PHILADELPHIA — Creighton coach Greg McDermott called his team a “mid-major” after they knocked off Cincinnati, 67-63, in the NCAA Tournament here Friday.
And technically, until July 1 when they join the new 10-team Big East, they are.
The Blue Jays represented the Missouri Valley Conference when they beat Cincinnati, a tough, physical, defensive-oriented Big East school, at last until they leave this summer for the America-12 Conference (or whatever it will be called).
And Doug McDermott, Gregory Echenique and Ethan Wragge — who combined for 52 points in the win — will still represent the Missouri Valley when they take on big old Duke on Sunday.
And what an opportunity that represents.
An opportunity for the midmajor-turning-major to take out a four-time NCAA champion before a March Madness crowd and a national TV audience.
“It’s been our goal to get back to this game and see if we can’t kick that door down, and it’ll be a challenge, but we’re going to enjoy every second of it,” Greg McDermott said of playing Duke.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said after his team dispatched Albany, 73-61, that virtually any team that plays the Blue Devils is playing with house money.
“Every game we play is a huge game,” Coach K said. “We almost always get an opponent’s best shot where people are not afraid to lose. They’re going to gain something if they win against us, but they’re also not going to lose anything if they lose to us. And so we’ve been fighting that for 25 years.”
Creighton is technically a mid-major at this point, but boy do they have some high-major weapons.
Everybody knows about Doug McDermott, who went for 27 and 11, but both coaches agreed that the 6-9 Echenique was the difference-maker down the stretch.
The former Rutgers and St. Benedict’s Prep standout finished with 13 points and seven boards, including a layup that broke a 54-all tie and put Creighton up 56-54 for good. Former St. Ben’s and current Wagner assistant Scott Smith and his family were in the crowd, holding up an Echenique Fathead.
“Doug McDermott is a great player, I don’t think Gregory gets enough credit,” said Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin, who recruited former Bearcat Rashad Bishop out of St. Benedict’s.
“We play in the Big East so we see real players all the time, and he can play anywhere for anybody.”
Echenique is finding redemption in his decision to leave Freddie Hill’s Rutgers team in early 2010 following an eye injury that he felt the school didn’t address quickly enough.
“It’s definitely a good feeling because I know I took a lot of heat when I left Rutgers and went to Creighton and all that,” Echenique said. “People questioned it, why would I leave a Big East team and all that.
“It’s good to prove to people why I did what I did and how special of a team we’ve got and how special Omaha and Creighton and the whole family that we have is. That definitely means a lot to me.”
Echenique will have to be big again on Sunday against Mason Plumlee (23 points and eight rebounds) and the Duke front line.
“Gregory gives a team like us a chance,” Greg McDermott said. “Most mid-major teams don’t have the body that he has, and I thought he was outstanding. He’s been outstanding defensively through the Missouri Valley tournament and was again today.
“So he’ll have to be huge again. He played a great game against Carolina last year, and I know he’ll be excited and ready to go on Sunday.
Very few mid-major programs — very few programs at all — have a player like Doug McDermott, the two-time Missouri Valley Conference player of the year and 2012 All-American.
Now McDermott, listed as a second-round pick on the DraftExpress.com Mock Draft, has a chance, along with his teammates, to show how good he is against Duke.
“We’ve been working for this moment since we lost to North Carolina last year, so I think it’s every kid’s dream to get a chance to play against Duke in the NCAA Tournament,” he said.
“It really doesn’t get much better than that.”
It would with a win, Doug.
And then Creighton will have officially kicked the door down to becoming a major program.
