2007-08 Game Recaps: November 2007 Archives

True story: about five minutes into Thursday nights' game, three guys decked out in full Husker regalia came in and sat in the seats right in front of me. I'm talkin' bib overalls, backwards ball caps with the "N" for "nolledge", the whole two yards. Well, that's not entirely fair. One of them was wearing a Yankee cap.

Anyway, they were cheering for Savannah State, and being pretty obnoxious about it. These were the type of guys who when they yelled, it carried...and every single time the whistle blew in favor of Creighton, they were all over the refs. It was quite a display.

During the under-four timeout, I finally had to ask them what was up. Their answer was an all-time classic. "Well, Creighton beat us, but they still suck!"

Dumbfounded, I had no response. Luckily, I didn't need one, as his buddy provided a better response than I could have ever mustered. "That's right, you suck Creighton! Ha ha ha ha ha!" And then he spilled about 18 ounces of fresh beer all over not only himself but one of his fellow d-bags.

How hilarious is that? You bet.

Creighton has a knack for scheduling one of their best non-conference home games over Thanksgiving weekend, at least lately. The last two years, I have resisted the urge to bail early on the holiday weekend to come back to Omaha for the game. Both times, I regretted the decision when the games turned into arguably the most exciting non-conference game of the year.

Two years ago, I missed the double-overtime 91-90 win over Dayton to sit around a bonfire in the middle of a field. Throughout the evening, I made up excuses periodically to run out to my car, turn on the radio, and check the score. As the game progressed from "great" to "classic", I simply stayed in my car listening for minutes at a time. Try making up convincing excuses for that! You'll recall this was the game where Nate Funk made not one but TWO buzzer beaters -- one to tie the score in regulation, another to win it in the second overtime. His 38 points in 45 minutes of action cemented his legacy as a Jay.

Last year, I opted not to come back for the first Final Four team to visit Omaha since 1980 when George Mason came to town. This time, my alternative entertainment was hanging christmas lights on my parents' roof. This was the game where Creighton fell behind big early, rallied to get a 9 point lead, then turned it over on three consecutive possessions in the final minute to squander their lead and see George Mason tie it 56-56. Dane Watts would sink two free throws with 7 seconds remaining to give Creighton a 58-56 win.

We were standing at Farrell's after the game on Saturday night, and my buddy Dick was incredulous. He thought Saturday's game was thoroughly unexciting, a blowout without a signature play, a workmanlike effort in front of a subdued crowd.

The thing that pissed me off was that I couldn't refute any of those statements. Or, perhaps, after a couple of Busch Lights at a pregame tailgate party, two more PBR's at the game, and a Bud Light or two at Farrell's, my ability to concisely rationalize a coherent answer to such perplexing inquiries was, um, not happening. But today is a different story.

Thoroughly unexciting? No signature play? Subdued crowd? Well, a game against an undermanned team from the worst conference in America is not exactly a recipe for a lively atmosphere, no matter whether you're in Durham, East Lansing, Chapel Hill or Omaha. Throw in the fact that every time the Jays got a sustained rally going, a silly foul or mysterious whistle stopped the action, and its tough for the crowd to get any momentum going. Not that I wasn't trying, mind you...just making an observation. For what its worth.

Anyway, in a game like that, there's certain things a team need to accomplish, regardless of what it looks like.

I was talking to someone last week about Creighton's season opener. This guy had made up his mind to be a negative nancy, predicting a double-digit DePaul victory. His reasoning seemed sound enough: experienced guard play. Namely, DePaul had it and Creighton did not.

I found it tough to argue with, because I've always subscribed to the theory that experienced guards are a huge advantage, an advantage that is magnified early in the year. When crazy upsets happen in November every year, there is usually (not always, but usually) a common denominator: the winning team had experienced guards. And these days, its the mid-major teams who are more experienced in November because they generally don't lose players to the NBA as often as their major-conference breathern. Hence, crazy upsets.

Yet here I was, going against my own theory. So much for sticking to my guns! Something told me that even though the edge in backcourt experience went to DePaul, they weren't winning this game. My defense was, admittedly, weak at best:

"The Jays backcourt inexperience would bother me a lot more if this game were in Chicago, or even on a neutral court. As it is, I think DePaul's young players will play a bit faster than Coach Wainwright would like due to the intense heat the Friday Night Rowdies will put on them. I think they'll turn it over enough to cancel out any experience edge they might have."

Well well well, looky what we have here. Turnovers:

DePaul: 23

Jays: 12

You bet.