March Madness Saturday recap: No. 3 Creighton beats No. 11 Oregon in double overtime to cap the day

[ad_1]

It took two overtimes, but Creighton made sure there would be no upsets on Saturday.

The No. 3 Blue Jays took down No. 11 Oregon 86-73 in double overtime to advance to the Sweet 16 in the Midwest Region. Creighton forced the first overtime when Baylor Scheierman hit a jumper to tie the game with less than 10 seconds to go and the game went to a second overtime when Steven Ashworth’s shot bounced off the rim as time expired in the first extra period.

Oregon took Creighton to the brink of defeat despite literally not getting any scoring contributions from players who weren’t Jermaine Couisnard or N’Faly Dante during the second half. Jackson Shelstad’s shot with 46 seconds to go in the first half was the last point scored by a player other than Couisnard or Dante.

Seriously.

The Blue Jays pulled away in the second half as Oregon’s reliance on its two stars simply stopped working. The Ducks were scoreless throughout the final five minutes until Dante made two free throws with 34 seconds to go. After the game was tied 71-71 at the end of the first overtime, Creighton outscored Oregon 15-3 in the final period for an anti-climactic end to what had been a close game the entire way.

Couisnard had 32 points and Dante had 28 with 20 rebounds. Only two other Oregon players scored. Shelstad had seven and Jadrian Tracey scored six.

Ashworth led Creighton with 21 points as Trey Alexander had 20. Center Ryan Kalkbrenner had 19 and Scheierman scored 18. Neither team had a lead of more than six points at any point until Creighton pulled away in the final overtime.

The win puts Creighton in the Sweet 16 for the third time in the past four seasons. The Blue Jays made the Sweet 16 as a No. 5 seed in 2021 before losing in the second round as a No. 9 seed in 2022. A season ago, Creighton got to the Elite Eight and lost to San Diego State as the Aztecs made it to the national title game.

The 2024 NCAA tournament could be Creighton’s best chance to make the Final Four for the first time ever….

[ad_2]
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/march-madness-saturday-recap-no-3-creighton-beats-no-11-oregon-in-double-overtime-to-cap-the-day-042525924.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-03-24 04:25:25

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.