By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
The game plan for No. 3 seed Baylor men’s basketball was simple. Take away No. 6 seed Creighton University’s junior center Ryan Kalkbrenner and let the other guys beat them.
Unfortunately for the Bears, the Bluejays found high-level production from all of the pieces they needed in order to win the NCAA Tournament round of 32 matchup, 85-76, Sunday night in the Ball Arena in Denver.
After Kalkbrenner exploded for a career-high 31 points in the opening round on Friday, Baylor (23-11) limited him to just 10 on Sunday.
“We wanted to collectively do a good job making it hard for him,” redshirt senior guard Adam Flagler said. “Credit to Flo [Thamba], [Everyday] Jon and Josh [Ojianwuna] for what they did, but credit to Creighton for their ability to make shots, and we weren’t able to get enough stops to pull off the game.”
As a result of limiting Kalkbrenner, his team around him stepped up. Creighton’s (23-12) sophomore guard Ryan Nembhard exploded for a career-high 30 points, hitting eight of 13 shots and four of six threes.
Nembhard, along with sophomore guard Trey Alexander and sophomore forward Arthur Kaluma, combined for 58 points to give Kalkbrenner assistance. As a unit, CU shot 47% from the field and a scorching 46% from deep, also hitting all 22 of its free throw attempts.
Head coach Scott Drew said it wasn’t a game that his team necessarily lost on its own, but that “they beat us today.”
“Normally [in] the second game [of the NCAA Tournament] people have tired legs, and 11-for-24 [from three] definitely didn’t show that,” Drew said. “So credit them for making shots, 22 from the free-throw line is outstanding, especially in the second game, to go to a Sweet 16.”
Sunday in the Ball Arena in Denver. Kenneth Prabhakar | Photo Editor
The Bears’ junior guard LJ Cryer poured in a career-high 30 points on 13-of-22 shooting, but the team as a whole shot an atrocious 5-for-22 (23%) from beyond the arc. Cryer’s 30 points set a new school record for most in an NCAA Tournament game.
Cryer said the Bluejays’ defense was “really physical” all night and it was hard for the entire group to get rolling from 3-point land.
“They were real physical, made it hard for us to get open, and they fanned out whenever you get to the paint,” Cryer said. “I don’t know, they just tried to make it — they tried to run us off the line, too, make us shoot more twos. It seemed like that was their game plan, and they executed it.”
Baylor held a narrow lead shortly before the first media timeout, but Creighton jumped back on top at the 15:56 mark, 12-10. Cryer made a jumper in the lane to give him seven quick points and tie the contest at 12 points apiece, but that was the last time the score would be tied or in the Bears’ favor for the rest of the game.
CU went on an 8-0 run after Cryer’s jump shot, but a second-chance shot from Flagler just over a minute later made it 20-14. Both teams went back-and-forth for the rest of the first half, but the Bluejays outscored Baylor 18-15 over the final 10:35 to take a 39-29 advantage into halftime.
Cryer led the Bears with 12 points in the first half and struggled to get help with Flagler trailing as the second-leading scorer with six points. Nembhard had 11 through the first 20 minutes and Creighton was already 7-of-16 from distance and 50% on field goals.
Kalkbrenner was limited by the Bears’ defense, as he only scored six points in the opening half. Drew said the team had to choose what to focus on and lived with the results.
“He’s averaging 21 [points per game] in the last five [games], and it’s pick your poison when you have a good inside [and] outside [game],” Drew said. “Credit them for doing a good job. I agree with LJ and Adam, our bigs did a great job, but we had a lot of help, which led to some opportunities for them from three. We kept changing what we did, and they were [a] really good offensive team. They did a good job adjusting, as well.”
Meanwhile, Baylor was only 2-of-15 on 3-pointers in the first half and only made 13 of its 36 shots.
“We talked to the team the last two days about limiting the number of three-point shots that they get and making sure that the ones that they do get aren’t great looks,” Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said. “I thought if we could make as many threes as Baylor, we had a chance to win the game.”
The Bears shot much better in the second half (59% FG, 42% 3FG), but the Bluejays continued to execute at a high clip. Nembhard and Alexander scored 19 and 12 respectively in the final 20 minutes.
Baylor went on a 7-0 run in less than a minute to cut its deficit to just five points, but that was as close as it got in the second half. Creighton responded with a counterpunch each time the Bears tried to go on a run.
There was a glimmer of hope when Baylor cut the margin to nine with 3:09 to go, but key offensive rebounds and made free throws all but clinched it for CU.
Defensively, the Bluejays were playing a drop coverage on the Bears’ pick-and-roll, allowing the guards to have space in the mid-range to take jump shots and floaters with little contest. McDermott said “we were willing to live with that.”
“They made some two-point shots,” McDermott said. “We didn’t think they could make enough of those to beat us over 40 minutes. Fortunately we were right.”
Moving forward, Baylor will be forced to replace fifth-year senior forward Flo Thamba, as he’s exhausted all of his eligibility. Flagler, redshirt senior guard Dale Bonner, redshirt senior forward Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua, junior forward Zach Loveday and redshirt junior guard Jordan Turner all participated in Senior Day, but have the option to return for another season.
Freshman guard Keyonte George is expected to enter his name into the NBA Draft, but he told reporters he hasn’t made a decision just yet. George said he’s thankful for his time as a Bear and glad he decided to come to Baylor.
Thamba finished his career with multiple program records, including most Big 12 wins (55), most wins in games played (114) and most career wins (123). He started his 10th-career NCAA Tournament game, passing Jared Butler for the most NCAA Tournament starts in school history.
On Sunday, Flagler passed Butler for the most minutes played in an NCAA Tournament game in program history. And with six made field goals, he now has 44 for his career in the NCAA Tournament, another program record. Flagler also goes down as Baylor’s all-time leading scorer in NCAA Tournament games (135 points).
Cryer said having Flagler and Thamba have meant the world to him over the last several years.
“I mean, having them has been amazing for me and my growth as a person and as a player,” Cryer said. “The guy next to me [Flagler] is like a role model to me. He carries himself very well, so I’m blessed to have somebody like this in my corner.”
