Wichita State has never been closer to winning one of these tournaments in St. Louis, and the Shockers should be favored to do it next season.
But Sunday afternoon the spotlight belonged to Creighton, which held off WSU 68-65 in the Missouri Valley Conference championship game.
Malcolm Armstead narrowly missed a well-covered 3-pointer to tie the game as the final buzzer sounded, making it 26 years since the Shockers have won a Valley Tournament. It was only their second finals appearance since the tournament moved to St. Louis in 1991.
Creighton led the entire game, but most of the time it wasn’t by much. Janenns Manigat, who led the Bluejays with 16 points, made a layup with 12 seconds left to put Creighton up 68-65.
WSU coach Gregg Marshall said he considered calling a time-out on the Shockers’ ensuing possession.
“But I generally like to let the players play,” Marshall said. “We had a time-out right before that. We gave them every scenario – down one, down two, down three or down four. … What they did was, they defended the 3-point line, which was a very good call by them. Shot didn’t go. Had a chance.”
Armstead scored a season-high 28 points and had nine rebounds.
The Shockers used a joint defensive effort to hold Tournament MVP Doug McDermott to 14 points - 27 fewer than the last time he faced WSU - on 5 of 13 shooting. At halftime, the junior All-American had two points and two fouls.
But the Bluejays shot 50 percent (12 of 24) in the second half and were able to keep the Shockers at arm’s length.
“They communicate pretty well on the offensive end,” WSU guard Ron Baker said. “You’ve got to have your head on a swivel at all times. I mean, they’ve got shooters everywhere. Sometimes you get out of position and you turn around and bam - the 3 ball’s up. So this is a tough team to guard.”
Ethan Wragge came off the bench to drain five 3-pointers for Creighton, which accounted for all 15 of his points, and Grant Gibbs scored 11 for the Bluejays.
Creighton’s biggest lead was 11 with three and a half minutes to go. But WSU answered with a 10-0 run, fueled by a pair of Armstead 3-pointers, to narrow the Bluejays’ lead to 66-65 with 43 seconds left.
“No matter what they’ve faced this year, they continue to fight,” Marshall said of the Shockers.
Armstead was on the all-Tournament team, as was WSU forward Carl Hall, who scored 13. Rounding out the team was Creighton’s Gregory Echenique and Illinois State’s Jackie Carmichael.
Creighton improved to 12-1 in Valley Tournament finals, including a 8-0 mark in St. Louis. Sunday’s attendance of 16,659 was the second-largest crowd for a Valley Tournament final.
It also may well have been the last Valley game for Creighton, which is expected to be invited to join the Big East Conference after this season.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, and I’m not involved in the decision,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. “So I’m not even very comfortable commenting. I’ll just say this: The Missouri Valley Conference has been great to Creighton. It’s been great to Greg McDermott. …
“If it happens, it will be very bittersweet for me because I love this league and I love the people that run this league. But I understand the dynamics of college athletics today.”
But Sunday afternoon the spotlight belonged to Creighton, which held off WSU 68-65 in the Missouri Valley Conference championship game.
Malcolm Armstead narrowly missed a well-covered 3-pointer to tie the game as the final buzzer sounded, making it 26 years since the Shockers have won a Valley Tournament. It was only their second finals appearance since the tournament moved to St. Louis in 1991.
Creighton led the entire game, but most of the time it wasn’t by much. Janenns Manigat, who led the Bluejays with 16 points, made a layup with 12 seconds left to put Creighton up 68-65.
WSU coach Gregg Marshall said he considered calling a time-out on the Shockers’ ensuing possession.
“But I generally like to let the players play,” Marshall said. “We had a time-out right before that. We gave them every scenario – down one, down two, down three or down four. … What they did was, they defended the 3-point line, which was a very good call by them. Shot didn’t go. Had a chance.”
Armstead scored a season-high 28 points and had nine rebounds.
The Shockers used a joint defensive effort to hold Tournament MVP Doug McDermott to 14 points - 27 fewer than the last time he faced WSU - on 5 of 13 shooting. At halftime, the junior All-American had two points and two fouls.
But the Bluejays shot 50 percent (12 of 24) in the second half and were able to keep the Shockers at arm’s length.
“They communicate pretty well on the offensive end,” WSU guard Ron Baker said. “You’ve got to have your head on a swivel at all times. I mean, they’ve got shooters everywhere. Sometimes you get out of position and you turn around and bam - the 3 ball’s up. So this is a tough team to guard.”
Ethan Wragge came off the bench to drain five 3-pointers for Creighton, which accounted for all 15 of his points, and Grant Gibbs scored 11 for the Bluejays.
Creighton’s biggest lead was 11 with three and a half minutes to go. But WSU answered with a 10-0 run, fueled by a pair of Armstead 3-pointers, to narrow the Bluejays’ lead to 66-65 with 43 seconds left.
“No matter what they’ve faced this year, they continue to fight,” Marshall said of the Shockers.
Armstead was on the all-Tournament team, as was WSU forward Carl Hall, who scored 13. Rounding out the team was Creighton’s Gregory Echenique and Illinois State’s Jackie Carmichael.
Creighton improved to 12-1 in Valley Tournament finals, including a 8-0 mark in St. Louis. Sunday’s attendance of 16,659 was the second-largest crowd for a Valley Tournament final.
It also may well have been the last Valley game for Creighton, which is expected to be invited to join the Big East Conference after this season.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, and I’m not involved in the decision,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. “So I’m not even very comfortable commenting. I’ll just say this: The Missouri Valley Conference has been great to Creighton. It’s been great to Greg McDermott. …
“If it happens, it will be very bittersweet for me because I love this league and I love the people that run this league. But I understand the dynamics of college athletics today.”
