NCAAB Game Recap - Creighton at Xavier
Thu Mar 14, 2019 2:45 PM EDT

Prov
62
Vill
73
F
Akr
46
Buff
82
F
NCSU
56
UVA
76
F
Sac
73
Mont
79
F
TCU
61
KSU
70
F
Bois
69
Nev
77
F
USC
75
Wash
78
F
ChiSt
49
NMSt
86
F
LaTec
56
ODU
57
F
UCRiv
44
UCIrv
63
F
CSNor
68
UCSB
71
F
NIU
80
Toled
76
F
Lou
70
UNC
83
F
StJon
54
Marq
86
F
WVU
79
TxTch
74
F
S UT
83
N CO
64
F
NM
83
UtSt
91
F
UCLA
72
AzSt
83
F
UMKC
64
UtVal
71
F
N TX
51
W Ky
67
F
UCDav
71
CS-Ful
75
F(OT)
DelSt
57
NCC
75
F
CenAR
65
SeLA
79
F
Ball
86
BGSU
99
F
Syr
72
Duke
84
F
GTown
57
Seton
73
F
Tex
57
Kansas
65
F
MTSt
84
E WA
90
F
Marsh
73
USM
82
F
Seatt
75
GrCan
84
F
Oreg
66
Utah
54
F
AF
50
Fres
76
F
IaSt
83
Baylor
66
F
CenMI
89
Kent
81
F
Crei
61
Xav
63
F
VaTec
63
FSU
65
F(OT)
PorSt
71
Web
81
F
Colora
73
OrSt
58
F
CSBak
70
UTRGV
85
F
SDSU
63
UNLV
55
F
Lamar
72
NOrl
76
F
BethC
71
How
80
F
UAB
85
UTSA
76
F
LongB
68
HI
66
F
GrgWas
57
GMas
61
F
Nebras
69
MD
61
F
Mizzu
71
Aub
81
F
Tul
68
Mem
83
F
USA
70
UL
69
F
Rich
68
StLou
71
F
ULM
80
CoCar
50
F
TAMU
54
MissSt
80
F
Ill
62
Iowa
83
F
ECU
57
WichSt
73
F
StJos
92
Duques
86
F
PSU
72
Minn
77
F(OT)
Bama
62
Miss
57
F
SMU
74
Tuls
65
F
LaSal
57
URI
76
F
Ind
75
OhSt
79
F
UConn
80
SoFL
73
F
Ark
50
Fla
66
F

Mar 14, 2019, 2:45 PM EDT

Final

1

2

T

(5) Creighton

29

32

61

(4) Xavier

36

27

63

Xavier advances to Big East semis, beats Creighton 63-61
Thu Mar 14, 2019 6:16 PM

NEW YORK (AP) This time last year, Zach Hankins was leading Ferris State to a Division II national championship.

On Thursday, he was the best player on the floor for Xavier at Madison Square Garden, helping the Musketeers reach the Big East Tournament semifinals for a sixth straight season.

Hankins scored 22 points, including the go-ahead tip-in with 21 seconds left, and Kyle Castlin blocked Creighton's last shot in the closing seconds to give Xavier a 63-61 victory over the Bluejays.

The fourth-seeded Musketeers (18-14) will face top-seeded defending conference champion Villanova in the semifinals Friday night. Coming off a Big East regular-season championship and No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament last year, Xavier struggled to find continuity in its first season under coach Travis Steele. But the Musketeers have been playing as well as any team in the conference over the last month, winning seven of eight games to keep slim hopes of extending their streak of NCAA Tournament appearances to six.

Hankins and Castlin were part of Xavier's rebuild this year, both graduate transfers.

Hankins, who had no Division I offers out of Charlevoix, Michigan - population 2,513, according to the 2010 census - dominated at the D-II level last year. He has mostly been a complimentary player for Xavier. But when the Musketeers went cold in the second half against Creighton, Hankins took over. He scored 12 points in the last 7:11, starring on one of the biggest stages in basketball.

"It sunk in some on the court when they grabbed me for an interview with Steele on the court. I almost teared up some," Hankins said. "I got to take it all in and realize where I come from and what I just did."

After Ty-Shon Alexander's jumper tied it for fifth-seeded Creighton (18-14) at 61 with 51 seconds left, Hankins tapped in a third-chance shot for Xavier with his left hand to take a two-point lead.

"We didn't have an answer for him," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. "His offensive rebounds, it seemed like everyone was a back-breaker."

Hankins had nine rebounds, five offensive, and was 11 for 15 from the field. The rest of the Musketeers went 15 for 45.

Creighton had the last shot, but McDermott said they play called wasn't executed properly and it left Alexander with a jumper that he was slow to release.

Castlin closed and got a hand on Alexander's 3 with four seconds left.

"He was wide open," Castlin, who transferred from Columbia. "I knew I just had to put it all on the line to try to seal the game."

Paul Scruggs grabbed the loose ball for Xavier, pumped his fist and the Musketeers moved on.

Alexander led the Bluejays with 21 points and Martin Krampelj added 14.

The game turned into a grind in the second half as Xavier went nine minutes without a field goal. Creighton whittled a 10-point lead to three and then stalled, too. Alexander gave the Bluejays their first lead of the second half, hitting a jumper while getting fouled and converting the 3-point play to make it 53-52 with 5:42 left.

BIG PICTURE

Creighton: The Bluejays had a five-game winning streak snapped and probably saw their outside chance at an NCAA bid disappear. McDermott tried not to give up hope.

""We played one of the better schedules, top-10 schedule, in the country, and if that's important, then we'll have a shot," he said.

Xavier: Leading scorer Naji Marshall (ankle) started after missing the regular-season finale. He finished with 11 points, just one in the second half, and eight rebounds.

UP NEXT

Creighton: The Bluejays will likely land in the NIT.

Xavier: The Musketeers split two meetings with Villanova, with the home team winning each.

"We've just got to play as hard as we possibly can, leave it all out there, no regrets mentality, and be the attacking team," Steele said.

---

More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25

Leaders

Creighton PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
T. Alexander 21 0 3 4 3 0
M. Krampelj 14 0 2 9 0 1
Xavier PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
Z. Hankins 22 0 2 9 1 2
N. Marshall 11 0 3 8 1 0

Team Comparison

Crei Xav
Points For 61 63
Field Goals 24/60-40% 26/60-43%
Three Pointers 10/30-33% 4/18-22%
Free Throws 3/8-38% 7/12-58%
Offensive Rebounds 5 9
Defensive Rebounds 24 27
Rebounds 29 37
Blocks 1 4
Steals 6 4
Turnovers 9 9
Personal Fouls 14 13
Technical Fouls 0 0
Ejections 0 0

2018-19 Reg Season - Xav Leads Series 2-1

Date Result Away Pts Ldr Home Pts Ldr
Sun Feb 3 Xav 54 @ Crei 76 Q. Goodin 13 M. Krampelj 23
Wed Feb 13 Crei 61 @ Xav 64 M. Krampelj 18 N. Marshall 23
Thu Mar 14 Crei 61 @ Xav 63 T. Alexander 21 Z. Hankins 22

Game Information

Stadium: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Attendance: 19,534
Game Time: