Arch Madness: Funk paces Jays as CU secures SIU rematch

ST. LOUIS -- As Nate Funk stepped to the free throw line in the final minute of Creighton’s 75-58 Missouri Valley Conference tournament semifinal win over Missouri State Saturday evening, the blue-clad portion of the crowd of 22,612 at the Scottrade Center offered its opinion of the senior guard’s performance, showering him with chants of “M-V-P!”

While any decision on the MVC tournament Most Outstanding Paper will have to wait until tomorrow, Funk proved worthy of the crowd’s accolades tonight.   

The senior guard scored a game-high and Creighton MVC tournament-record 33 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out three assists in 38 minutes to lead the Jays. Creighton improved to 21-10 and advances to tomorrow’s MVC championship with the win. Missouri State fell to 22-10.   

“I'm not sure,” coach Dana Altman said, “that we’ve had a better all-around performance for a ballgame than Nathan’s today.”

Funk’s performance was one among a trio of impressive contributions by Creighton seniors. Guard Nick Porter recorded his first career double-double, scoring 19 points and grabbing 13 rebounds, and center Anthony Tolliver chipped in 13 points despite early foul trouble.

The trio accounted for 65 of the Jays’ 75 points, drawing praise from Missouri State coach Barry Hinson.

“Their three seniors were just absolutely phenomenal today,” Hinson said. “Hats off to them.”

Tolliver opened the scoring with a pair of free throws, setting the Jays on a 9-2 game-opening run fueled entirely by the three senior starters.

After a 3-pointer by Bears senior guard Blake Ahearn, the Jays rattled off eight unanswered points to extend their lead to 17-5.

From there, the Bears battled back, stringing together a 21-9 run to tie the game at 26 with just over five minutes left in the half. 

Ahearn scored 10 points during the run and 15 overall in the opening half. The MVC All-Conference selection hit four of six shots, including three of four 3-pointers, seemingly countering Funk’s every move to keep the Bears within striking distance, down 39-34, at halftime.  

However Ahearn hit just one of six shots from the field in the second half to finish with 20 points.  Funk, meanwhile, kept pace with his first half performance.

After Missouri State cut Creighton’s lead to 39-36 two minutes into the second half, Porter responded with a lay-up on a strong drive to the basket, and Funk extended the lead to 43-36 with a lay-up of his own two possessions later. 

From there, the Bears drew no closer than five points down the rest of the way. 

“I said we didn’t deserve to win the ballgame,” Hinson said of his postgame speech to his team. “Creighton just absolutely whipped our tails.”

Altman pointed to the Jays’ defensive intensity as a key to their success. 

“I'm really excited and proud of our second half defensive effort,” Altman said. “The first 12 minutes of the second half, I think they only scored nine points… and I thought that was the turning point of the game.”

The Jays hassled the Bears into 21 percent shooting in that second half and limited them to 12 fast break points all game, holding Missouri State’s usually high-octane offense well below its season average of 74 points per game one night after limiting Indiana State to 38 points.

According to Altman, defense will again be in focus when the Jays take on the conference regular season champions, No. 11 Southern Illinois, at 1:05 p.m. Sunday in the MVC championship.

The Salukis, who secured a spot in the championship with a 53-51 win over Bradley in the early semifinal Saturday, have beaten the Jays eight straight times, including twice this year by a total of three points. 

“We had our chances in both games,” Altman said. “We just weren’t tough enough to finish it. Tomorrow we’ll swing away and see if we’re a little bit tougher.”