MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA (LAS VEGAS) — With 7:23 remaining in a sport that felt an increasing number of like a foregone conclusion, a fan behind the Creighton bench held up an indication for all to see. On a white background and written in blue letters, the message was equal elements clear and concise: “THANK YOU Coach Mac!!!”
The signal, after all, referred to Bluejays head coach Greg McDermott, who received his 366th sport for Creighton on Thursday evening by pulling away from Rutgers, 82-69, within the quarterfinals of the Faculty Basketball Crown. Final month, the 61-year-old McDermott introduced his intention to retire on the finish of this 12 months, calling it quits on an distinctive profession that included 10 NCAA Event appearances with the Bluejays and 14 seasons that includes no less than 20 victories.
For now, although, McDermott’s legendary run continues due to a second-half surge in opposition to the Scarlet Knights. His workforce will transfer on to face West Virginia within the semifinals on Saturday.
Listed here are my takeaways from Day 2 of the Faculty Basketball Crown:
1. Creighton involves life within the second half to extend Greg McDermott’s tenure
Creighton head coach Greg McDermott seems on through the 2026 Faculty Basketball Crown. (Photograph by Mitchell Layton/Getty Photographs)
Due to when the Faculty Basketball Crown takes place every year — roughly three weeks faraway from the top of most convention tournaments — there is a component of technique concerned in terms of preparation. Some coaches have chosen to afford their gamers further day without work following a grueling five-month season. Others have most popular to parlay no matter momentum their packages may need into further practices that may play an vital position in participant improvement. There isn’t a common, or universally accepted, method.
How and when Creighton may put together for this 12 months’s occasion was draped with an additional layer of uncertainty as soon as McDermott shared his determination to retire on the marketing campaign’s finish. That meant it was honest to marvel in regards to the Bluejays’ collective stage of focus given the upcoming transition from McDermott, who has been on the helm since 2010, to affiliate head coach Alan Huss, beforehand named the coach in ready.
“Clearly, there’s somewhat emotion concerned,” McDermott mentioned through the postgame information convention in response to my query about what the previous couple of weeks have been like. “Final observe within the facility again residence and all that. However like I informed the blokes once we determined to do that, ‘We’re going to have enjoyable with this.’ We did quite a lot of exercises, we had a couple of practices, we wished them to take pleasure in this expertise. We’re gonna be round for the weekend now — no less than for a pair extra days — so we will have enjoyable collectively.”
And so they actually had enjoyable after halftime on Thursday evening, exploding for 51 second-half factors and taking pictures a scorching 61.5% from the ground. Every thing, it appeared, ran by way of the palms of level guard Nik Graves, who poured in a season-high 28 factors and in addition dished out eight assists. Graves had 25 of these factors within the second half, which underscores simply how a lot of an affect he had down the stretch, repeatedly irritating Rutgers’ defenders with pump fakes that drew fouls.
Now, the Bluejays have a chance to win back-to-back video games for the primary time since late December — and maybe ship McDermott out with a championship.
[CBB CROWN: 4 Takeaways From Day 1]
2. Proficient freshman class provides Steve Pikiell a robust basis at Rutgers
Jamichael Davis and Dylan Grant of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights attempt to steal the ball from Nik Graves of Creighton. (Photograph by Mitchell Layton/Getty Photographs)
In contrast to the 2 freshman phenoms who had been clearly one-and-done prospects from the second they stepped foot on Rutgers’ campus final season — guard Dylan Harper and ahead Ace Bailey, the Nos. 2 and 5 picks within the 2025 NBA Draft — the Scarlet Knights have a set of rookies that ought to develop fairly properly within the years to come back.
The backcourt trio of Harun Zrno (6.6 factors per sport), Lino Mark (5.6 factors per sport) and Kaden Powers (6.1 factors per sport) all made no less than 28 appearances this 12 months and averaged no less than 15.7 minutes of taking part in time per outing. Collectively, they need to enter subsequent season as one of many extra promising younger cores within the Massive Ten — assuming head coach Steve Pikiell can preserve them collectively as soon as the switch portal opens subsequent week.
“We now have a brand new administration and a brand new president, and our sources have modified,” Pikiell mentioned through the postgame information convention in response to my query about maintaining his roster collectively. “I am trying ahead to quite a lot of these guys returning. We will add some items for certain, going within the portal. However I believe it was a beneficial expertise this 12 months for these guys that logged quite a lot of minutes. They obtained higher because the 12 months went on with every little thing. I am very hopeful on this new period that good issues are going to occur for us and we’ll be capable of compete available in the market.”
Although the Scarlet Knights had been finally upended by Creighton on Thursday evening, operating out of fuel within the second half after main by as many as 10 within the early phases, the freshmen provided yet one more glimpse of their collective potential. Mark chipped in 14 factors and 7 rebounds, pacing the offense at instances along with his pace and explosiveness within the open court docket. Powers scored six factors and snagged three rebounds, flashing a snug mid-range pull-up that adopted a fast first step. Zrno, who didn’t play till the second half, scored three factors in restricted motion.
The most important problem dealing with Pikiell and his employees between now and the top of the month may very well be maintaining these three gamers from getting into the switch portal. Rutgers will want them to keep away from a fourth consecutive shedding season subsequent winter.
3. Ebuka Okorie wants extra assist if he returns to Stanford
Ebuka Okorie of the Stanford Cardinal drives to the basket over DJ Thomas of West Virginia. (Photograph by Mitchell Layton/Getty Photographs)
There have been so many possessions on Thursday evening when Stanford level guard Ebuka Okorie, the ACC’s main scorer at 22.8 factors per sport, searched and probed and hunted for openings on the offensive finish. He maneuvered round screens on the high of the important thing, gave the ball up simply to get it again seconds later and labored tirelessly off the ball to create separation from whichever West Virginia defender was hounding him on that specific possession.
In some respects, nothing in regards to the nature of Okorie’s effort was uncommon. He arrived on the Faculty Basketball Crown as Stanford’s solely wholesome participant averaging greater than 11.1 factors per sport and owned the Thirteenth-highest utilization price within the nation amongst freshmen this season, in keeping with Torvik. His collegiate résumé already included seven 30-point video games and first-team All-ACC honors for a program that completed 20-12 general and 9-9 within the convention.
Within the 82-77 time beyond regulation loss to West Virginia, he scored a game-high 34 factors and dished out 5 assists on an evening when no different teammate topped 12 factors.
“Ebuka is an unbelievable participant,” West Virginia head coach Ross Hodge informed me after the sport. “He’s every little thing we thought he was going to be. We did every little thing we may to maintain the ball out of his palms, and he nonetheless had 34 factors.”
Whether or not Okorie will return to Stanford for one more 12 months has been a preferred matter of dialog in school basketball circles. He may select to enter the NBA Draft, the place he initiatives as a second-round decide given his comparatively slender body (6-foot-2, 185 kilos). He may select to discover his choices within the switch portal, the place different power-conference colleges will surely throw seven-figure gives Okorie’s approach. However a supply near the Cardinal believes Okorie will both stay at Stanford or flip professional.
Ought to head coach Kyle Smith and his employees be lucky sufficient to retain Okorie, they’ll have to encompass the budding star with extra scoring punch than what Stanford had this season. A highschool recruiting class that ranks No. 16 nationally represents a wonderful begin. The Cardinal have already signed 4 gamers rated among the many high 165 nationally, in keeping with 247Sports, together with four-star ahead Aziz Olajuwon, the No. 62 general prospect. Olajuwon selected Stanford over Houston, Vanderbilt and Cincinnati, amongst others.
4. The way forward for West Virginia’s program hasn’t arrived but
West Virginia head coach Ross Hodge seems on within the second half of the 2026 Faculty Basketball Crown. (Photograph by Mitchell Layton/Getty Photographs)
One of many largest statistical disparities between West Virginia and Stanford getting into Thursday’s sport got here in a class most followers wouldn’t usually contemplate: maturity. The Mountaineers had been the second-oldest workforce in school basketball this season, in keeping with KenPom, with 2.86 years of Division I expertise per participant. The Cardinal rank simply 268th in that very same class with only one.07 years of Division I expertise per participant.
For first-year head coach Ross Hodge, previously of North Texas, the group he delivered to Las Vegas this week included six seniors and one fifth-year senior — which means there can be important roster churn for the Mountaineers within the coming weeks, particularly as soon as the switch portal opens on April 7. The workforce that Hodge places on the ground subsequent fall goes to look markedly completely different than the one which completed the common season 18-13 general and 9-9 within the Massive 12, unable to win consecutive video games after Jan. 21.
No matter what Hodge accomplishes within the switch portal, the participant to look at is incoming freshman level guard Miles Sadler, a five-star prospect and the No. 23 general participant within the 2026 recruiting cycle. Sadler dedicated to the Mountaineers over Tennessee and Oklahoma, amongst others, and immediately grew to become the highest-rated signee in program historical past, in keeping with 247Sports. If Sadler lives as much as expectations, then Hodge may have an elite flooring basic to construct round as West Virginia chases its first NCAA Event berth since 2023 and first March Insanity victory since 2021.
“After we put this workforce collectively,” Hodge informed me after the sport, “once we began hitting the portal, we wished to recruit guys that had been a part of profitable and cherished basketball and cherished one another. If that’s type of your make-up, and you actually love basketball and you like being round different folks, then you will have a capability to remain collectively by way of actually powerful instances. This group has embodied that and actually set a regular for future groups in this system.”
4½. What’s subsequent?
Listed here are a couple of storylines to look at forward of the semifinals:
Oklahoma vs. Baylor (Saturday) — One did it the simple approach, one did it the laborious approach. Oklahoma trailed an undermanned Colorado workforce by double digits early and wanted time beyond regulation to lastly eliminate the upset-minded Buffaloes, leaning on a robust defensive effort to achieve the semifinals. Baylor, in the meantime, coasted by way of its quarterfinal sport in opposition to Minnesota due to balanced scoring from every member of the Bears’ main trio: Tounde Yessoufou (19 factors), Obi Agbim (17 factors) and Cameron Carr (15 factors).
West Virginia vs. Creighton (Saturday) — Over the course of McDermott’s extremely profitable tenure at Creighton, his groups have ranked among the many high 35 in offensive effectivity 10 instances. And whereas this 12 months’s group hasn’t fairly reached that threshold — the Bluejays entered The Crown ranked 73rd nationally — no person would dare query this system’s prowess at that finish of the court docket. Such a pedigree units the stage for an interesting semifinal conflict with West Virginia, whose protection ranks seventeenth in general effectivity after beating Stanford on Thursday evening.
