Creighton loses to Loyola 68-65

Loyola dominated Creighton from the get-go in this affair. Watching them pressure the Creighton offense and force the Bluejays into making mistake after mistake, bad shot after bad shot, became commonplace throughout the 40 minutes played. Creighton played absolutely terrible. Normally a stellar shooting squad with a trailblazing offense, Creighton couldn't buy a shot - shooting just 42% from the field. The first half featured a 33% shooting percentage from the field for the Jays, with Zierden being unable to hit a shot and semi-open misses offered up by everyone on the Jay frontcourt.

The one positive that Bluejay fans can come away with is that Khyri Thomas's play has been consistent all year. He's without a doubt one of the best players the Bluejays feature and seems relatively unfazed by the dooming thoughts of a trap game. Khyri can not conceptualize poor play, he's just too damn good. Also Geoffrey Groselle got his first career dbl-dbl with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

As I said in my preview, Doyle and Turk were the two players to watch for Loyola. They combined for 32 points and led the Ramblers with momentum swinging threes to kill any semblance of a comeback that the Jays had planned.

Creighton tried to come back in the waning moments of the game, cutting the deficit to just 3 points with under a minute left. It was just too little too late and even if Creighton had come back and won they most certainly didn't deserve it. The motion offense that has pushed Creighton's high octane offense was missing tonight, unable to find any open man. The fact that Zierden wasn't able to score a single point in the game was a telling sign that the Bluejays offense was doomed. When Cole Huff went down with a shoulder injury early on in the 2nd half it was the final nail in the coffin as Cole is a player that can hit tempo shots and keep momentum.

This is the sort of loss that the Bluejays just couldn't afford. I said a week ago that Creighton seemed so well coached this year that I'd be surprised if they got caught in a trap game. I was wrong. They just stunk it up.

Creighton leaders:

Points: Thomas - 22

Rebounds: Groselle - 12

Assists: Watson Jr. - 5

Loyola leaders:

Points: Doyle - 17

Rebounds: Doyle - 8

Assists: Doyle - 8

Tweets/Reactions:

This game was a carbon copy of the North Texas loss last year. Right down to the bizarre sequence of events to give CU one last chance.

— Dave Sund (@davesund) December 5, 2015

CU missed two free throws (to tie the game) then more two shots from the field (one to tie, one to lead). Another rough loss for the Jays.

— Josh Peterson (@joshtweeterson) December 5, 2015

Two straight games that Creighton has had a chance to tie/take the lead late in a game at the line. Both times they've missed 2 free throws.

— Corey Lathrop (@cjlathrop) December 5, 2015

@1620theJays that was the worst inbounds play I have ever seen, seriously a lob tip shot to hegner? What. The. Hell.

— Ben Drews (@BSDrews27) December 5, 2015