Creighton outlasts Xavier
Creighton needed more from Marcus Foster — more playmaking, more scoring and, most importantly, more communicating.
When vocal leader and star point guard Maurice Watson Jr. was lost to a torn ACL on Jan. 16 and was later suspended after being charged with first-degree sexual assault for allegedly raping a 19-year-old Creighton student early Feb. 4, it sent shockwaves through the program. Coach Greg McDermott sat down with Foster, a Kansas State transfer, and explained the significance of using his voice as much as his physical gifts.
“Marcus embraced what we’ve asked him to do,” McDermott said. “If we were going to be successful moving forward, it was going to be required that he does that.”
Foster made a difference in Thursday’s quarterfinal win over Providence by encouraging his teammates from the bench while he sat with foul trouble, and on Friday, he let his play do the talking. His pull-up 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds left sent No. 6 Creighton to a thrilling 75-72 Big East Tournament semifinal victory over seventhseeded Xavier in front of a sold-out Garden crowd.
“We’ve been through a lot in the last five or six weeks, and for us to be sitting on the stage getting ready to play [Saturday] night [for the championship] is a credit to the character of the people I have in that locker room,” McDermott said.
The Bluejays will meet No. 1 Villanova on Saturday, looking to win their first league crown in their fourth year in the restructured league. They reached the final in 2014 but fell to Providence. The only sixth seed ever to win the Big East Tournament was Syracuse in 1981.
In the 14 games without Watson, Foster’s game has gone up to another level. He’s averaging 19 points per game and 3.5 assists, reaching double figures each game. He’s been Creighton’s constant, a power guard with a soft touch from the perimeter who has improved defensively.
After Xavier’s Trevon Bluiett pulled Xavier even at 72 with 15.6 left, Creighton (25-8) pushed the ball. McDermott opted against using a timeout, and Foster rewarded him with a clutch jumper, his fourth 3-pointer of the evening.