NEW YORK - Marcus Foster is one of the most prolific scorers in Creighton basketball history. The senior guard is among the top Blue Jays in career points, most 3-pointers in a single season and most consecutive games in a season with 20 or more points.
The senior guard is a finalist for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame recognizing the top shooting guard in the nation.
So with the score knotted 59-59 in the last seconds of regulation against Providence in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST tournament presented by Jeep on Thursday afternoon, there was no surprise that the ball and the game was in Foster’s hands.
What was unexpected was that Foster never got off a clean shot at the basket, the ball slipping out of his hands as he attempted the shot and the game slipped into overtime where Providence eked out a 72-68 win and a spot in the semifinals on Friday at Madison Square Garden.
“The last play is something that I always work on,” said Foster, who had a team high 19 points. “I was just focusing on getting in the paint, trying to hesitate them a little, looking for a step-back 3 like I always do and I just lost it and wind up going into overtime.”
“I work on that move and I just lost it and that is what I am most disappointed with,” said Foster, a First-Team All-BIG EAST selection again this season. “It hurt a lot as I didn’t even get a chance for us to win the game. That is not like me as I almost always execute and get a shot up.”
Creighton coach Greg McDermott called the mishap “a fluke deal” and had no second thoughts of having the ball in Foster’s hands.
“When we are coming down with nine seconds left and the ball is in our best player’s hands, that’s about as comfortable as I can get in that situation,” said McDermott.
“He’s made a lot of great plays during the course of the season and during the course of his career, in those situations. He lost the ball. Sometimes that happens,” said McDermott.
At 21-11, the Blue Jays are pretty much assured of returning to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year when the selections are made this Sunday. That helps take the sting out of this loss admitted Foster.
“It’s disappointing to lose this game, we all had a goal coming in that we wanted to win this weekend,” said Foster. “Even though we lost, now we get a little rest and a chance to play next week. And make another game winner, I hope.”