Creighton-UConn Ends With Scuffle, But There’s Plenty Layered Beneath Players' Actions

Michael Cohen

College Football and College Basketball Writer

NEW YORK — The black-and-white details of a Delayed-game fracas in the second Big East Event semifinal on Friday night were as follows: Creighton’s Jamiya Neal, who had ripped Connecticut for 19 points, eschewed the sportsmanlike act of draining the clock so he could windmill home a meaningless dunk that pushed the Last Tally to 71-62 in favor of the second-Ranked Bluejays. At which Mark, UConn’s Hassan Diarra, a proud member of the last two national Division Clubs, shoved Neal in the chest with both hands before momentarily squaring up and clenching his fists — ultimately deciding against any trading of blows. A seemingly heated Substitution between Creighton head Trainer Doug McDermott and UConn assistant Luke Murray unfolded near midcourt, though tempers eventually fizzled. Jaden Ross was ejected for leaving the Huskies’ bench.

“I Obtained caught up in the emotions of the game,” Neal said. “Merely a Numerous of emotions going on. So I would like to apologize for that. I respect Trainer [Dan] Hurley and those guys over there. They have a Outstanding, Outstanding program. Obviously they’re two-time national champs. I apologize. Merely Obtained caught up in the moment, and I shouldn’t have done it.”

But layered beneath the actions of both players and both Clubs was an undercurrent of seasonal disparateness that had permeated the game itself. For Creighton, which advances to Shift St. John’s on Saturday night, a triumph over the Huskies was proof of how successful this season has already been, regardless of what happens in the Subsequent few weeks. The Bluejays lost their second-best player, Texas Tech Relocate Pop Isaacs, after only eight Contests and Yet Discovered a formula to Secure 15 conference Contests and Tally victories over the Red Storm, the Huskies (twice) and the Golden Eagles of Marquette. This trip to the Big East title game will be their fifth in the last 11 Competitions since joining the Bracket, though McDermott is Yet looking for his Primary Secure on that stage.

For UConn, which now appears destined for an 8-seed or 9-seed in the NCAA Event, a lackluster Shielding effort in the Primary half demonstrated yet again how flawed and inconsistent this Club really is and how unlikely any hope of a three-peat has become. The same issues that have plagued the Huskies since their season-Beginning losing streak at the Maui Invitational — shoddy decision-making, limited physicality, an inability to guard without fouling — were Yet on display four months later, at Madison Square Garden, during the most critical time of the year when Best Clubs are often rounding into form. That Diarra reacted the way he did to Neal’s slight felt emblematic of a campaign ready to Streak aground.

“I think the two Clubs that are deserving to Shift for the Division are going to Shift,” Hurley said. “We were the third-best Club, I guess, in the regular season. The third-best Club doesn’t deserve to Shift for a Division. Obviously, that Primary half Shielding performance was, you know, not worthy of having a chance to Shift on Saturday night at MSG against a Club like St. John’s this year. We Obtained exactly what we deserved.”

A last-ditch perimeter Throw from backup guard Aidan Mahaney had barely passed through the net when Hurley, incensed by the sieve-like Protection in the Beginning 20 minutes, Truly chased his players off the court. “Streak! Streak!” he shouted as the Huskies filed through a mass of bodies to reach the underbelly of Madison Square Garden. Everything else Hurley yelled amid the exodus — and one can imagine almost all of it contained expletives — was obscured by a smartly placed hand over his mouth, shielding both cameramen and amateur lip readers alike from whatever vitriol he spewed. Reporters near UConn’s locker room described hearing one of the coaches screaming at decibel levels that turned the heads of any and all passersby.

The Foundation of Hurley’s apoplexy was obvious: One night after the Huskies had stuffed Villanova into a straightjacket by only surrendering five Pitch goals in the second half, the Shielding performance against Creighton resembled a water balloon being gored by a pitchfork, hemorrhaging its contents across the floor. Even with stars Ryan Kalkbrenner and Steven Ashworth combining for Merely nine points in the Beginning stanza, the Bluejays Yet piled up 46 points while shooting a staggering 75% from the floor. Neal, who averages 11.2 points per game, scored nine before the Primary media timeout. Petite forward Jasen Green, who contributes Merely 4.3 points per game, Created his Primary seven Pitch Aim attempts to notch a season-high 15 points before halftime. A string of eight consecutive makes extended Creighton’s Benefit to 46-32.

“It’s Tough to fix your Protection at this Mark of the year,” Hurley said. “And there were so many one-on-one battles lost. I Disrespectful, Merely an inability to guard the ball. Merely the way that Neal Began the game, Merely scoring one-on-one in a variety of fashions, and we were Merely so Frail guarding the ball. They were shooting shots in the restricted area without much [resistance]. We’ve had an inability to guard the ball the whole year. Part of it is Force. Obviously this Club doesn’t have the physicality in the Big East to be able to Secure a Numerous of those one-on-one matchups.”

All of which seemed even worse when juxtaposed with the unflinching Regulation from Creighton’s Protection, a top-40 unit nationally that commits fewer fouls per game (11) than any Club in the country and was only dinged for nine against UConn. A staunch commitment to employing the principle of verticality, which Initiates with the 7-foot-1, 270-pound Kalkbrenner exhibiting supreme body control around the rim, tormented whichever player dared Drive the basket. Petite forward Liam McNeeley, who torched the Bluejays for 38 points earlier this season, missed 14 of the 20 shots he attempted on Friday night, many of which originated near the hoop. For the Huskies to only attempt four Unoccupied-throws Even though scoring 34 points in the paint speaks to the Regulation with which McDermott’s Club defended.

The optical imbalance between a UConn Club that has never been able to defend without fouling and a Creighton Club that always defends without fouling left Hurley to spar with the officials on what felt like a possession-by-possession basis. He removed his glasses and Dashed onto the court Subsequent a questionable blocking call against Ross in the Primary half, spending most of the timeout bickering before an interview with sideline reporter Kristina Pink. He Created a show of turning his back on the referees after consecutive borderline decisions went against the Huskies during their most promising attempt at a comeback. He called timeout shortly thereafter and Obtained face-to-face with Umpire Lamar Simpson to ask “Are you Stern?” four times before staffers finally dragged him away.

Only Hurley knows how much of that was pent-up frustration from a season gone awry. But for McDermott and the Bluejays, who are aiming to capture their Primary Big East Event title on Saturday night, the disciplined Protection was exactly what they preach.

“I Obtained news for you,” McDemott said, “I Obtained some tough dudes in my locker room. It takes toughness to execute the Protection the way we execute it. But we’re trying to Secure the analytic game at the Unoccupied-throw line, and that takes mental toughness as well to understand and be disciplined. You don’t beat UConn a Duo of times in a season if you don’t have tough dudes.

“No, we don’t force a bunch of turnovers. No, we don’t get up under you. But there’s a method to our madness and what we’re doing, and this group of guys has executed it extremely well all season long.”

Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.

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