Shockwaves

Final: Creighton 68, WSU 65

WSU’s final play was the same play it ran two possessions early. Mekel runs it upcourt, hits Cooz at the top of the key, then Cooz finds Mekel on the right side of the arc. Mekel was never open but had to force it.

Thanks for tuning in tonight. Be sure to check back often to Shockwaves for updates from beat writer Paul Suellentrop.

Final: Creighton 68, WSU 65

WSU has to go the length of the court, no pressure from CU. Crowd implores Mekel to hurry. He didn’t have a clear shot at a three, but is fouled driving. He’ll get two with 26.2 to play.

Make, make, a two-point game.

WSU presses, CU breaks it with 15 seconds to go. The Jays don’t look to the basket and WSU fouls with 12.9 seconds to play.

Stinnett has two shots, already has 15 points. First one’s good — he takes his darn time, but it pays off — and the second one’s off. WSU rebounds.

Mekel to Cooz, back to Mekel, his shot is contested and short. Griskenas misses a meaningless layin at the buzzer.

0:36.6, 2nd half: Creighton 67, WSU 63

Griskenas rocks this place with a three with 1:28 to play, tying the game.

Stinnett, the impressive freshman, is fouled on a drive, 1:09 to play. He gets two shots . . . swish, make. CU, 65-63.

One minute . . . 45 seconds . . . Mekel drives and has nowhere to go but throw it into a crowd, and the Jays steal it, getting it ahead to Dotzler for a layup with 38 seconds to go.

Ugh.

1:46, 2nd half: Creighton 63, WSU 60

Clemente has made big defensive plays in the backcourt tonight. His steal led to a CU foul and he goes to the line with 2:18 to play: miss (so quiet the guy in row 30 could hear the Creighton radio guy), make. THREE-point game.

Mekel fouls Dotzler midway through the shot clock, he’ll get one-and-one with 2:01 to go . . . bounces out, Griskenas rebounds.

Crowd’s nutso.

Timeout, the jacket-less Gregg Marshall. Now this, from the Henry Doorly Zoo.

2:25, 2nd half: Creighton 63, WSU 59

Big possession here. WSU has to score and somewhat quickly. Couisnard is fouled by Stinnett, he’ll get one-and-one: swish, make. Five-point game.

Senior Dane Watts just made a freshman mistake. He forced Mekel out of bounds as Gal grabbed the rebound, picking up his fifth foul with 3:05 to play. He’ll end with seven points, but he was much better in the second half than the first.

Mekel’s first FT bounces in and out. Second one is good. Four-point game, three minutes to play.

Offensive foul on Pierce Hibma, running over WSU’s Ramon Clemente. Fans on their feet again for this possession. CU packs it in and Preadom charges for a turnover, 2:25 to play.

3:33, 2nd half: Creighton 63, WSU 56

Marshall had to call a timeout, he couldn’t wait another minute for a media timeout.

Watts fouls Griskenas, who’s been a non-factor tonight. He makes both, a 10-point game. WSU needs a stop in the worst way, but CU will work the clock first.

Couisnard takes a “might as well” three that goes in at the four-minute mark. A Jays turnover gives WSU the ball after you hear this from the Nebraska Beef Producers.

5:16, 2nd half: Creighton 63, WSU 51

Looking forward to what Marshall has to say postgame. . . .

Thomasson makes two foul shots, it’s 57-51. 7:30 to go as Witter puts up a runner over Thomasson, 59-51.

Props to the CU radio guy for saying Witter got away with a double-dribble. (He did.)

Stinnett hits a 17-foot bank jumper over Couisnard, didn’t call it, for a 61-51 lead.

Witter hits another runner off an outside screen. Now it’s 63-51 and trouble time.

7:56, 2nd half: Creighton 57, WSU 49

Gotta say, I truly enjoy sitting next to the visiting team’s radio broadcasters. Especially if they’re passionate. Especially if passionate means “homer.” I didn’t realize Creighton hasn’t committed a foul or an unforced turnover tonight, but now I’ve been enlightened.

But hey, passion is great. What college basketball is all about. That, and billions of dollars.

Tied again after Durley sinks the foul shot.

Josh Dotzler gets wide open when Mekel leaves him to double-team Watts, who finally finds his teammate for a layup.

Key point in the game. Preadom committed an offensive foul that Marshall didn’t like, and Marshall turned away from official Patrick Evans and make a motion with his arm. Evans didn’t see him do that, but turned around and whistled a technical. Don’t know if Marshall said anything. Now Marshall is stalking up and down the sideline like a madman after a long conversation with referee Eddie Jackson. He out-and-out stared at Evans for the beginning of the next possession. Marshall paces again, this time with his arms at the side of his head. Now he stands cross-armed. He took off his jacket during this, too.

Meanwhile, CU has made four straight FTs for a 54-48 lead. Key time, indeed.

As Marshall rants to third official Brad Gaston, Couisnard makes one of two, a three-point game.

Watts makes it an eight-point game with a long three-pointer over Durley, 9:30 to go.

A Durley miss gives the Jays the ball again. Marshall has to forget the technical and get his guys re-focused.

We have a long delay after a shot-clock violation by Creighton, and a tussle between CU’s Millard and Couisnard, gets the teams riled up. Still 57-49, 8:30 to go.

It’s WSU’s turn for a shot-clock violation after Preadom’s shot is rejected and Mekel can’t get another shot off. But Clemente makes a steal and WSU will have the ball.

11:30, 2nd half: Creighton 48, WSU 47

Creighton-WSU games are usually entertaining, and this has been no different. Both teams are playing well, neither are making mistakes like you’d see in an Augusta ninth-grade girls game, and the crowd is just waiting for WSU to take the lead again. Fans are standing through the timeout, which means they’re dying for something good to happen.

And there’s the Shock-o-Meter. What fun!

Bahe is turning out to be a dagger. He has 13 points now after another three from the right side. He averages six points.

J.T. Durley gets a rebound and puts it back in and is fouled. He’ll get a FT after the media timeout to try and tie it again.

12:17, 2nd half: Creighton 45, WSU 45

Ritter tried a three and was knocked around afterward. He missed, then Hatch nailed one to tie the game.

But Harriman of CU drills another three for a 43-40 lead. This is like a boxing match with big punches back and forth.

Couisnard counter-punches with another three, tied at 43.

Two trucks — CU’s Millard and WSU’s Thomasson — just met head-on with a screen. Millard got a moving screen foul. Thomasson got the bruise in the morning.

We have a Dane Watts sighting. CU’s leading scorer got free on the right baseline for a 15-footer. But WSU follows with a halfcourt Mekel-to-Griskenas pass against the press for an easy dunk, tying it at 45. That got Dana Altman to call a timeout.

15:59, 2nd half: Creighton 40 (maybe 39), WSU 37

WSU’s man defense is not helping inside. That is, when a CU big man gets the ball, they’re not doubling, figuring the Jays’ inside players aren’t good enough to hurt them one-on-one.

Backup post player Kenton Walker of CU has three fouls at the 18:08 mark.

WSU’s within a point, 36-35, after three straight Clemente points. But his last FT missed.

At every dead ball, Clemente fools with his surgery-repaired pinky finger.

The Shockers haven’t led since 19-18 midway through the first half, though they’ve not trailed by more than seven and usually by 1-4 points.

They tied it momentarily on Mekel’s dish pass to the right to Clemente for a dunk, then Cavel Witter buried a three — officials had to review it on video to make sure he was behind the line — for a 40-37 lead.

Halftime stats

Creighton scoring: Bahe 10, Stinnett 9, Hibma 5, Millard 5, Harriman 3, Watts 2. .583 FG, .462 3FG, no FT attempts.

WSU scoring: Couisnard 12, Mekel 7, Thomasson 6, Hatch 6, Clemente 1. .462 FG, .333 3FG, 5 of 9 FT.

Turnovers: CU 10, WSU 6.

Two fouls: Watts, Witter, Millard, Clemente. WSU had four team fouls.

Shocker Hall of Fame inductions

Jason Adams (baseball shortstop) goes first. His speech is short, talks about pride while he was here and still proud now. Gene Stephenson is dressed like he’s ready for South Beach.

There’s Jennifer Kaczka (women’s hoops), one of my favorite Shockers to cover while I was on the beat. The woman just hustled every single possession. Every rebound, every shot. She talked a few weeks ago about wanting to coach here someday; I hope she gets her chance. I think she could still average 12 and 10 in the Valley.
Pat Magness (baseball DH) always tried to act like Frank Thomas. Jersey number, big first baseman, a big body who wasn’t a power hitter but a great for-average guy. His .464 season in 1998 is still amazing to me.

Halftime: Creighton 34, WSU 32

WSU uses its first-half 30-second TO to escape falling out of bounds. At least I think that’s what happened. I had an excellent view of Eddie Jackson’s posterior.

After the timeout, Couisnard can’t get it in and gets the other kind of TO.

Bahe hits a jumper when Preadom falls after a hard screen. 32-27.

Another long possession ends in a shot-clock violation when Thomasson’s shot is stuffed — not just blocked, but stuffed — by Chad Millard.

After a CU turnover, Mekel dribbles up, stops and tries to fire a three, but he traveled before it. Can’t understand that kind of decision.

Great pass from Preadom, a no-looker to a cutting Couisnard for a basket and foul. Would like to see more of that kind of playmaking from Preadom, who just seems to be around but not doing much so far this season. FT misses, it’s 32-29.

Couisnard finished inside this time and tied the game with a three-point play. The officials all missed a CU player kicking the ball into the stands — not sure how all three can miss that — then Thomasson draws a charge at the other end. WSU has the ball and can take the halftime lead.

Nine-second difference on the clocks, but CU steals it. Bahe hits a jumper with three seconds to go over Mantas Griskenas, ending the half.

3:57, 1st half: Creighton 30, WSU 27

Graham Hatch doesn’t get his shot quickly, but it’s pure. He fired over a defender to cut the Jays lead to three.

Stinnett is fun to watch. He grabbed a long rebound and put it back in from about 6 feet.

WSU walkon Bret Michael continues to provide solid minutes at point guard. The pride of Bel Aire.

Couisnard gets a tough inside basket to make it 30-27.

A moving screen on CU’s Watts negates a three-pointer, WSU has the ball.

7:23, 1st half: Creighton 28, WSU 21

Graham Hatch gets a three off a set inbounds play. WSU has the lead 19-18 . . . momentarily, until Chad Millard gets his own rebound for a Jays basket.

Millard hits a three next time down. That’s five Jays with threes already.

CU’s up 25-19 after a nifty cut to the basket by Hibma. Graham Hatch didn’t fight through the pick and went under and got burned.

J.T. Durley, who’s been in three minutes, took a too-quick three-point attempt from the top that was long. But a CU charge gives WSU the ball back.

The Jays’ press is meant more for eating shot clock than it is trying to create turnovers. It’s working, throwing WSU’s rhythm off.

Couisnard scores on a runner, he’s got four, it’s 25-21. Then Bahe busts a three for a 28-21 lead.

Cavel Witter has two CU fouls after hacking Couisnard.

11:56, 1st half: Creighton 18, WSU 16

No subs for WSU out of the timeout. Thomasson misses the FT, WSU’s 1 of 3.

Stinnett hits another runner, he’s got seven.

Aaron Ellis is Marshall’s first sub, for Couisnard.

Creighton’s starting to create some separation with three-pointers. Casey Harriman came off the bench for one, then Pierce Hibma, normally a starter but a reserve tonight, hit another for an 18-14 lead.

WSU’s press is causing more problems for CU than CU’s for WSU. The Jays foolishly pick up the ball just past midcourt and get an offensive foul out of it.

15:13, 1st half: WSU 12, Creighton 10

A nothing opening possession turns to gold for the Shockers. Nothing inside, no open shots outside, and Gal Mekel drives and puts in a runner at the shot-clock buzzer. But Dane Watts gets a rebound reverse layup for CU to make it 2-2.

Creighton has opened in a 2-3 zone after a zone press. It’s caused two long opening possessions, but Couisnard’s steal and transition move for an inside basket is the best way to beat a zone.

P’Allen Stinnett is going to be a nightmare for the rest of the Valley. His penetration shot makes it 4-4, but Mekel breaks the zone press with a basket.

Stinnett hits a three, though, for a 7-6 lead. Back and forth so far.

Altman’s jacket is off. That’s nothing new.

Couisnard gets a second steal off a full-court press, feeding Mekel for a quick three. It’s 10-7.

Great atmosphere tonight. After a Bahe three for Creighton, Thomasson gets his shot blocked, gets it back and puts it in with a foul. He’ll have a chance for three points after the media timeout.

7:05 p.m.: Here we go

Shockers in gold again. Creighton in royal blue. Everybody up at your computers. Stand for defense! (Right? Or is it offense?)

7 p.m.: The little stuff

Tonight’s officials: Eddie Jackson, Brad Gaston and Patrick Evans, who I swear is about 18 years old. Dude looks extremely young.

The Creighton five: P’Allen Stinnett (there’s a surprise), G Josh Dotzler, C Kenny Lawson, G Nick Bahe, F Dane Watts.

The WSU five: F Ramon Clemente, F Phil Thomasson, G P.J. Couisnard, G Wendell Preadom (instead of Graham Hatch, we guess), G Gal Mekel.

6:40 p.m.: Why this one’s important

Let’s face it, Wichita State is a pretty good bet to be in Thursday’s play-in round at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in two months. It’ll take a heck of a run, with or without Matt Braeuer, to escape the bottom four of the conference.

So at 1-3 in the conference (8-7 overall), here’s what the Shockers have ahead of them after tonight: at Illinois State, at Southern Illinois, then three at Koch with Northern Iowa, Bradley and Missouri State.

Include tonight’s game and what kind of record do you see in the next six? I’m saying 2-4. Maybe 3-3 with an LSU-UAB type run. More importantly, Gregg Marshall will have to know by the rematch in Omaha on Feb. 2 what parts of this team will be his future. P.J. Couisnard, Braeuer and Phil Thomasson will be gone next year, and the guys with the most minutes after that are Gal Mekel and Ramon Clemente.

This tidbit overheard from Creighton radio guy T. Scott Marr: He conducted his pregame interview with Dana Altman, returned to press row and said Altman was as tight as he’s ever seen him. Now THAT’S saying something.

6:30 p.m.: Play quickly, boys

When I arrived, an announcement was on the press table: No Internet access after 10 p.m. They’re making upgrades on campus.

No triple OTs tonight, boys.

6:15 p.m.: Matt’s on the court . . . in shirt and tie

As Gregg Marshall told the Omaha sports radio host the other day, Matt Braeuer is day-to-day. Today, evidently, that means he won’t play. (In case you’re wondering, Braeuer is a couple inches shorter than TV guy Craig Steven and a couple inches taller than TV guy Bruce Haertl.) If you haven’t heard Marshall’s interview with the Omaha station, check Paul’s post below. It’s good stuff. Or bad stuff, depending on how you view it.

Creighton is 2-2 in the Valley after a 9-1 non-conference start. The Jays won their first five — only beat Savannah State by 26, though — and dropped their first by 13 at No. 21 Xavier on Dec. 5. But once the Valley started, CU dropped a home game to Illinois State, then lost to former assistant coach Kevin McKenna at Indiana State 62-54. I’m betting Dana Altman didn’t talk the entire flight back to Omaha.

Since that Jan. 2 game, though, the Jays have a one-point win at Missouri State and an easy 77-59 win at the Qwest Center over Evansville (from here on to be called Valley Doormat).

This is not the Nate Funk-Anthony Tolliver Jays that we’re used to. F Dane Watts is the only starter back (he makes his 100th straight start tonight, I don’t think they’ll stop the game to recognize it), though guards Nick Bahe (former KU walkon) and Pierce Hibma are seniors.

But the CU bench has been the story — 41.9 points a game, second-best nationally. P’Allen Stinnett, a 6-foot-3 guard from Las Vegas, is the player to watch. He scored 23 second-half points against DePaul in CU’s opener. It was the Jays’ best scoring display from an opening performance in 38 years.

6:10 p.m.: Time to rate the Bluejays

As always during the conference season, we’ll rate the incoming opponent to start the blogging night. We rate the school and its importance to the Missouri Valley Conference. We’ll use the following for criteria, giving a maximum of 10 points for each and a minimum of 1.

1. Its national reputation in college basketball. Before the 1990s, Creighton’s national reputation was being the school where baseball great Bob Gibson once played. Then along came Bob Harstad, Chad Gallagher and Tony Barone, and the Bluejays dominated the Valley for 2-3 years (which may speak more toward how weak the Valley was back then). Then along came Dana Altman after Kansas State scooted him along. One of Creighton’s favorite stats in those first few years of the Altman era was bragging about improving its victory totals each of the first seven-or-so seasons. But that’s a stat that’s only relevant for so long — say, seven-or-so seasons — before you have to start giving folks NCAA Tournament stats. And that’s been the Creighton success-o-meter lately, whether the Bluejays make the NCAA field. CU has made seven NCAA trips in Altman’s 14 seasons and another three NIT stops. He has made the Jays, along with Southern Illinois, the standard-bearer for the Missouri Valley Conference. When outsiders think of the Valley, they think of Dana Altman and SIU’s defense. And what an awful place Cedar Falls is to travel to, but that’s for another day. . . . 10 points

2. Where its best players rate historically among the conference’s best. An off-the-top-of-my-head All-Creighton team during its Valley years would be C Benoit Benjamin, F Bob Harstad, G-F Rodney Buford, G Kyle Korver and G Nate Funk. That’s three former MVC players of the year, three NBA players. And that’s leaving off Shocker killer Kevin McKenna, now Indiana State’s coach. Remember McKenna in the 1981 Valley final at the Roundhouse? Folks forget that even though WSU got to the Elite Eight that season, they suffered a bad home loss to McKenna and the Bluejays in the MVC final. Anyway, an all-CU team stacks up well to most all-whomever teams in the conference, though certainly not the winner of that mythical tournament. 7 points

3. Its home arena. I must admit, I’ve not been inside Qwest Center Omaha (but I have been inside Qwest Center Grand Island and Qwest Center Kearney). Still, when grading a new home arena, you must take into consideration what the old place was like. And the Omaha Civic Center, despite a big facelift in the late 1990s, was mostly a dump. It had the feel of a minor-league hockey arena, the kind you might see in “Slap Shot.” Cold, dark, no personality. The move into QCO has obviously been a boon to the Jays program. Sellout crowds, much better student support, and going to Creighton games has become an Omaha event. Is that because they’re winning or playing in a state-of-the art arena? 10 points

4. Its home fans. It’d be a stretch to call Creighton fans “bandwagoners,” but it’s hard to imagine sold-out crowds if the Jays had a couple of seventh-place Valley seasons. Remember the dark days of Shocker hoops, when there would ALWAYS be 6,000 folks in the stands, even if Chad Williams was in the starting lineup? Don’t see that happening in Omaha. But as long as they’re winning, I’m told QCO gets pretty loud. And since we’re living in the present . . . 6 points

5. Its home city. These are 2000 census figures: Omaha, population 390,000; Wichita, population 344,000. Omaha has Council Bluffs across the river. We have Haysville across the river. Here’s my point: Despite similar sizes, Omaha seems light years ahead of us on the sporting scene. Maybe it started when the Aeros left Wichita in 1984 and we lost the same Triple-A city status that Omaha, OKC, Tulsa and Des Moines enjoyed. Omaha’s eight years ahead of us with a downtown arena, and in addition to that yearly baseball lovefest they call the College World Series, the city this year will also host a first- and second-round NCAA Tournament regional and the U.S. Olympic swimming and diving trials. Plus it has Pauli’s, the CWS bar of choice. Wichita can remedy the NCAA basketball regional thing by applying for one here in a year or two, and let’s hope Bob Hanson and the Sports Commission gang thinks big, in arena terms, when it opens in 2010. 8 points

6. Its mascot and school colors. Bluejays, blue and white. Not much originality. The school logo says “Jays” and that’s it. Sigh. 2 points

7. Most colorful players and coaches from the school. Let’s pay tribute to a colorful non-player and non-coach. I don’t know his name, but a school chaplain has been on the Bluejays’ sideline since I was a kid. I’ve always called him Father Bluejay, which probably dooms me in some way. He’s not a referee baiter, he’s not a coach, just a chaplain on the sideline. I always used to think that he was worth a couple baskets a game to CU, though, right? 5 points

8. And, finally, a chance to earn 10 bonus points based on none of the above. Tonight I’m sitting next to Creighton associate athletic director Kevin Sarver, a great guy nicknamed “Sarv” and a CU guy since time began. He and athletic director Bruce Rasumussen are two examples of why Creighton gets bonus points — the CU athletic department has a tremendous amount of class. Beat writers travel the Valley over and over and build relationships with other beat writers and other athletic department people. Creighton folks are easily tops around the league when it comes to professionalism and class. . . . Sarv, you buying me a beer tonight? 7 points

That’s a total of 55, which puts the Jays into the lead. Six schools to play.

The current standings
Creighton 55
Illinois State 43
Drake 29

Game preview in a few minutes.

6 p.m.: Welcome to Shockwaves

You see the live blog has a new home. We’re over here now on Paul Suellentrop’s Shockwaves, the blog he’s promised to update three times a day until he realizes that’s too much. But, technically, he made three posts on the blog before readers even knew there was a Shockwaves blog, so that’s sayin’ something.