Creighton Wins Another Thriller in Back and Forth Battle Against Xavier
Creighton Bluejays (12-8, 6-3 Big East) wins another close game, this time against the Musketeers (11-8, 3-4), 94-93, on Wednesday night at the CHI Health Center Omaha.
It was an instant Big East classic. What a shot. What a game. Xavier and Creighton were going back and forth. If this were the Big East tournament, the crowd would’ve been ten times louder. Games like this one are why College Basketball is amazing. The two teams combined for 106 points in the second half.
Austin Swartz became the hero once again. He hit a game-winning shot with a mix of redemption. Swartz missed a game-tying free throw and then collected the offensive rebound and scored the last field goal of the game with 0.6 seconds left.
The Bluejays were trailing 93-89 in the last minute of the game. Creighton finished by scoring five unanswered points. Swartz finished with 16 points. Guard Josh Dix led the team with 19 points. Nik Graves added 16 points and 9 assists. Five Creighton players had double figures. Creighton shot 54.2 percent for the game and made 70.8 percent of its free throws. Their three-point shooting was outstanding.
Xavier played terrific despite the loss. Their leading scorer was Tre Carroll. He had a game-high 29 points on 12-for-14 shooting. The Musketeers shot 56.9 percent from the field and made 12-of-24 three-point shots.
The Musketeers and Bluejays have a long history of battles. Both teams have met 25 times, dating back to 1938. Wednesday’s victory marks the 22nd win for Creighton against Xavier. The Bluejays are now 22-23 against them.
One of the key factors in Creighton's win was its bench. Their bench points were huge. Creighton’s bench outscored Xavier’s bench 40-13. In a game of basketball, rebounding, free throws, and bench points matter a lot. We say this because sometimes those areas are overlooked. A team may shoot poorly from the line in the first half, but shoot better in the second half and can still lose the game—every single point in a game matters.
If Xavier had more production from their bench, then the game might’ve had a different outcome. In the meantime, the Bluejays won the game because of adjustments and seizing key moments. Both teams fought hard, and we will see more epic battles between the Big East rivals.
The Bluejays' next game will be on Tuesday, January 27, in a road game at Marquette. The game starts at 7:30 Central time.
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