Mighty UConn Suffer Upset in Road to Back to Back NCAA Titles as In-Form Creighton Show Their Worth

The NCAA tournament witnessed a clash of the titans on Tuesday night. A jam-packed CenturyLink Center hosted the conference game of the season as the table-toppers, the UConn Huskies, took a trip to Nebraska to face the No. 3 Creighton in a mouth-watering fixture. After winning their previous encounters by hefty margins, both teams entered the contest trying to assert their dominance in the Big East.

However, it was the home team that caused a huge upset, as the defending champions were completely outplayed in every department. Connecticut was handed a crushing 85-66 defeat courtesy of Creighton’s all-round play. The loss has jolted UConn’s hopes of winning back-to-back national championships.

How did this enticing NCAA game turn out?

The visitors were in for a surprise, as Creighton had every answer to what the Huskies had to offer. The Bluejays held the upper hand very early in the game as they got a double-digit lead. Seemingly, the home team was not at all intimidated by the fact that UConn was coming off a 14-game winning streak. The Bluejays came out all guns blazing and breached UConn’s defense with ease. Consequently, the Huskies found themselves trailing by 23 points with just 10 minutes to go in the first half. But UConn was in no mood to surrender, as they bridged the gap soon. Still, the hosts had a 14-point lead when the officials decided to blow the first buzzer.

The game got tighter in the second half, with the Huskies trying to turn the tide in their favor. A spirited effort from senior guard Tristen Newton paved the way for a comeback for the reigning national champions. Unfortunately, he appeared to have been fighting a lone battle, as no other player stepped up and delivered. As a matter of fact, apart from Donovan Clingan and Stephon Castle, none of the remaining players managed to join Newton and secure a double-digit score. As a result, the Bluejays were able to suppress Newton’s resistance and further control the game. In the end, they scored 42 points in response to UConn’s 37 in the second half and closed the deal at 85-66.

It was an immaculate collective effort by Creighton’s big guns that resulted in a monumental win for Greg McDermott.

Creighton’s Soaring Bluejays

It took an absolute best from four top players to overcome Creighton’s six-game losing streak to the Huskies. Evidently, a double-digit masterclass from their offensive powerhouse was enough to take down the mighty UConn. The charismatic No. 1 Steven Ashworth was the one who started the onslaught for the Bluejays. He scored 16 out of his 20 points in the first half itself to blow the vulnerable UConn defense to bits. Moreover, he also held his defensive end and grabbed seven rebounds in his 37 minutes on the court.

Read More: With Donovan Clingan Making a Comeback, Can the UConn Win Back-to-Back Titles?

Further, he received substantial support from junior guard Trey Alexander and towering center Ryan Kalkbrenner. Both of them combined and added 31 points to further strengthen Creighton’s grip on the match. In addition to this, 6′ 7″ guard Baylor Scheierman also chipped in with a valuable contribution of 12 points and 7 rebounds to go with 6 assists.

Sadly, for the Huskies, it was a cruel night as they succumbed to the overwhelming display by the Bluejays.

What went wrong for the Huskies?

As it turns out, the NCAA champions were having a miserable time in the middle. It would seem that Dan Hurley’s crew was at the wrong end of most of the statistics for the night. They had a horrid conversion rate from beyond the arc, with only 3 out of 16 attempts ending up in the basket. On the other hand, the Bluejays were able to bury 50% of their 3-pointers. The Huskies weren’t up to the mark from the field as well, with a dismaying field goal percentage of 44.1 (26 of 59) at the end of the night.

Also, there was clear daylight while distributing assists between both teams. UConn had only eight in the bag, while the Bluejays ended their night with 18. In terms of blocks as well, Creighton was clearly the better team, as they secured 5 blocks to the Huskies’ 1.

Hence, this impressive show by the home team was able to dazzle head coach Greg McDermott.

What does the head coach have to say?

Clearly, head coach Greg McDermott couldn’t have been more proud of how his team was able to create such a monumental upset. He wasn’t able to hide his elation in the post-game media address. Greg said, “It’s a historic game for our program. I told the team in the locker room that it’s really the culmination of a lot of work by a lot of people over a long period of time to give these guys the opportunity to wear this uniform and play in front of the crowd we were able to play in front of tonight. We played a really good game, and we beat an incredible team, a team that has a legitimate chance to win a national championship. But we’re pretty good as well.”

Indeed, it was a memorable day for the entire team as well as the staff of the Creighton Bluejays. With this victory, they have clearly shown that they hold a worthy contention for the Big East. On top of that, they have shown that the team has what it takes to conquer the NCAA heavyweights. Meanwhile, the Huskies do have a lot to think about before they move ahead in the competition. They need to get over this disappointing defeat and regroup before they approach the business end of the tournament.

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