Creighton University - Bluejay Yearbook (Omaha, NE)

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Left: Johansen controls the tip. Top: The captain and the coach discuss strategy 141

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MEN ' S BASKETBALL Below: The Jays take the floor against Bradley. Right: Swain shoots against In- diana State. Conference Schedule Begins Fortunately, Southern Illinois was next, and Creighton had no trouble putting away the Salukis, 66-54. Mor- ris went 11 for 13 from the floor while scoring 25, and Johansen had his best game as a Bluejay, scoring 15 and blocking four shots. Tulsa was coming, however, and it didn ' t look good for Creighton with Evans in street clothes. Barone com- pensated by moving Swain to for- ward and starting Edwards at guard. Things stayed close until Creighton went on a 13-3 spurt that was capped off by an Edwards drive down the lane, good for a three point play that put the Jays ahead 23-13. With Wyville Wood spelling Morris off the bench, the makeshift lineup took a 28-16 lead into the locker room, to everybody ' s surprise but their own. It was the same story in the second half as Creighton led by no less than eight points until a Tulsa three point play made the score 40-35 with 4:53 left. But when a third Tulsa starter fouled out with 1:36 remaining and 140 Creighton up by six, it looked like the Jays ' game to win. Or lose. Two free throws, a jump- shot, a steal and a lay-up later, Tulsa had tied the game at 46 with :44 left. Once again, it took a Renard Ed- wards ten-footer with three seconds left to seal the 48-46 upset for Creighton. The team took their back-to-back victories to Bradley for a rematch against the 13th-ranked Braves. But with Evans back in Omaha nursing his injury, the Bluejays were no match for the flawless play of the MVC leaders, who rolled to a 79-59 win. It was back to the Civic to meet Drake, the second place team in the MVC. Evans was back, but he never quite got into the flow and finished with just six points. Meanwhile. Bulldog forwards David Miller and Melvin Mathis combined for 28 points and 17 rebounds, bolstering Drake to a 65-52 conquest. Creighton bounced back with a 64-51 defeat of Indiana State, as Gary Swain pumped in a career-high 21 points. Then it was De Paul ' s turn. The Blue Demons had been lethargic all year and were coming off an embar- rasing loss to Louisville. A Creighton victory would be trebly satisfying- the game was being televised on na- tional cable, and Barone was play- ing the premier team from his hometown. Chicago. Creighton wasted no time in jump- ing out to a 10-1 lead. The trend con- tinued as the Bluejays burned the nets for 70 percent in the first half, with most of the shots being screamers from the perimeter. De Paul couldn ' t accomplish anything on offense, and went into the locker room reeling from a 44-29 deficit. The Demons finally got back into it when a three point play from for- ward Dallas Comegys sparked a seven point run that closed the gap to 50-40. Things looked worse for Creighton when Johansen fouled out with 10:16 left. Yet the Bluejays still shut De Paul down inside. To top it off. the Blue Demons shot an un- forgivable 9 for 22 at the line for the game. Appropriately, the 13 misses accounted for the final margin in a convincing 74-61 upset. The confident Jays faced West Texas State next, and after trailing the entire game, squeezed out a 48-47 win when Renard Edwards - who else ? - swished two free throws with seven seconds left in the final home game of the vear.

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MEN ' S BASKETBALL Jays Take Four out of Five Illinois State snapped the three game winning streak with a 63-53 triumph in Normal, as Creighton shot a mysterious 7 of 20 from the free throw line. It was the Bluejays ' second disappointing loss to the Red- birds, and it might have fazed the team, a less confident team, two months earlier Instead, they traveled to Drake, determined to avenge an embarras- ing 103-54 loss a year ago. Once again Creighton ' s shots were hitting nothing but twine, with Swain and Evans throwing in bombs from all over Des Moines. While Drake stayed close all the way through the second half after being tied 22-22 at the break, they never found a way to shut Creighton ' s offense down. Buoyed by Johansen ' s tenacious re- bounding, Swain ' s career-high 25 points, and about 40 screaming fans from Omaha, the Jays pulled another upset, 68-62. They had a week to savor the win before traveling to Wichita State for the final game before the MVC tour- nament. Despite shooting only four free throws to the Shockers ' 30, the Jays took State to double overtime before bowing, 69-64. It was a tough loss, but the team played well for the sixth game in a row, and headed for the tourney in Tulsa upset-minded. They drew Drake for the first round, and the less said about the rubber game against the Bulldogs, the better. The Dogs played near perfect basketball for 40 minutes, as David Miller led a balanced scoring attack with 17 points. Drake was never challenged in the second half as they cruised to an 82-56 victory. But it was hardly a time for the Bluejays to hang their heads. They finished tied for fifth in the MVC when most people projected them eighth or ninth. They went 7-9 in the conference and 12-15 overall against a schedule that included eight games against teams that would get NCAA bids and five more against NIT teams. They came to play most every game, and it paid off in three inspiring upsets. It was the first year of the Barone Era, and a good year it was. DYING A ii k 142