Halftime notes: (4) Xavier v Creighton

The stars are out tonight in Omaha in this rousing matchup between two very different BIG EAST foes. One, the home team, features a prolific offense that is especially daunting at home. The other, the away team, features one of the top defenses in the league, deploying a 1-3-1 zone that creates fits for their opposition.

Creighton came out punching, hard, beating Xavier to their spots, and firing on all cylinders and jumping out to a 15-4 lead before the Musketeers could take no more and called a timeout. James Milliken managed to score 7 points in that short duration. Milliken, who filled in for Khyri Thomas (undisclosed injury), was a spark added offensively to the starting lineup. Mo Watson did his usual thing in the process, dishing out assists and driving to the bucket.

Xavier, meanwhile, seemingly had a lid on the basket as they were shooting 15% through the first 8 minutes. A lot of the shots that the Musketeers managed to put up were off balance or forced, leaving the Musketeers bare. On a lighter note, they did manage 2 dunks in those first 16 minutes, and everyone loves dunks!

I feel I shouldn't say this to keep some semblance of integrity (I actually have none) but the calls being made in this game are, well, not so good. I know there's been a lot of talk about poor officiating over the year but this happens to be another case of that.

Here's some halftime statistics: