T-MOBILE ARENA (LAS VEGAS) — As Oklahoma center Mohamed Wague extended an arm to help lift teammate Derrion Reid off the floor, a smile stretched across his face. “That’s my block!” Wague shouted, lobbying for another tally on the stat sheet. Reid could only laugh in response as Wague hauled him to his feet.
Seconds earlier, the two collided near the rim for what looked like a joint rejection of an attempted layup by Baylor guard Isaac Williams IV. It was unclear whether Wague or Reid had been the one to actually swat the shot, but with a double-digit lead in the waning moments, the Sooners were comfortably in position to enjoy the comedy of a two-man block.
The official scorekeeper ultimately credited Wague with the stuff, but by that point, the Sooners had done enough to punch their ticket to the championship game of the second annual College Basketball Crown, pulling away from Baylor down the stretch for an eventual 82-69 win. Oklahoma will now face West Virginia on Sunday afternoon with $300,000 in prize money on the line (5:30 p.m. ET on FOX). The Mountaineers defeated Creighton, 87-70, in the second semifinal.
Here are my takeaways from Day 3 of the College Basketball Crown:
1. Unprecedented era for Creighton comes to an end
Creighton head coach Greg McDermott speaks at a news conference after a semifinal game against West Virginia. (Photo by Candice Ward/Getty Images)
Only Doug McDermott, the Bluejays’ head coach, knows exactly when the hollow reality of Saturday’s outcome washed over him for good.
Perhaps it happened when West Virginia forward DJ Thomas, who only averages 6.3 points per game, spun and twisted through the lane for a layup that extended the Mountaineers’ lead to nine with 12:13 remaining. Or maybe the recognition set in when guard Honor Huff ran a beautiful pick-and-roll with center Harlan Obioha that resulted in a traditional three-point play, pushing the margin to 14 points with 10:03 remaining. If it wasn’t either of those moments, then surely he knew it by the 5:18 mark when Huff buried a stepback 3 from the left wing that pushed Creighton’s deficit to 14, forcing McDermott to hang his head and turn around for a slow walk toward the bench.
“I’ve been thinking about it,” McDermott said in the postgame news conference, “but you don’t ever want it to end. You’d like it to end with a win, especially for the guys. This team has been through a lot this season, and they’ve stayed incredibly close and they’ve had each other’s back during some really difficult times.”
A blowout loss in his final game did little to overshadow the enormity of McDermott’s success in 16 seasons with the Bluejays. He tallied 366 victories with a .659 winning percentage. He made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances. He reached three Sweet 16s and one Elite Eight. He won a Big East championship and three Missouri Valley Conference tournament titles. He produced six NBA Draft picks.
When news of McDermott’s impending retirement went public last month, the school announced that associate head coach Alan Huss would take over once the season concluded. In Huss, the Bluejays are now elevating one of the more respected assistant coaches in the country. He began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at New Mexico (2014-17) before joining McDermott’s staff for a seven-year run (2017-23) that included five trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Huss was named head coach at High Point ahead of the 2023-24 campaign. He spent two seasons with the Panthers, one of which included an appearance in the Big Dance, before returning to Creighton as the heir apparent.
He has immense shoes to fill.
“When [McDermott] introduced his retirement, I despatched him an extended textual content,” Oklahoma head coach and Creighton alum Porter Moser mentioned in response to my query concerning the legacy McDermott constructed at Creighton. “And I mentioned, ‘As a colleague: Congratulations, man. Congratulations on a Corridor-of-Fame profession. Congratulations on every part you probably did.’ After which I mentioned, ‘As a former participant who wore that Bluejay jersey: Thanks for elevating this system. Thanks for every part you’ve carried out, , placing that program within the nationwide highlight and making it that form of a reputation.’
“Nice man, nice coach.”
2. West Virginia flexes ferocious protection
Jasen Inexperienced of the Creighton Bluejays shoots towards Brenen Lorient and DJ Thomas of West Virginia. (Picture by Candice Ward/Getty Photos)
In distinction to Oklahoma, which arrived on the Faculty Basketball Crown with the most effective offense on this 12 months’s discipline, the Mountaineers got here into the occasion much more achieved on the alternative finish of the ground. West Virginia entered Saturday’s semifinal towards Creighton ranked seventeenth within the nation in defensive effectivity, according to KenPom, and flashed its prowess in a throttling of the Bluejays.
Creighton shot 42.9% from the ground and 31.3% from past the arc within the opening half — numbers that may be thought of on the low finish of acceptable for many offenses — however what occurred across the rim instructed the true story. As West Virginia racked up 22 factors within the paint and made 10 of 14 photographs on layups or dunks, the Bluejays have been hardly capable of get near the rim. They solely generated 4 layup makes an attempt in your complete half, making three of them, and didn’t document a dunk.
“I simply suppose we did a very good job of displaying our fingers,” West Virginia ahead Brenen Lorient mentioned in response to my query concerning the defensive effort. “Coach [Ross Hodge] emphasised simply staying strong and displaying our fingers and limiting the catch-and-shoot 3s.”
That effort matched the ferocious defensive fashion West Virginia has performed all season below Hodge, previously of North Texas. Hodge’s group entered the weekend ranked twelfth nationally in opponent 2-point discipline purpose share, limiting foes to a paltry 45.9% on makes an attempt that originate contained in the arc. The Mountaineers efficiently shield the paint in addition to anybody in school basketball.
Their problem now can be dealing with an elite Oklahoma offense that has flashed a capability to attain each in and out.
3. Sooners remedy difficult 1-3-1 zone to drag away from Baylor
Derrion Reid of the Oklahoma Sooners shoots towards Obi Agbim of the Baylor Bears. (Picture by Candice Ward/Getty Photos)
The whole lot concerning the tenor of Saturday’s semifinal matchup between Baylor and Oklahoma modified when the Bears shifted their defensive philosophy. Having watched his protection get shredded to the tune of 45 factors on 51.4% capturing within the first half, Baylor head coach Scott Drew instructed his crew to unfurl an aggressive 1-3-1 zone after the break. He deployed 6-foot-9 heart Caden Powell alongside the baseline and allowed athletic guards Tounde Yessoufou and Cameron Carr — both potential first-round picks in the NBA Draft — to stymie large swaths of the 3-point line with their imposing wingspans.
The impact was equal components profound and instant. Dysregulated and disoriented, the Sooners misfired on 10 of their first 14 discipline purpose makes an attempt to start the second half. A double-digit benefit appeared to shrink instantly as soon as Baylor ignited from past the arc, with Carr and Williams combining to hit three triples in rather less than 4 minutes. And as soon as Yessoufou flew coast to coast for a transition layup after pinning a blocked shot towards the glass, the Bears climbed in entrance by a degree with 13:16 remaining.
“We knew Baylor was a championship program with Scott [Drew], a Corridor-of-Fame coach, that they’d come out within the second half and provides it every part they’d,” Moser mentioned in the course of the postgame information convention. “They punched us within the face the primary 5 minutes.”
As soon as the under-12 media timeout got here and went, Moser’s crew started exploiting a few of the cracks in Baylor’s zone. Oklahoma discovered artistic methods to isolate Powell or fellow huge man James Nnaji alone within the put up, which created a number of straightforward baskets from shut vary. The Sooners loved a run of eight made discipline targets in 11 makes an attempt to reclaim management of the sport, surging in entrance with a lead they might by no means relinquish. They outscored the Bears by 13 factors over the ultimate 10 minutes.
“I believed we simply stayed with it,” Moser mentioned in response to my query about discovering late-game success. “We made some photographs, saved with what we have been doing and also you’re going to have that towards a zone. The factor concerning the zone is you’ve simply obtained to remain aggressive, keep assured in it. You possibly can’t get hesitant. We have been getting the ball the place we wanted to within the center. I believed they did a very good job.”
4. Xzayvier Brown continues sturdy event run for Oklahoma
Xzayvier Brown of the Oklahoma Sooners dribbles towards the Baylor Bears. (Picture by Candice Ward/Getty Photos)
Oklahoma guard Xzayvier Brown performed a key position because the Sooners erased an eight-point second-half deficit towards Colorado on Wednesday, forcing additional time and holding off the Buffaloes. He scored 11 of his 17 factors after the half to make sure that the Sooners, who entered this 12 months’s occasion because the overwhelming favourite to chop down the nets, prevented an upset within the quarterfinals.
Two days later, Brown performed even higher within the victory over Baylor, pairing the identical scoring punch he packed earlier within the week with exceptional effectivity and distribution. He poured in 16 factors within the first half alone, beguiling the Bears from all components of the court docket: He hit a pull-up jumper from the left baseline, a simple transition layup forward of the pack, a leaner by means of contact within the lane to supply a standard three-point play and a triple from past the arc.
Brown scored or assisted on precisely half of his crew’s 18 discipline targets within the opening half, which speaks to his all-around ground sport. He additionally shot 5-of-5 from the free-throw line because the Sooners constructed a 10-point halftime benefit.
“X has been nice for us all 12 months,” ahead Tae Davis mentioned in response to my query about Brown’s efficiency. “A ground common, he does it in each approach. It’s large for us as a result of he does a lot on each ends of the ground. He creates, and he can create for himself. In order that’s simply been an enormous increase for us in each sport.”
Brown’s affect was felt even amid a comparatively quiet second half by which he went greater than 13 minutes with out scoring one other level. His 3-pointer from the proper wing with 4:37 remaining prolonged Oklahoma’s lead again to double digits and all however assured the Sooners a spot within the championship sport. He completed with a game-high 21 factors, seven rebounds and 6 assists.
4½. What’s subsequent?
Listed below are a number of storylines to observe forward of the championship sport:
Oklahoma vs. West Virginia (Sunday) — With eight wins over their closing 11 video games heading into the Faculty Basketball Crown, the Sooners have been all the time the preferred alternative to succeed in the championship sport and, in the end, win it. An additional time scare towards Colorado within the quarterfinals gave method to a way more managed victory over Baylor within the semis. Now, Oklahoma has an opportunity to chop down the nets on Sunday after being arguably the largest snub from this 12 months’s NCAA Event.
West Virginia, in the meantime, rallied again from an eight-point deficit within the closing moments towards Stanford to power additional time and survive the quarterfinals. From there, the Mountaineers picked aside Creighton in a dominant semifinal victory that restricted the Bluejays to simply 33 factors within the second half. Now, the stage is ready for a championship sport between the event’s finest offense (Oklahoma) and its finest protection (West Virginia).
