• Box Score: Oregon 71, Creighton 69
• Video Below: See Creighton coach Greg McDermott's postgame comments and game highlights
• Photo Showcase: CBI Championship, April 1

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EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon’s almost invisible half-court line did in Creighton’s chance to leave Matthew Knight Arena with a College Basketball Invitational championship Friday night.

The Bluejays lost a chance to get the game’s final shot when point guard Antoine Young stepped back over the mid-court line, which is difficult to see even when one is on the Ducks’ controversial home court.

“That was a huge play,’’ Oregon forward E.J. Singler said. “I’m happy they made the court like that.’’

Singler made the turnover, which came with 17.2 seconds to play, the game-changer as he pulled up and hit a five-foot jumper with two seconds to play for a 71-69 victory in the third game of the CBI’s championship series.

The last mistake ruined a strong performance by Young, the junior from Bellevue West who led the Bluejays with 21 points.

“I didn’t think the ref was going to call it until one of their kids said something,’’ Young said. “It’s just the way it was. We have to take it and move on.’’

Coach Greg McDermott, whose first Creighton season ended with a 23-16 record, said the mid-court line is difficult to see from the coaching box just a few feet away.

“This is a beautiful building,’’ he said. “I just wish they had a visible half-court line.’’

McDermott admitted the fashion in which Creighton lost was as difficult a defeat as he has experienced during his coaching career.

“I’m very proud of my team,’’ he said. “We got outcompeted in the second game, and the thing I’m most proud of is just how hard we competed tonight.

“I thought we had a good play called, but we never got a chance to settle it. That’s unfortunate, but it was a great college basketball game.’’

Singler decided the game when Oregon worked the ball to him with about seven seconds remaining. He drove hard to the basket and then pulled up to launch his game-winner that banked through with two seconds to play.

“We were just passing the ball around the top, looking to get a one-on-one matchup,’’ Singler said. “I made a quick move, got an open look and knocked it down.’’

Creighton got the ball to guard Jahenns Manigat, but his shot from half court was off-target. The miss triggered a mad rush by the Oregon students to celebrate on the court as Dana Altman’s first season as the Ducks’ head coach ended with a championship. Altman, Creighton’s coach for the previous 16 seasons, admitted that the win left him with mixed emotions.

“I don’t feel very good about winning,’’ Altman said. “There are four or five guys over in that other locker room that I got very close to over the years.

“I don’t feel as good about winning this as I should.’’

Singler finished with 15 points while Joevan Catron finished his Oregon career with a 29-point performance. Catron was named the CBI’s most valuable player.

Oregon took the best-of-three championship series after losing the opening game Monday in Omaha. The Ducks evened the series with a 71-58 win on Wednesday, then pulled out the dramatic victory to finish 21-18 before 9,335 on Friday.

Doug McDermott scored 13 points for Creighton, while Gregory Echenique had 12 and Kenny Lawson added 11 points.

“We had a chance to win it there at the end, but no one is blaming ’Toine,’ ’’ Echenique said. “I was down in the post, and I couldn’t see a thing. I didn’t know what was going on.

“We had two plays called whether they came out in a man-to-man or zone. I thought both of them were good ones, but we never got the chance to run them.’’

The over-and-back call was just the second at the state-of-the-art arena, which opened in mid-January.

The court, with its fir-tree outline and lack of visible mid-court line, has created some controversy.

Asked if he would come back to Oregon if the Ducks would paint a mid-court line, Greg McDermott said, “I’ll come back if Dana will agree to come to Omaha. But I don’t see that happening.’’

Echenique gave Creighton its last lead when he dunked with 45.6 seconds to play. Oregon’s Garrett Sim tied the game at 69-69 when he scored on a drive to the basket. It was Sim’s only basket of the game.

Down by a point at the half, the Bluejays made their first three shots of the second half to take a 38-33 lead. Young scored on a three-point play to open the half, Doug McDermott made a 3-pointer and Young had another basket on a drive.

But McDermott picked up his third foul on a charge with 18:28 left and returned to the bench, where he had spent almost all of the final 12:32 of the first half after picking up two fouls.

McDermott also was hindered by early foul trouble in the second game, picking up two in the first 3:54.

Oregon used a 5-0 run to tie the game, but Echenique put the Bluejays ahead at 40-38 with a dunk. Catron’s basket forced a tie, and he gave the Ducks a 41-40 lead with a free throw on the next possession.

The lead went back and forth the rest of the way, with Creighton’s three-point advantage at 50-47 being the largest during the next 6½ minutes.

Oregon got two free throws from Catron and a basket by Singler to retake the lead, but McDermott hit from beyond the arc to make it 53-51 in favor of the Bluejays.

Creighton had a chance to add to its advantage, but Young missed two free throws with 8:15 left. At that point, the Bluejays were 7 of 12 from the line.

For the game, Creighton was 10 of 17 from the line and 7 of 20 from 3-point range. Oregon, which had only six turnovers, was 13 of 18 on free throws.

Contact the writer:

402-679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com

twitter.com/PivOWH

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• Video: See Creighton coach Greg McDermott's postgame comments:



• Video: See game highlights from the Game 3 of the CBI Championship Series:

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