NEW YORK, N.Y. — A spirited 17-point second half comeback and an 11-0 run in the final 1:55 of regulation forced double-overtime before the Creighton Men’s Basketball team edged out DePaul for an 85-81 win in the 2025 BIG EAST Championship Quarterfinals, presented by JEEP, on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. With the win, second-seeded Creighton (23-9) advances to Friday’s second semifinal that will tip off at 8 p.m. Central and air on FOX for a game against the winner of tonight’s quarterfinal pitting sixth-seeded Villanova against third-seeded Connecticut. DePaul, meanwhile, ended its season 14-19.
Trailing 62-51 with 2:12 remaining, Fedor Zugic ignited an 11-0 run with back-to-back three-pointers to cut the deficit to five at 62-57. A Ryan Kalkbrenner lay-up with 1:10 left cut it to three, before Steven Ashworth cashed in a deep three-pointer with 21.3 remaining to tie the game at 62-62. DePaul had the ball for one final possession in regulation but four-time BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Kalkbrenner swatted Troy D’Amico’s three-point try and Rivera’s desperation heave airballed as time expired.
Creighton took its first lead of the game on the opening possession of overtime on a dunk by Zugic, giving the newcomer his first double-figure scoring game of the year and helping Creighton open the first overtime on a 10-2 run to go up eight (72-64). DePaul scored nine of the next 10 points to tie it at 73-73 on a Layden Blocker floater over Kalkbrenner with 1.8 left to force a second overtime.
The Bluejays took a 77-76 lead with 2:12 left in the second overtime stanza on Kalkbrenner’s hook shot to give him 30 points. The All-American scored the next time down as well to put CU up 79-76, and Jamiya Neal’s dunk in transition gave CU a 81-76 lead with 1:12 remaining. A driving dunk from Blocker with 54.6 left cut the Jays lead down to 81-78, before four free throws from freshman Ty Davis sealed an 85-81 win for the Jays. Davis, who had scored just 17 points all season, including 5-of-11 free throw shooting, before making 5-of-6 shots from the line at the World’s Most Famous Arena.
Creighton started slowly, making just 1-of-11 shots from the floor, falling behind 11-3 before a Neal jam before the second media timeout. The Bluejays trailed by as much as 28-11 in a first half that saw them shoot 29.6 percent from the floor, and were still down 36-21 after a late three-ball from D’Amico. Isaiah Rivera topped the Blue Demons with nine points and three assists in the first half as the Blue Demons shot 5-for-7 from downtown and won the rebound battle 21-16, while CU was led by six points from Kalkbrenner before intermission.
A 10-2 run fueled by eight points from Kalkbrenner helped CU trim its deficit to 42-33 within the first five minutes of the second half. Ashworth’s first triple of the night got CU within 46-40 with 11:40 remaining but DePaul regained the momentum with a three-pointer to beat the shot clock by Blocker and a driving lay-up from Rivera. An Isaac Traudt trifecta narrowed the deficit to five (54-49) with 6:43 remaining and a massive dunk from Kalkbrenner made it 54-51 a minute later but DePaul countered with three-pointers by Rivera and D’Amico and a layup from Thomas to push their lead back out to 62-51, before the Jays made their late push.
Kalkbrenner led Creighton with 32 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots. Zugic added a season-high 13 points, as the Bluejays finished the game shooting 43.1 (32-of-72) percent from the field, 29.4 (10-of-34) from three and 72.2 (13-of-18) from the free throw line. CU won the rebound battle 44-40 and ouscored DePaul 24-12 off turnovers, 42-34 in the paint, 17-8 in second chance points and 28-15 off the bench. Blocker had a team-high 25 points and Rivera added 17 points for the Blue Demons. The Blue Demons, who made 11-for-45 three-pointers in two regular-season meetings vs. CU, drained 12-of-30 three-pointers on Thursday evening.
NOTES: Creighton’s 36-21 halftime deficit matched its largest of the season … Ryan Kalkbrenner blocked a shot for the 17th straight game, had his 24th straight game with 10 or more points and had his 19th straight game with seven or more rebounds … Creighton’s seniors scored its first 21 points of the second half … Ryan Kalkbrenner became the fourth player in CU history with multiple seasons of 600 point seasons, joining Doug McDermott, Bob Portman and Marcus Foster … Ryan Kalkbrenner had 20 points or more for the 14th time this season and 38th time in his career. It was his third game of 30+ points this year and fourth of his career … Creighton’s last win after trailing by 15+ points at halftime came on March 18, 2008 when it trailed Rhode Island 45-30 and won 74-73. … Creighton had its largest comeback victory ever in a BIG EAST Tournament win, as the previous mark was when down 11 against UConn in a 2021 semifinal win. It was also CU’s largest comeback win of the year, and tied the second-largest under Greg McDermott … Creighton became the first team to overcome a 15-point halftime deficit at the BIG EAST Tournament since South Florida was down 49-33 and beat Villanova 70-69 on March 8, 2011 … Today is the first time in BIG EAST Tournament history that multiple teams overcame 10-point halftime deficits to win, as Marquette also did against Xavier in the second quarterfinal … Creighton improved to 26-1 against DePaul since joining the BIG EAST 12 seasons ago, including 23 straight wins. The 23 straight wins tie the BIG EAST record for longest winning streak over another league team and is the nation’s third-longest win streak over another conference foe behind Gonzaga win streaks over Pepperdine (49) and San Francisco (33) … The 23 straight wins are also CU’s longest win streak ever over another opponent … Creighton is now 3-0 against DePaul in the BIG EAST Tournament, also defeating the Blue Demons in the 2014 quarterfinals and 2015 First Round … Creighton is now 11-10 all-time at the BIG EAST Tournament, including a 6-5 quarterfinal round mark … CU has won at least one league tournament game in 10 of the past 14 seasons … Greg McDermott‘s 11 league tournament wins at Creighton are five more than any other coach at their current school … Creighton has won its last 27 games when scoring 69 points or more against DePaul …Creighton has won 14 of its last 16 conference tournament games decided by four points or less.
Found a way.
?? BIG EAST Quarterfinals vs DePaul.#GoJays pic.twitter.com/85g4IqFNM1
— Creighton Men’s Basketball (@BluejayMBB) March 14, 2025
Thursday, March 13, 2025
New York, New York, USA
Madison Square Garden
Creighton Bluejays
Coach Greg McDermott
Fedor Zugic
Ryan Kalkbrenner
Postgame Media Conference
Creighton 85, DePaul 81 2OT
THE MODERATOR: Coach Greg McDermott, Fedor Zugic, and Ryan Kalkbrenner for Creighton.
GREG McDERMOTT: Before I start, I want to congratulate you, John, on an unbelievable career. You have treated us like one of the Big East from the time that this team from all the way out in the Midwest joined the league. Your professionalism and work ethic and the way that you have represented our league is really unmatched. It’s not going to be the same without you.
So thank you for your contributions to this great conference.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
GREG McDERMOTT: Ton of credit to DePaul. Coach Holtmann has done an unbelievable job of instilling his culture in a short period of time with a bunch of guys that weren’t on the team last year. That’s very difficult to do. Especially when the wins weren’t necessarily stacking up early in the conference season, to finish the way that they finished and to play as well as they have here in New York, I mean, let’s be honest, we were really fortunate to win that game.
They outplayed us for virtually all the game, and a lot of credit goes to them. I had some guys step up. Obviously, Ryan was huge down the stretch. Ty Davis went into a difficult situation and ran the team and made his free-throws, and then Fedor gave us a huge, huge lift off the bench.
We weren’t at our best, but certainly DePaul had a lot to do with that.
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Mac, I’m sure you’ve asked yourself this question multiple times over the last ten minutes, but down 17 early in the second half, down 11 with two minutes to play. How did you guys pull that one out?
GREG McDERMOTT: You know, you’ve been around me long enough, probably. We don’t really panic in our program. I thought the first half — and I told the team this after the game and at halftime — I thought we let our offense dictate our defense, hanging our head because we were missing some shots that were relatively open.
But we stayed true to who we are. We kept believing, kept fighting. We went to the full-court pressure. That changed, at least sped the game up a little bit, which we needed to have happen when we were down that big, but guys kept fighting, they kept believing. Kalk hits two big threes to get us back in the game. Steven didn’t have a great night by Steven’s standards, but he had a huge shot to tie the game.
Q. Ryan, you were really aggressive down the stretch in the second half. Then you played both overtime with four fouls. Still stayed aggressive. What was your mindset even though you kind of were on thin ice there from a foul perspective?
RYAN KALKBRENNER: I think I’ve been around long enough to kind of know how to play aggressive without fouling. So, I mean, especially when Stevo went out, I knew I had to play aggressive and kind of lead the team. I couldn’t do that tentative just because I had four fouls.
Yeah, I don’t think I let it change my mindset much. Just had to go out there and play.
Q. Mac, Ty Davis coming in and not playing for virtually 40 minutes, how impressive was he down the stretch with the free-throws and also getting to the rim for the one drive?
GREG McDERMOTT: After the one foul I thought defensively he had a great stunt on D’Amico on a three out of the corner that really upset the rhythm of that shot at a critical time. So we preach all the time for guys to be ready. You never know when your number is going to be called. Ty has embraced that, obviously.
I joke, you know, he would never make a free-throw when I’d go to watch him play in high school and AAU. He would miss free-throws all the time. I think he missed a couple in the state championship game. I was hoping he wasn’t thinking about that because I probably was a little bit, but he’s worked really hard at everything. He’s about all the right stuff. He was ready when we called his number.
Q. It looked like you threw out a few different coverages with Kalkbrenner, Coach, out there. What was the thought process there, and what does it give you to have a center that gives you that kind of versatility on defense?
GREG McDERMOTT: Yeah, I mean, he’s made me a pretty good coach the last five years. I think one of the things — we talked about a lot of things at the end of last season when he went through the — when he was contemplating the draft. One of them was to be able to guard in space on switches, which is something the NBA looks for.
He’s gotten so much better at that. To the point where guys kind of quit trying to challenge him. A huge block on the three-point shot late in the game where he was able to help and get back and make a play.
He gives us the flexibility to do a lot of different things. We can put him in drop. We can be aggressive once in a while. You know, when Traynor got hurt, then that forced him into the small line-up some, which pulled him away from the basket. Fortunately, he can move his feet and do a job when he needs to.
Q. This question is for Ryan. Sometimes comebacks happen really fast with a 15-0 run or a 20-0 run. This was like a slow drip where you guys kind of crawled back into it over the course of the second half. What are the conversations like with the players and in the huddle when the comeback isn’t happening all at once and you just have to slowly, slowly, slowly chip your way back into the game?
RYAN KALKBRENNER: I mean, it sounds cliche, but just stay with it. We’ve got a lot of experience on this team. We know, like you said, sometimes it happens fast. Sometimes you have to keep chipping away. Like Mac said, a lot of times in the last few weeks, what makes this team really, really good is our togetherness and unity. You don’t have comebacks like that without being together and sticking with each other and not giving up on each other or trying to play hero ball because you don’t trust your teammates or whatnot.
Just staying with each other and chipping away at it.
Q. Ryan Kalkbrenner, you get to be back here for Friday night in the Big East Tournament in your last Big East Tournament. What’s the significance of that?
RYAN KALKBRENNER: I mean, like I’ve been saying ever since I decided to come back for another year, I haven’t gotten the Big East Championship yet, so to come back for another day and get another shot at staying another day and getting a shot at the championship is huge.
I really, really, really want this championship, and I’m going to play my butt off to get it. Yeah, it means a lot to be able to come back another day.
Q. Fedor, this has been a really weird year for you. I don’t know if there’s been many college basketball players who can have the arc that you’ve had, but what it’s mean to you to have this as kind of an icing on the cake moment towards the end of a season of a year where you didn’t even know if you were going to play?
FEDOR ZUGIC: It means a lot. As you said, it’s icing on the cake, and I’m just glad I got to experience March for the first time in my life, because my dad called me before the game because, you know, in Europe it’s 3:00 in the morning. He said, should I stay up and watch the game? I’m, like, I don’t know. You can, but… then he texted me after the game. He said, I’m so glad I stayed up (laughing).
You know, it’s a lot of fun being out there with my guys and being free and playing my game, and while I’m doing that, I’m helping them out in games like this. I’m just proud of everybody on this team and how we fought and how we got this win, and we just have to keep rolling.
Q. Mac, you got 24 points off of turnovers on them. You only led this game for seven minutes. My question is, how proud are you of your team the way they pressed in that second half to get you back in this game so that you could be in the semifinals tomorrow?
GREG McDERMOTT: I’m incredibly proud of them. That’s not what we do, anybody that watches us play. We practice it enough that if we need it, you hope it’s going to work. It’s certainly not how our team is built, but we executed it pretty well.
And, like I said, we changed the tempo of the game. They did such a great job of controlling the possessions, and I don’t know how many shots they hit as the shot clock was expiring, and that can be really deflating to a team.
We kept on playing. Down 11 and we get lucky they missed a free-throw, but Fedor hits back-to-back threes that give us a chance. Kalk hits a layup, and then Steven hadn’t had a great night, but hits a huge one at a critical time. I’ve been around Steven long enough to know that he thinks the next one is going in. Usually I do too.
Really proud of this group. As Ryan said, this has been one of the more rewarding seasons of my career because of how connected this group is. Our strength is in our unity and their belief in one another.
There’s no egos on this team. I’m not getting calls about guys getting not enough shots, not enough minutes. That hasn’t happened one time this season. It’s been a great ride. I’m very proud and happy that we get to stay in New York another day and see if we can’t get to Saturday.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
153558-1-2377 2025-03-14 02:11:00 GMT
Thursday, March 13, 2025
New York, New York, USA
Madison Square Garden
DePaul Blue Demons
Coach Chris Holtmann
Postgame Media Conference
Creighton 85, DePaul 81 2OT
THE MODERATOR: Coach Chris Holtmann here for DePaul.
CHRIS HOLTMANN: Give Creighton credit. It was a whale of a game. Give those guys credit, Greg and his staff and players. Whale of a game. 7 came in and made some big plays for them late. Incredibly proud of our guys the way they battled for the last six weeks. But we give them credit. Tip our hat to those guys, Creighton, for pulling this out.
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. As disheartening as it is to lose on an effort like tonight, can you just take it all in and describe what you took away from the season? Especially a lot of people didn’t think they would come back in that first overtime. You were down eight and came back. I want to talk about the resiliency and building the bricks for next year.
CHRIS HOLTMANN: Yeah. Yeah, this has been a really rewarding team to coach because of that type of stuff that you see. You know, we talked all year about, at DePaul, we’re going to have a strong backbone. We’re going to respond the right way in the face of hard things. Man, did they do that in overtime and did they do it for the last — for the bulk of the season, but certainly with the injuries and everything.
So, you know, Troy and Isaiah, those two guys that played throughout this stretch, they’re two of my — man, I just love those kids. I just love those kids. They just wouldn’t let this group give in.
There’s no question that this group has laid a foundation moving forward in a real positive way. I would like to begin giving credit to those two guys. Obviously hurts on a night like tonight, but I’m really proud of this group.
Q. Coach, in yesterday’s press conference you had mentioned that finishing, you guys play very well normally or play well enough, but sometimes just finishing isn’t your strongest suit. Is that something that you’re going to take into next season and really try and hammer home? Like, now it’s time, we have the team, we just have to finish?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: That’s always the case. Offensive rebounds. I have to help them more late, too, in a couple of those situations. Offensive rebounds, we have to make free-throws. You are going to have some of that. The rebounds hurt us.
Like I said, 7 made some key plays there late where it was an eight- to ten-point game, seven-point game. You knew Kalkbrenner was going to be Kalkbrenner and Ashworth was going to be Ashworth, but he made some big plays for them in critical moments.
Yeah, I mean, I think that’s always the case when you play games this close.
Q. Chris, after an emotional game like this, what do you tell your team after the game?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: We just had some time together. You know, it’s tough because there’s a possibility that there could still be more basketball in our future here, so the finality of the season is real because our guys obviously played well enough to advance and wanted to advance, but that’s a conversation, as well.
I think as much as anything I just really thank the guys. There were a lot of tears, a lot of emotional guys, coaches included. I think when you go through something like this with a group, you can feel really good about kind of the fruits of our labor collectively. That’s, I think, what we’ll reflect on, that this group really has laid a foundation of competitiveness that we need to build on moving forward.
Q. It’s tough at the loss, but in this world in NIL and the transfer portal, do you have any time for players that are coming back? Do you want to talk about the plan for that going forward?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: We’ll have those conversations here immediately. Those are two-way conversations, but yeah, we’ll have those conversations immediately. There’s always already been some of those, but yeah, those will happen here in the next couple of days, couple of weeks.
Q. In terms of looking into next season, what are your points of emphasis as you continue to build off of what you’ve made at DePaul so far?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: I think the biggest thing is we want to build a roster that we — we want to build a roster and play a certain way that we played this year… skilled, versatile, high IQ, tough, and high character. That’s the most important thing moving forward.
Then we’ll adapt to in terms of how we play if we need to, but that’s the most important thing this offseason.
Q. After a tough loss like that that ends the season, as you mentioned, sometimes coaches are in better position to sort of keep the big picture in perspective, the progress of the program and stuff like that. You guys had a large lead. You guys had a big lead late, a couple of chances to put it away. How are the players handling that, kind of letting it slip away there?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: It’s obviously disappointing. They played their hearts out. They played their hearts out. That’s normal. I think they laid it all out there. Like I said, just in these games it comes down to a few plays.
Give Creighton credit, but I think they also reflect back and know that to be in that position, they had to play a really, really good game. A really good game. We played a really good game.
Q. Coach, you really got this thing turned around here. I can tell the finality of it is tough for you. My question is, you’re going to build on this for next season. When you lead these guys for pretty much the whole game except for seven minutes, how invigorating is it for you moving on to next season?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: That’s a good question. Most of what we’ll look at is how we played for the past four to six weeks in spite of season-ending injuries, the character of our guys, how together they came, the example that is for our younger guys that are going to continue to be a part of our program. That’s the foundation that was laid.
We all want to make improvements across the board, and we will, both in terms of — you know, across the board, but I think there’s no question that our guys, when they have a moment, can reflect back and say, Yeah, this was the start of something pretty special.
I think when we look back in a few years, God willing, see this program take real steps forward. Guys like Troy and Isaiah will be a big part of that happening.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
153560-1-2377 2025-03-14 02:20:00 GMT
