For as comfortable as Xavier's offense has looked early this season, at some point, it was bound to stall, and that's what happened Wednesday afternoon in a 66-61 loss to No. 13 Creighton at the CHI Health Center Omaha.
Even on a night when Xavier's offense was inconsistent for long stretches, the Musketeers still had a late look to tie the game. Paul Scruggs, who struggled to get much going with only 11 points, managed to rattle home a 3-pointer with nine seconds left to cut Creighton's lead to 64-61, and Adam Kunkel followed it up with a steal and a quick 3 from the top of the key – similar to what he did a few days earlier against Marquette – but this one was off the mark and Creighton collected the rebound and finished out the game with a pair of free throws.
"Kunk had a great shot at the very end to tie it and we'll take that shot every day of the week, but we were in that position even though we maybe didn't play well offensively, we stayed in the game because we showed fight, we stuck together," said Xavier head coach Travis Steele.
If nothing else, Wednesday's loss – the first of the season for the Musketeers – was an important lesson for Xavier: sometimes the shots a team gets accustomed to making, don't go in.
Xavier shot 35% from the floor and 25% from 3-point range, both well below its season averages.
"We've got a really good shooting team, but there are gonna be nights where we're not shooting as well, and that's OK," said Steele. "Our defense and our rebounding and our fight's gotta be able to carry us in games like that which I thought our defense was good enough, it wasn't perfect, it was far from perfect, but it was good enough to beat Creighton tonight and it kept us in the game. Our guys, they understand what it takes to win, they do. I feel very confident saying that. They make winning plays; they're gonna fight all the way to the buzzer."
