a lob pass from just inside the halfcourt line to a leaping House for a layup, the Bluejays' lead had grown to 86-66 with 3:02 to play.

Creighton made 18 of 27 shots in the second half and shot 61 percent for the game.

Creighton recovered nicely after going scoreless on its first five possessions and built a seven-point lead late in the opening half but could not shake the Bulldogs, who stayed close with the inside scoring of Danielson and Sola.

Danielson's turnaround shot cut the lead to 38-33, and McDonald's 3-pointer drew Drake to 40-36 with 58 seconds left. It was 42-38 after Sola's layup, but Creighton got the last basket when McKinney drove into the lane and hit a floater with three seconds left to make it 44-38.

Creighton got the lead up to 10 before Drake charged back. McDonald hit a runner and Robinson followed with his jumper to make a two-point game. But Bowden scored 25 seconds later and the Bluejays were off and running.