Creighton's inability to shut down Matthew Dellavedova - or get anyone but their two best scorers going on offense - had them playing from behind all day and never catching up.
It's odd to look at Northwestern State's box scores and see that most of their starters didn't crack 15 minutes of playing time. But then, they like to play very up-tempo game that requires a lot of subbing, so it evens out that only one player who saw the court tonight played less than 11 minutes.
On the bright side, the four Demons who did score in double figures combined to shoot 65% from the field. However, that was rendered rather moot by the rest of the team shooting 5-of-24, and the fact that they were a missed free throw away from letting six Niagara players crack double figures.
This was mostly about Niagara catching fire in the second half. The Eagles only led by three, 46-43, with around 14 minutes left to play, at which point they went on a stretch of making all eight field goals and all seven free throws they attempted.
In fact, prior to missing their last five shots of the game, Niagara was shooting 80% from the field in the second half.
The Purple Eagles were led by 20 points each from Antoine Mason and Juan'ya Green, while Northwestern State's Gary Roberson led the Demons with 20 points of his own
Bracket Buster weekend isn't exactly what the founding fathers might have intended if they wanted to give teams a shot at improving their resume. We pick three teams that can't afford not to make the most of the chance they do get come the final weekend in February.
The television slate is complete for the final season of Bracket Busters. The list is not without its star matchups for teams that need one more win to prove something to the committee.
How do you match up more than 200 teams in games that could affect both potential NCAA Tournament spots and seeding? It has to be a headache, especially determining who ends up on television. At least one person took a shot at figuring it all out before Monday's announcement.
ESPN recently announced that this will be the final year for the Bracket Busters event. This is both a blessing and a curse, depending on whom you talk with.
