Creighton keeps Big East going with win over Akron
PITTSBURGH — Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 23 points and Trey Alexander 19 as Creighton, which came within seconds of making the Final Four a year ago, opened the NCAA Tournament with a 77-60 win over Akron in the Midwest Region on Thursday.
The third-seeded Bluejays (24-9) got all they could handle in the first half from the 14th-seeded Zips (2411), the Mid-American Conference tourney champions who came in as a 10 ½-point underdog.
However, Creighton flexed its Big East muscles after halftime and pulled away to advance to the second round and a matchup against Oregon on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena.
This was the start Creighton was hoping for. A year ago, the Bluejays’ season ended with a heartbreaking 57-56 loss to San Diego State — Creighton committed a foul in the closing seconds — in the South Region final. Much of that squad came back for coach Doug McDermott to try to make another deep run, and the Bluejays have taken the first step.
Baylor Scheierman added 15 points and 13 rebounds for Creighton, which made 10 of 17 3-pointers.
OREGON 87, SOUTH CAROLINA 73
Jermaine Couisnard scored a career-high 40 points to haunt South Carolina — his former school — while leading Oregon to victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region in Pittsburgh.
Couisnard, who spent three years at South Carolina before transferring in part because of a coaching change following the 2022 season, made five 3-pointers and went 14 of 22 from the field to pace the 11th-seeded Ducks (24-11).
Oregon advanced to the second round to face No. 3 seed Creighton.
The Creighton-Oregon matchup will have a family feel, as it will reunite Ducks coach Dana Altman and Creighton, where he spent 16 years and built the Nebraska school into one of the nation’s best mid-major programs.
Altman has done OK for himself while coaching out West as well. The Ducks improved to 8-0 in firstround NCAA Tournament games under him. Oregon center N’Faly Dante added 23 points, some of them coming on backboard-shaking dunks.
The sixth-seeded Gamecocks (26-8) had too many offensive droughts to keep up with the Ducks, who beat top-seeded Arizona last week on the way to a surprising Pac-12 tourney title. However, South Carolina did provide this tournament’s first viral moment, as guard Ta’Lon Cooper dropped a shot from beyond half court as the halftime horn sounded.
While that shot was memorable, Couisnard’s were more meaningful. With Oregon leading by nine points early in the second half, Couisnard hit consecutive 3-pointers. Following his second long-range make, the native of East Chicago, Indiana, yelled toward the green-and-gold-clad Oregon fans sitting nearby and they screamed back at him.
Whenever South Carolina made a push in the second half, Oregon had an answer and it was either Couisnard or the 6-foot-11 Dante, who made 70% of his shots this season.
Meechie Johnson scored 24 and Cooper 15 for the Gamecocks, who made a major turnaround in coach Lamont Paris’ second season after winning just 11 games last season.