Unranked Providence stuns No. 11 Creighton Bluejays at home
Photo Courtesy Creighton Athletics
By Ana Bellinghausen, Editor-in-Chief
FIRST HALF
The Jays came up empty handed in their first three possessions of tonight's contest against the Providence Friars, allowing their Big East conference foe to start off on a 7-0 lead.
Christian Bishop cashed in on a driving lay-up to give No. 11 Creighton their first bucket against the Friars at 17:58 minutes to play.
The Jays then faced a 11-2 deficit, as the team failed to find an offensive rhythm.
Nate Watson led Providence, owning six of the team’s 13 points with just over 15 minutes left of the first half. The Friars held the top-ranked Jays to just two total points for nearly five minutes.
Marcus Zegarowski ended Creighton’s scoring drought with four points from the charity stripe after back to back shooting fouls at 15:12 left to play.
With under 14 minutes, the Friars responded on a deep three from Alan Breed, putting the visitors on top 18-6.
With 11:52 left in the first half, the Jays only made one of their 12 shots. None of the team’s six three-point attempts hit. In fact, four of their six total points were from the free throw line. Creighton suffered a 17 point margin, one of the worst of the season.
Another layup by Bishop cut the Friar advantage to 15 with a score of 23-8 with 10:56 to play in the half.
Zegarowski finally pushed the Jays into double digits with a made three-pointer, the team’s first of the night. Creighton now trailed 23-11 with under 10 to go.
At 7:55 left, the Bluejays forced a shot clock violation against the Friars, keeping the deficit to 11. Watson continued to lead Providence with nine points, while Zegarowski led the Jays with seven total points.
In a change of momentum, Damien Jefferson put the Jays on his back, scoring all six points of Creighton’s 6-0 run. The Jays now faced just a five point deficit.
Then, a Zegarowski three ball pushed Creighton to within three with 5:03 on the clock and 26-29 on the scoreboard.
At the final media timeout and 3:25 left, the Friars led 30-26. Jefferson and Zegarowski combined for 20 of the Jays’ 26 points. Watson still led the Friars with nine to his name.
With under two in the half, Creighton trailed again by five.
After two made free throws from Providence, Jefferson tapped in an Alex O’Connell miss on the ensuing possession, making the score 32-37.
A dunk by Watson secured a seven-point advantage for the Friars. Jefferson answered back again with two made free throws on a shooting foul, keeping the Jays within an arm’s reach of five points.
A missed three-pointer by Providence’s David Duke left the score at 39-34 heading into the break.
SECOND HALF
After two minutes of play in the second half, the Friars surged to a nine-point advantage.
A Bishop dunk cut the Providence edge to seven with 17 minutes left for the night. The Friars responded with a driving layup from Watson, which sent their lead to 11.
Bishop, again, replied right back with a layup of his own, making the score 48-39 and a now seven point deficit for Creighton.
A costly defensive foul by Bishop put Watson on the charity stripe, and the senior center pushed his Friars to 50 points and a 13-point lead with 15:48 to go.
A put-back from Ryan Kalkbrenner and an Antwann Jones jumper narrowed the margin to just nine points at the 13-minute mark.
With 11:37 left in the second, Creighton found themselves short 11 points once again.
Watson tabbed 19 points thus far for the Friars, while Jefferson led the Jays with 15.
Out of the media timeout, Kalkbrenner stuffed one for the Jays and cut Creighton’s deficit to nine with a 54-45 score.
With under nine minutes remaining, Watson and Jefferson exchanged jumpers for their respective teams and brought the game to 56-47.
At 7:58 left, a screen from Zegarowski sent Jefferson crashing into the paint for a lay-in, putting the senior forward at 19 points on the night. The Jays still trailed by seven.
Another scoring drive by Jefferson put the Jays in gear and up to a 6-0 run with seven minutes remaining.
A defensive chant from the crowd at the CHI Health Center erupted and the Jays forced a Friar shot clock violation to give possession back to Creighton with 6:02 to go.
On the ensuing possession, Zegarowski sank two free throws after a shooting foul and the junior brought down the Friar advantage to just four.
Providence head coach Ed Cooley took a timeout as the Jays continued their rally back at home.
With four minutes remaining, a pair of Bishop buckets put the margin down to three. The Friars responded with a Breed three-pointer, pushing the Providence edge to six.
Out of a timeout, Mahoney laid in a bucket to make it 65-61 at the CHI. A defensive stop by the Jays and a Jefferson layup in the paint brought the game within two.
The Friars retaliated with a dunk from Watson and asserted a four-point lead with 1:56 left to play.
Two missed free throw opportunities from Jefferson kept the Friar advantage at 67-64 with 1:24 to go. Jefferson was 50% from the line thus far after ten attempts.
Then, a costly turnover from Providence guard Duke gave the ball back to the Jays with just over a minute left.
Creighton’s Mitch Ballock ended his own cold streak as he cashed in on a bucket after only three shot attempts on the night. Creighton trailed by two with 40 seconds to go.
A three-point dagger from Duke sent Providence up five with 20 seconds on the clock.
An intentional foul by Creighton put Watson at the charity stripe, the Friar leading scorer cashed in on both opportunities and gave Providence a 72-65 lead.
An acrobatic three-pointer from Zegarowski kept hopes alive at home. The Jays now only trailed 72-70 with 5.6 seconds remaining.
Another intentional foul by Creighton put Duke at the line shooting and then making both attempts. The Friars solidified a four-point advantage with just over 2 seconds left.
Zegarowski put up a desperate three-point shot as time expired at the CHI Health Center. The unranked Providence Friars, led by Watson with 29 points, knocked off No. 11 Creighton at home with a final score of 74-70.
The Jays return to action at home on Jan. 23 at 1:30 p.m. against the No. 23 Connecticut Huskies.