There was no set play that got E.J. Singler an open look to cap the Oregon men’s basketball team’s season with a College Basketball Invitational tournament championship on Friday night at Matthew Knight Arena.
Singler, a 6-foot-6 sophomore out of Medford, found himself with the ball on the wing as the clock ticked down to seven seconds, with an opportunity to give the Ducks their 21st win of the season. He drove hard into the key and kissed a high-arcing shot off the glass to put Oregon ahead of Creighton, 71-69, as time expired moments later.
“When I let it go, I knew it was going to go in,” Singler said. “It felt good, but I was just happy to end the season on this, on a win, (and) have Joe (Catron) go out the right way. I thought he had a tremendous game.”
For his part, Singler finished with 15 points to go along with three rebounds in his 34 minutes of action. But if it weren’t for the nearly invisible half-court line on Kilkenny Court, Oregon may not have had an opportunity to take the lead in the closing seconds.
With the game tied, Creighton point guard Antoine Young controlled the inbound pass, and as he kept an eye on the clock looking to give the Bluejays the last shot opportunity, Young stepped over the midcourt stripe, and the over-and-back violation promptly swung momentum back in the Ducks’ favor.
That half-court line — or lack thereof — has been discussed at length by opposing players and coaches this season, and on Friday it proved to be a costly flaw in the multi-million-dollar arena.
“That was a huge play,” Singler said. “That could have changed the whole game right there if they would have hit a shot, but I’m happy they made the court like that since we got the ball. It played out right for us and we got the win.”
On the other side of the call, Creighton coach Greg McDermott was frustrated to see the game, and tournament, come down to an over-and-back violation.
“It’s really tough,” McDermott said. “This is a beautiful building, and a great atmosphere, you just wish there was a visible half-court line. That’s unfortunate. A tough way to lose a game.”
Creighton battled back after a slow start to the contest, which saw Oregon take a 12-4 lead more than three minutes into the first half. A pair of jumpers by Young in the final two minutes eventually put the Bluejays on top by one before Oregon took a 31-30 edge at halftime.
Neither team was able to get much separation in the second half, and it looked as if Creighton center Gregory Echenique, who scored six of his 12 points in the final three minutes, would be too much for Oregon to handle down the stretch.
But a hard drive and score by Garrett Sim to tie the game, the over-and-back violation, and Singler’s bank shot with two seconds to go spelled a victory for the Ducks in dramatic fashion.
“The difference in the game was our home crowd,” Altman said. “Our students were outstanding, the fan support was unbelievable, and on a night where we didn’t play particularly well, our fans helped us.”
For good measure, Catron scored 19 of Oregon’s 40 second-half points en route to a career-high 29-point performance. The fifth-year senior was named the tournament’s most valuable player after spurring the Ducks to seven postseason wins in their nine tournament appearances, including wins over Arizona State and UCLA in the Pacific-10 Conference tournament.
An emotional Catron reflected back on his time in Eugene fondly.
“It was a great experience,” Catron said. “I got out of my environment, back home in Chicago, and I took a chance to come out here and it paid off tremendously for me.”
Altman echoed Catron’s enthusiasm.
“I’m really happy for Joevan,” Altman said. “He’s a young man that wanted us to play in this tournament.
“We rode him all year, and to have his last performance in an Oregon uniform and score 29 points and play his heart out like he’s done the whole year for us (was great).”
[email protected]