All Creighton needs to get excited about Tuesday night?s NIT game against Alabama is to think back to what it was doing a year ago.
?All we had to look forward to back then was getting ready for spring workouts,? guard Maurice Watson said. ?The fact we?re still playing basketball is a step from last year. We have to make the best of this opportunity.?
That attitude is shared by the Alabama team that will make its first appearance at the CenturyLink Center for the 8 p.m. first-round game.
Like Creighton and the 30 other teams in the NIT field, the Crimson Tide wanted to end their season playing in the NCAA tournament. Alabama appeared to be headed there until a 2-5 finish derailed those hopes.
Creighton also finished 2-5, losing its last three games against teams that made the NCAA tournament field.
?They?re a team that could have easily been in the tournament just like us,? Alabama coach Avery Johnson said. ?Two or three games go our way, and we?re probably sitting here talking about something else.
?We?re evenly matched, with the difference being they?re at home. But when we?re focused and we feel we have to go out and prove something, we?re a pretty good team.?
Of the Crimson Tide?s 18 wins, four came against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. It?s the first time since 2001-02 that an Alabama team won four games against ranked opponents.
?This is a good basketball team,? Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. ?They are a team that probably was in the NCAA tournament three weeks ago and then had a rough finish.
?Avery has done a really good job in his first year.?
Johnson moved to the collegiate ranks this season after spending most of his professional life in the NBA. He won a world championship as a player in 1999, and took the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals in 2006 as a coach.
This is Johnson?s first taste of the college postseason. It also will be McDermott?s first venture in the NIT in 15 seasons as a Division I coach.
?I?d rather be playing in the other tournament, but given where we started, this is a good step for our team,? McDermott said. ?This is an opportunity to keep practicing and facing some really good teams.?
The winner of Tuesday?s game will advance to a second-round contest between the winner of Wednesday?s St. Bonaventure-Wagner game. St. Bonaventure is seeded No. 1 in its quadrant of the tournament.
Tuesday?s game will be Creighton?s first since dropping an 81-73 decision to Seton Hall in last Thursday?s quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.
?We?re over that,? said Cole Huff, who scored a career-high 35 points in the loss. ?No matter how much we think about it and wish we could have done things differently, that?s not going to change the outcome.
?We lost to the team that won the conference tournament. That?s nothing to hang our heads about. We just have to move on and get ready for tomorrow.?
Asked what his team?s attitude was heading into the tournament, Huff smiled.
?We?re in it to win it,? he said. ?I?ve never played in the postseason, so I?m excited. It?s not the NCAA tournament, but it?s the next best thing. We?re going to play hard and try to win it all.?
?All we had to look forward to back then was getting ready for spring workouts,? guard Maurice Watson said. ?The fact we?re still playing basketball is a step from last year. We have to make the best of this opportunity.?
That attitude is shared by the Alabama team that will make its first appearance at the CenturyLink Center for the 8 p.m. first-round game.
Like Creighton and the 30 other teams in the NIT field, the Crimson Tide wanted to end their season playing in the NCAA tournament. Alabama appeared to be headed there until a 2-5 finish derailed those hopes.
Creighton also finished 2-5, losing its last three games against teams that made the NCAA tournament field.
?They?re a team that could have easily been in the tournament just like us,? Alabama coach Avery Johnson said. ?Two or three games go our way, and we?re probably sitting here talking about something else.
?We?re evenly matched, with the difference being they?re at home. But when we?re focused and we feel we have to go out and prove something, we?re a pretty good team.?
Of the Crimson Tide?s 18 wins, four came against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. It?s the first time since 2001-02 that an Alabama team won four games against ranked opponents.
?This is a good basketball team,? Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. ?They are a team that probably was in the NCAA tournament three weeks ago and then had a rough finish.
?Avery has done a really good job in his first year.?
Johnson moved to the collegiate ranks this season after spending most of his professional life in the NBA. He won a world championship as a player in 1999, and took the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals in 2006 as a coach.
This is Johnson?s first taste of the college postseason. It also will be McDermott?s first venture in the NIT in 15 seasons as a Division I coach.
?I?d rather be playing in the other tournament, but given where we started, this is a good step for our team,? McDermott said. ?This is an opportunity to keep practicing and facing some really good teams.?
The winner of Tuesday?s game will advance to a second-round contest between the winner of Wednesday?s St. Bonaventure-Wagner game. St. Bonaventure is seeded No. 1 in its quadrant of the tournament.
Tuesday?s game will be Creighton?s first since dropping an 81-73 decision to Seton Hall in last Thursday?s quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.
?We?re over that,? said Cole Huff, who scored a career-high 35 points in the loss. ?No matter how much we think about it and wish we could have done things differently, that?s not going to change the outcome.
?We lost to the team that won the conference tournament. That?s nothing to hang our heads about. We just have to move on and get ready for tomorrow.?
Asked what his team?s attitude was heading into the tournament, Huff smiled.
?We?re in it to win it,? he said. ?I?ve never played in the postseason, so I?m excited. It?s not the NCAA tournament, but it?s the next best thing. We?re going to play hard and try to win it all.?
