I believe we just won that game

That was the chant in the Creighton locker room tonight. San Diego State's slogan is "I believe," and they've backed it up by going 41-4 since last season... entering tonight, that is.

"The Show" was in full force at Viejas Arena, and the Aztecs fed off the crowd's energy early. They shoved the Jays around under the boards and put the clamps on Run-DMD. Xavier Thames, the burly SDSU point guard, was getting into the lane at will. At one point, it was 31-14 for the Aztecs; the Jays called a timeout to regroup. A lesser team, maybe even last year's team, would have written this game off.

From that point on, though, the Jays were a completely different team. Doug McDermott attributed the team's calm demeanor to Grant Gibbs, the Gonzaga transfer who has personified Creighton's new-found toughness and resilience. Gibbs was all over the court once again: crashing the boards, diving for loose balls, finding the open man. The Jays held a hot Aztec offense in check heading into the second half, and when they looked at the scoreboard at the break (39-35 'Tecs), the team knew they could (nay, would) come out with the win.

"When someone else scores," said Antoine Young after the game, "it's like you scored." What a great way to sum up this year's Bluejays. Taking their cue from Coach Greg McDermott and Gibbs, the Jays have shown a willingness to pass the ball that you just don't see from a college team. This mindset led to the game's key play, when Jahenns Manigat drove to the rim on a busted play and found Ethan Wragge for a floater off the glass. The bucket put the Jays up 84-81 with less than a minute to go.


A Team Effort

Everyone stepped up and played well at times for the Jays. Gregory Echenique was ineffective in the first half, but he stayed confident and played some great D in the second half after the underwhelming Aztec frontcourt muscled him around early. Antoine Young kept the team in it with his offense in those tough first-half sequences, and made several slithering drives to the hoop when the game was in the balance, shredding San Diego State with his hestitation move. His stand-still three-pointer coming out of a timeout put the Jays up 65-62 with seven minutes to go, and from that point on AY had the game under control.

But the player of the game tonight was Ethan Wragge. He went off for 19 points, which included several clutch second-half treys. More importantly, he held his own on defense and on the glass, and he made the play of the game when he dove after Manigat's missed free throw, tipping it away from two Aztecs into the waiting arms of the Canadian Red Bull. (Not only did Ethan attempt his first non-three-pointer of the season, he made no fewer than three huge baskets inside the arc.) After the ensuing timeout, the Jays were able to run out the clock to preserve their hard-earned 85-83 victory.


Early Jitters

Let's go back to discuss the Jays' struggles in the first half. SDSU was by far -- by freaking far -- the best defense Creighton has seen this year. The Jays were playing sped up and weren't getting into the flow of their offense. The Aztecs are long and athletic, and their strategy early on was to send relentless double-teams at Doug McDermott. Dougie got frustrated, picking up a cheap offensive foul at one point, until he found Avery Dingman for an open 3 out of a double and realized that he didn't have to carry the team by his lonesome.

San Diego State also flustered the Jays a bit with a three-quarter court press off of stoppages. Austin Chatman, the true freshman, came up huge with some slashing drives into the lane, causing the Aztecs to back off a bit. He even joined starter Antoine Young on the court late in the first half -- that's a backcourt that can really get by you.


Aztec Firepower

It says a lot that San Diego State, coming in at 7-1, scored a season-high 83 points at home -- and still lost the game. I thought this would be a defensive struggle, in the 60s, but the Aztecs made it a shootout early. Chase Tapley, the lone returning starter from last year's 3-loss team, was absolutely on fire early, but the Jays were able to hold him down in the second half. I'll have to go back and look at the tape to see whether this was due to better defense from Creighton or a lack of aggressiveness from Tapley. At any rate, he all but disappeared during the game's crucial stretch.

One Aztec who wasn't afraid to shoot was freshman Jamaal Franklin. This kid can jump out of the gym, and he has no fear when it comes to scoring. He was aggressive -- maybe too aggressive at times -- shooting awful contested threes on one possession and driving the length of the court for a clutch layup on the next. In the end, San Diego State may have been better served going to Tapley for some of those shots.

But it was Thames who almost willed the Aztecs to a win. Using his size advantage against Young and Chatman, Thames continually got inside off high ball screens and made Creighton pay. He even hit a huge stand-up three when Antoine gave him a bit too much space. I thought SDSU would need to rebuild this year after losing, among many others, their gutty point guard D.J. Gay. Xavier Thames has clearly shown that this notion is bollocks.


Dougie Fresh

Once again, what can you say about Doug McDermott? This was one of his toughest games as a Jay -- he fought double teams and frustration with equal aplomb to finish with his customary numbers (a cool 25 and 12). His defense (2 charges taken!) was key in shutting down the paint after the Aztecs had such success there early. And his scoring run at the end of the first half kept the Jays in the game. His dad Greg drew up several nice out-of-bounds plays in which Doug came off a screen and effortlessly flicked his shot up and in.

Coach McDermott summed it up best postgame: these players trust him, and he trusts them. What's more, they trust each other. They truly enjoy playing the game, something we haven't seen from a Creighton team in several seasons. It's simply a joy to watch, and after tonight's win that nearly wasn't, the excitement surrounding the Creighton program will be at massive levels.

Bring on Nebraska.