Steven Ashworth and Ryan Kalkbrenner made 3-pointers in the second overtime as Creighton edged past its former coach, Oregon’s Dana Altman, to move into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament with an 86-73 win on Saturday night.
Steven Ashworth and Ryan Kalkbrenner made 3-pointers in the second overtime as Creighton edged past its former coach, Oregon’s Dana Altman, to move into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament with an 86-73 win on Saturday night.
The 3s by the 6-foot-1 Ashworth and a rare one by the 7-1 Kalkbrenner helped the third-seeded Bluejays (25-9) score the first 15 points of the second OT to finally put away the 11th-seeded Ducks (24-12).
“Epic game,” said Creighton coach Greg McDermott, who took over for Altman in 2010. “Not sure I’ve been part of one quite like it in 35 years.”
Ashworth scored 21 points, Trey Alexander added 20 and Kalkbrenner 19 for Creighton, which will make its third Sweet 16 appearance in four years when it faces Tennessee on Friday in the Midwest Regional in Detroit.
It took balance, big shots, clutch free throws and poise for the Bluejays to overcome Oregon’s devastating 1-2 punch of Jermaine Couisnard and N’Faly Dante.
Couisnard, who had 40 points in the first round against South Carolina — his former school — had 32 and Dante added 28 points and 20 rebounds.
