Creighton lifted by fan base in close game with Marquette

By Benj Otero
MATC Times

Creighton basketball pulled out a second-round victory over Marquette 74-63 at Madison Square Garden March 10. While it was a neutral site for both squads, there was a noticeable discrepancy in fanbases at the game.

Creighton was able to wrangle up a school band, cheerleaders, a dance team, and most notably, a student section for Thursday’s contest. This could be seen throughout multiple Creighton runs, most of them headed by Ryan Kalkbrenner, who had 14 points and nine rebounds, six on offense, in a performance that left the opposing coach, Shaka Smart, flabbergasted after.

“I thought Kalkbrenner, in a strange way, he’s 7’1″, but he’s just kind of quicker to the ball on some of those plays,” Smart said. “They shot one, like, off the bottom of the backboard. He was just quicker, got it, and either scored or drew a foul. He’s played really, really well against us.”

Kalender was not the team’s leading scorer. Instead, that went to Ryan Hawkins, who scored 18 points on 12 shots. Hawkins, a transfer senior from Northwest Missouri State, spoke about how much the fans helped him in his first game at Madison Square Garden.

“I think it just has a lot of special people and a lot of support. This is my first year at Creighton, and just the accepting and the love I’ve gotten from the fan base tells me everything I needed to know,” Hawkins said. “It’s kind of like a hidden gem in the middle of America, and I wouldn’t change it for anything. The people are what makes it special at Creighton.”

The players felt this despite Creighton University being in Omaha, Nebraska, located over 1,200 miles away from Madison Square Garden. Likewise, this support was felt by the parents and older generation of Blue Jay fans and their student section. 

Cheers and chants could be heard throughout the garden, while Marquette’s band was the only one making noise. This and a lack of cheerleaders and overall fans was noticeable during most of Marquette’s game, even when they went on multiple runs in the second half.

Marquette’s postseason fate will now be in the hands of the NCAA selection committee, and Creighton’s conference fate will face a test versus top-seeded Providence March 11 at 6:30 p.m.