College basketball: Creighton-UConn Big East semifinal ends in scuffle

Emotions ran high on Friday night at Madison Square Garden as Creighton advanced to the Big East final over the two-time defending national champions in UConn.

The Bluejays were coasting to a victory and were able to dribble the ball out for the final seconds.

With the second-seeded Bluejays leading 69-62, they got a defensive rebound with under 10 seconds left, and Huskies coach Dan Hurley signaled for his team to let the clock run out without fouling.

However, Jamiya Neal took off streaking down the left sideline for a slam with 1.5 seconds remaining and hung onto the rim for a pullup. After his skirmish with Diarra, Neal waved his arms to fire up Creighton fans in the sellout crowd.

Huskies guard Hassan Diarra shoved Neal in the chest and appeared to square up with his fists for a split second as the two were face-to-face. 

Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner separated them by pushing Neal away as whistles blew and players came streaming off the benches at Madison Square Garden.

Order restored rather quickly, but the emotions were still tense after the game.

“I mean, they were already up with seven seconds left,” Diarra said. “He didn’t want to dribble the ball out. Went in for a fancy dunk. I just felt it was disrespectful to the game of basketball.”

Neal admitted he “got caught up in the emotions of the game” and apologized.

Hurley and Bluejays coach Greg McDermott were already approaching each other along the sideline to shake hands when Neal took off for his dunk. McDermott appeared to apologize to Hurley immediately afterward, and again when the game ended.

Creighton and UConn have had their beef this year already. Hurley taunted Creighton fans last month after the Huskies brought home a road win, waving goodbye to the crowd and yelling out, “Two rings!”

Last year, Hurley also threatened to “knock out” a Creighton fan.

It will be Creighton against St. John’s for the Big East title at the Garden on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in what is sure to be a heavy Red Storm crowd.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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