Creighton’s NCAA men’s tournament title hopes came to an end on Sunday in the wildest, most unsatisfactory way possible. And yet, when asked about it, Creighton head coach Greg McDermott took the high road.
San Diego State advanced to its first Final Four in program history after besting Creighton 57-56 on an unceremonious last-second foul. Creighton got the ball back with 1.2 seconds remaining, but the pass down the court tipped out of bounds, which lead to a referee review. The result? An anticlimactic end to a game that went down to the wire and was decided on the final play.
MORE MARCH MADNESS: Darrion Trammell broke down in tears after sending San Diego State to school’s first Final Four.
While other coaches may have let the moment get the best of them in postgame interviews, McDermott had a very measured response to the foul on Ryan Nembhard that kicked things off.
Greg McDermott on the call on Nembhard: "Two teams played their tails off and officiating is part of the game. We’re not going to go there. We lost the game because we didn’t do enough and San Diego State did." He added he wasn't given an explanation at the end of the game.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 26, 2023
A pretty classy response from McDermott there!