March 6th, 2016: Creighton at Villanova (Big East tournament)

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Cold three-point shooting doomed Villanova in Creighton's 57-48 quarterfinal upset. MC McGrory scored 20 points to lead the Bluejays, 14 after halftime, and Sydney Lamberty put up a double-double (10 points, 13 rebounds). Samantha Wilkes had 18 points and seven rebounds to lead the Wildcats, but no one else cracked double figures for Nova.

For being out of order, unnecessary threes, setting screens, celebratory Jays, face paint, nifty hats, and riding the horse into the ground, join your intrepid and travel-wearied blogger after the jump.
Good morning, loyal readers! It's going to be a long day, but a fun one, as the Big East heads into its second day of tournament play with four games. Second seed Villanova and seventh-seeded Creighton will start things off.

Creighton's student section is rocking out to the music.

Fair number of Villanova fans have already arrived, including Papa Coyer in his custom jersey.

We're showing color solidarity with Creighton for this game. That, and they're fun to watch. That, and I like the part where Villanova loses.

If it holds throughout the day, the scoreboard operator is acknowledging high seeds and "home court advantage"- Creighton is the Bluejays, but Villanova is Nova. We'll see if it's an aberration or a habit.

We swiped a "Go Bluejays" sign from the Creighton ticket table, because, well, I like the part where Villanova loses.

There was a video tribute to Harry Perretta's 700th win before the game. That was very nice.

At halftime, Creighton is up 27-21. Pretty balanced scoring for both teams, with Jade Owens's 8 leading Creighton, and Adrianna Hahn and Samantha Wilkes each with 6 for Villanova. One thing worries me- it feels like Villanova is controlling the pace of the game, despite the Creighton lead. The Jays are running the clock down way too much and way too far.

The halftime game is amusing.

We're sitting behind the Creighton fans with the awesome (home-made, hand-knit) bluejay hats. There will be pictures.

Seton Hall is starting to trickle in. We're greeting them appropriately. Fans are trickling in for the second game too. I think Claire Lundberg brought family.

That was one heck of a finish. Villanova was ice-cold from outside today, but if you live by it, you have to die by it. Some days the system doesn't work, and this Villanova roster doesn't have the flexibility to work outside the system. Did Creighton get lucky? A little. They had good puck luck, but you don't get good puck luck without being in position to take a good shot. They came on strong late.

Lauren Works probably doesn't appreciate puns off her last name, but she really did put in work on the defensive end. She was amazing down the stretch, tough on both sides of the floor. I think I would want to smack her in the face repeatedly if she were playing my team, but when I can root for her, I will. She has that Taurasi-McCoughtry over-exuberance to her. Brianna Rollerson played less than I would have expected, but she didn't really earn more minutes. You can't be passive if you're the biggest player on the floor. You can't pass up shots in perfect lay-up position. You can't give up space to more slender players. You have to be assertive, especially when Villanova isn't an interior team. You can't pull down just 1 rebound in seven minutes.

Bailey Norby had a quiet game, though once again I call attention to her unsung work- she had a nifty pick to break Audrey Faber free for an early three. She didn't play a lot, as Creighton went small, but she was there when it counted. Sydney Lamberty owned the boards. Her shots went in odd directions, like many a Bluejay's shot, but she was fearless. Audrey Faber had foul trouble for most of the fourth quarter, and eventually Flanery rolled snake eyes and she got her fifth foul. She was tough when she was in, and she gives the Jays such versatility.

Jade Owens's shot wasn't falling quite as well as it was yesterday. She's so fun to watch, but I can see some of the flaws in her game now- she relies too heavily on that wild floater in the lane, and she gambles too much on defense. She seems to rely on luck, and as we've seen, that can go against you. Or one of your teammates can bogart all of it the way MC McGrory did. I think only one of her shots that bounced on the rim more than once bounced out. She got glass. She got the rolls. She fought through contact to score big and-1s in the second half. I wonder if she shoots better when she's got contact than when she's got space. She is so damn tough. I admire that.

Kavunaa Edwards has a very weird looking shot. It looks like it has all the mechanical flaws you tell shooters not to have, but it goes in rather more often than you think it would. She was blocking shots in the second half, too, using her length to make life difficult when Creighton penetrated. I really don't remember much about Kendall Burton's play or Jordan Dillard's play. There may have been a dumb foul or two sprinkled in there somewhere- I think Burton's third was unnecessary.

When the system works, it works. When the system doesn't work, Adrianna Hahn gets the urge to throw it up from wherever she is on the floor, whether that's somewhere in the general vicinity of Gary or into the hands of a double-team. Perretta's been hard on her whenever I've seen them- I'm not sure if that means he's giving her the keys to the car or if she's going to flee screaming to St. Francis Katherine Coyer makes a lot of good hustle plays- she rebounds well, she works the baselines well, and she has a nose for the ball. Alex Louin got open early on and made a nifty defensive play, but Creighton didn't leave her open for long after that.

Megan Quinn is another one with a really awkward looking shot, but hers wasn't going in as often as it did the last time I saw Villanova. She's one of the few players on Nova who I don't think should have the three-point green light that most Wildcats have. Samantha Wilkes had herself a day. Something tells me she wasn't on the scouting report for the Bluejays, and it showed. But here's another example of "you live by the three, you die by the three": all of Wilkes's makes came either on midrange jumpers or in the lane. All of her misses came beyond the arc, and most of them weren't all that close. She's got good height, and when she uses it, she's very effective. But when you get sucked into the system, then sometimes the system has its effects.

Right now I couldn't tell you a thing about the officiating. I vaguely recall Villanova being extremely upset about a call, but I can't remember who or when or why.

Creighton's band won pretty hard, in my opinion, but Villanova didn't have their full band. At least Villanova didn't have the audacity to perform "Mars".

The more I watch Creighton, the more I enjoy watching them play. Of course, this will have to end in the semis.