Creighton Men’s Basketball Loses to Seton Hall After Blowing 16-Point Lead
Creighton led for all but three minutes against Seton Hall on Sunday, and once led by 16 points but lost on a Pirates three-point play with 1.3 seconds to play, 56-54.
The visiting Bluejays (9-6, 3-1 Big East) were undefeated in Big East play coming into the game and seemed to have matters under control until Seton Hall (13-2, 3-1 Big East) rallied at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
Creighton led 54-51 with 36.1 seconds to play. But a missed foul shot by Nic Graves gave the Pirates an opening. Seton Hall scored with 22.6 seconds to play to cut the deficit to one, then twice tied up Creighton players to regain possession.
“We knew they weren’t going to quit,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said in a postgame news conference.
“Obviously two big jump balls there back to back. That can’t happen. We got pinned on the sideline a little bit and didn’t get it out of there and we didn’t have the wherewithal to call that timeout before the jump ball happened.”
Najai Hines’ three-point play gave Seton Hall its winning margin, and Creighton had a pass stolen before it could try a final shot.
Tough loss for Bluejays
“It’s disappointing on our end,” McDermott said. “When you lead a game for 35 minutes, we expect to finish the job.
“When we got that big lead, we really got casual on both ends of the floor. Lost some of our teeth in terms of attacking offensively.
“Defensively put them on the free-throw line. Several times on shooting fouls, and then several fouls 80-feet from the basket. We needed to win the free-throw battle, I felt, and the rebounding battle.
“We did a great job on the glass. Obviously an offensive rebound cost us the game. Decided to go to that zone [because] they were really beating us off the dribble.
“They were out of timeouts so we felt like we could steal a possession. Unfortunately, we didn’t get Hines off the glass.”
Creighton led 27-18 at the half, then jumped to a 41-25 lead fueled by a 14-2 run. But Seton Hall went on a 13-0 run to cut Creighton’s lead to 45-42. Creighton went eight minutes without a basket.
“I think they [Seton Hall] take on the personality of their coach [Shaheen Holloway],” McDermott said. “They’re tough, they’re hard-nosed, they don’t quit, there’s a lot of fight — coming back from 16 or 18, whatever we were ahead.
“We knew they weren’t going to quit. Obviously two big jump balls there back to back. That can’t happen. We got pinned on the sideline a little bit and didn’t get it out of there and we didn’t have the wherewithal to call that timeout before the jump ball happened.”
“I just think when a team is in desperation mode it’s a little bit different and the fact that we weren’t in the bonus yet allows they to tee off a little bit more. Then they can get away with some things, try some things and not worry about sending us to the free-throw line.”
Swartz a standout for Bluejays
Sophomore guard Austin Swartz scored a game-high 16 points for the Bluejays on 6-of-14 shooting, and 4-of-9 from distance.
“He’s been really good for us since he got into the starting lineup,” McDermott said. “He’s got a lot of room to grow. The thing with him he’s going to get much, much better. I know he’s disappointed in the way this one went.”
Jasen Green had 13 points and Josh Dix had 12 for Creighton. Seton Hall had only one player in double figures, Elijah Fisher with 10.
Creighton’s next game is Wednesday at Villanova, which is 3-0 in the conference, and 12-2 overall. The game begins at 6:30 p.m. CT.
Remaining Schedule:
January 10 St. Johns FOX: 1620 The Zone, 101.9 FM The Keg
January 13 Georgetown Peacock: 1620 The Zone, 101.9 FM The Keg
January 16 @Providence FS1: 1620 The Zone, 101.9 FM The Keg
January 21 Xavier FS1: 1620 The Zone, 101.9 FM The Keg
January 27 @Marquette TNT: 1620 The Zone, 101.9 FM The Keg
January 31 UCONN FOX: 1620 The Zone, 101.9 FM The Keg
February 4 @Georgetown Peacock: 1620 The Zone, 101.9 FM The Keg
February 7 Seton Hall Peacock: 1620 The Zone, 101.9 FM The Keg
February 11 @DePaul Peacock: 1620 The Zone, 101.9 FM The Keg
February 14 Villanova FOX: 1620 The Zone, 101.9 FM The Keg
February 18 @UCONN TNT: 1620 The Zone, 101.9 FM The Keg
February 21 @St. John's FOX: 1620 The Zone, 101.9 FM The Keg
February 25 DePaul Peacock: 1620 The Zone, 101.9 FM The Keg
February 28 Providence TNT: 1620 The Zone, 101.9 FM The Keg
March 4 @Butler FS1: 1620 The Zone, 101.9 FM The Keg
Chuck Bausman is a writer for Creighton on SI. Chuck formerly was the Executive Sports Editor of the Philadelphia Daily News, Executive Sports Editor of the Courier-Post in South Jersey and Sports Copy Editor for the Detroit Free Press. He has been a Big Ten enthusiast for nearly forever. He learned how to cuss by watching Philly sports. You can reach Chuck at: bausmac@icloud.com