OMAHA, Neb.—Creighton, which argued it belonged in the NCAA tournament, had to rally late to avoid getting knocked off in the first round of the NIT.
The cold-shooting Bluejays trailed Bowling Green all but eight minutes Wednesday night before rallying for a 73-71 victory.
“We were really in trouble there,” Creighton coach Dana Altman said. “We knew we were going to have our hands full. We knew it was going to be a tough game, and it really got complicated when we couldn’t hit a shot in the first half.”
Creighton (27-7), the top seed in its pod, shot just 34 percent in the first half and missed their first 12 3-pointers before warming up to 64 percent from the floor in the second half.
“We didn’t come out with much energy, but we stuck with it,” Justin Carter said.
P’Allen Stinnett scored 18 points, including two big free throws in the final minute, to help Creighton advance to a second-round home game against Kentucky (21-13) on Monday.
Creighton, which trailed by 14 points in the first half and by 8 with 8 1/2 minutes left, went ahead 69-67 with 4:41 to play on Booker Woodfox’s 3-pointer.
Nate Miller put the Falcons (19-14) ahead again briefly, but Carter’s 3-pointer with 1:46 left gave the Bluejays the lead for good.
Stinnett hit two free throws with 35 seconds to make it a three-point game. Miller’s fastbreak layup got Bowling Green within 72-71, but he missed an inside shot that would have given the Falcons the lead with 19 seconds to play.
Woodfox made a free throw for the final margin.
Carter added 14 points, Antoine Young 12 and Woodfox 10 for the Bluejays.
Miller scored 22 points, Darryl Clements had 19 points and eight rebounds, and Brian Moten added 12 points for Bowling Green, playing in its first postseason game since 2002.
“It’s a tough one,” Falcons coach Louis Orr said. “We came ready to play and ready to win.”
Creighton, the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season co-champion, had hoped to receive an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament after winning 10 of its last 11 games. An ugly loss to Illinois State in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament semifinals, combined with upsets in other conference tournaments, left the Bluejays short.
Bowling Green, which won the Mid-American Conference regular-season title, had a chance to tie or win at the end, but Clements’ 23-footer bounced off the rim, and Scott Thomas’ tip try was off the mark at the buzzer.
The Bluejays will be playing a Kentucky team that is in the NIT for the first time in three decades. The Wildcats missed the NCAA tournament for the first time in 18 years.
They advanced to the second round of the NIT with a 70-60 win over UNLV on Tuesday.
“We’re going to have to play better,” Altman said. “We’re going to have to be more physical and play with more energy and emotion than we did tonight. Without our fans tonight, we get beat.”
