Recently in 2006-07 Game Recaps Category

In my preview of this game, I wrote "it will be a barnburner, coming down to a couple of plays late to win. Whoever makes the big play will win a game like that; the classic March Madness photo finish. And I trust the Jays to make that big play. I really do."

Well, it was indeed a game just like that. Except Creighton wasn't able to make the plays down the stretch to win. They played close the entire day, with 12 lead changes and 10 ties. Nevada's largest lead was 7 (coming in the first half), Creighton's 6 (coming in the second half).

Traditionally in NCAA Tournament games that CU has lost, Creighton has started slowly, fought back to make a game out of it, and ultimately lost in the waning moments. Only the West Virginia game two years ago broke the mold. Even in the two games they've won, slow starts were the rule.

Against Nevada, however, Creighton started reasonably well. In fact, the first half was incredibly competitive, and the Jays had a 32-28 lead with just 30 seconds left in the half. In that first half, they got points from Pierce Hibma, Manny Gakou and Isacc Miles -- all coming off the bench -- and that had to be seen as a positive sign.

What a time to play your best three games of the year! On Championship Sunday in St. Louis, the Jays finished off a near perfect weekend of hoops with a 67-61 victory over Southern Illinois.

One of the things I'm really disappointed was not brought up in either the postgame on the radio nor on the local Sunday night TV programs was how it happened. Well, I'm going to bring it up now and rectify the situation.

Fans and writers have complained for a long time about Southern Illinois' style of play. Hell, I've done it myself. Its a grudging complaint, really, because you have to give them credit for winning. You've heard the talking points: they hack, they hand check, they tackle, they turn the game into rugby.

History will refer to the 2007 MVC Semifinal as "The Nate Funk Game". In a game where his Jays and Missouri State were playing what some pundits called an "elimination" game for an NCAA Tourney at-large berth, he came up with his greatest game as a Jay, putting the team on his back and carrying them to a blowout win.

Just look at the box score:

The Jays B-team lost to Indiana State 11-10 on Friday night, small consolation for a Sycamores squad whose season ends at 13-18.

Yes, you read that right. Creighton's B-team (or the B-Jays, if you prefer) began subbing in at the 8:02 mark, and the final 7 minutes of the game was played with a lineup consisting mostly of these players:

Pierce Hibma, Nick Bahe, Brice Nengsu, Dustin Sitzmann and Manny Gakou

No starter played after the 5:39 mark when Nick Porter came out, and still, this team of B-Jays managed to hand a one-point loss to the Sycamores over that span.

I'm shocked, SHOCKED, that not one article in a newspaper or online about the game on Saturday had this for a lead:

"Saturday's white-out was not limited to the outdoors. For Creighton's home finale, 17,200 fans dressed in white packed the Qwest Center to watch the Jays defeat Wichita State 71-57."

There's sometimes when a cliche is just TOO easy, I suppose, even for me. Which has never stopped me before...

There are losses and then there are LOSSES. Teams that have NCAA-asperations do not lose by double digits to the last-place team in the league. And if they blow a 10-point lead in the second half of that game, getting outscored by one player in the half -- well, that's bad. I'm an optimistic fan to the end, but even I can't spin that one.

Tuesday night, the Jays went into Normal, Illinois looking to rebound from a disappointing home loss to Drexel in the BracketBuster. Normal is a place where the Jays have traditionally struggled, but those teams they struggled against were Kevin Stallings' coached Redbird squads. Not the Porter Moser-led lower division finishers of late.

It was also the first time in the last 15 games that the game wasn't televised. For me, this couldn't have set up better. Over the weekend, I'd gone out on a first date with a girl I met earlier in the week. Now, if you didn't do anything too heinous to mess up the first date and she actually wants to go out again, you do what you can to make that happen on her schedule. Her schedule said Tuesday night. Great. No really, that's fantastic. Tuesday it is. (Damn it!)

My buddy John has repeatedly said all year that Manny Gakou is, quote, My Boy. As in, "Your boy Manny Gakou had a stellar 46 seconds of court time there!" or "Two fouls in 12 seconds by your boy, Manny Gakou?"

First off, Manny Gakou is not my boy. If I was sitting in for Tony Kornheiser on PTI (and frankly, why not?) and Michael Wilbon accused me of this being true, I'd have the same answer. But I can see where the genesis of this accusation comes from. All year long, I have hoped against all odds that Gakou could become the solid backup post player the Jays so desperately need. That's why I try to make a point of applauding him when he shows signs of improvement or makes solid plays. That's why I even gave him the coveted Polyfro Heee-Haw POTG award a couple of weeks back.

The lack of a solid backup for Anthony Tolliver hurt the Jays chances against Southern Illinois in the game in Omaha, and it hurt them Saturday against Drexel. The Dragons are big, athletic and tough, but with Tolliver on the court, the Jays were the better team and led for most of the game. However, with Tolliver on the bench, the Dragons were a nightmare matchup. Drexel's bigs, Chaz Crawford and Frank Elegar, absolutely destroyed the Jays when Tolliver wasn't in the game, going on a decisive 14-0 run after he picked up his 4th foul midway through the second half.

Since I can't quite figure out what the hell happened in this game -- which is probably the result of sneaking into the UNI party at Old Chicago before the game, where its a distinct possibility that my drink was spiked -- this recap is going to use what we writers call "gimmicks". Lots of them. It will be pathetic. It will be awesome. It will suck. Pathewsomeck. There's the first gimmick: inventing a new word!

My response:

Since the Jays/SIU game was a 5pm tip, and I had a lame black-tie event to get to later in the evening that precluded me from either going to the bar to watch the game, or from having a few beers while watching it at home with the guys, I decided to keep a running diary during the telecast. Why? Because I can, and because it costs you nothing to read this stuff, I expect that answer to be sufficient.

You bet.

This was almost a grave situation. For 20 minutes of this game, I was sure I would never be able to eat Cinnamon Sugar Mini Donuts again. Not at the Iowa State Fair, not at the Qwest Center, nowhere, ever again.

They're the greatest culinary creation in the world, but I only get them once or twice a year -- the insane amount of sugar combined with whatever beverage I choose that night leaves me obnoxious and nuts. Think this guy: