Shot heard around campus

As the students filed off the court and headed to the exit, one thing was certain: The men's basketball program had just earned its biggest win in a long, long time. This win over #19 Creighton cannot erase the last two tough years, but it can sure do a lot to help forget them. "It's a real big win for us," said Carl Jones, '13, the Hawks leading scorer. The Hawks not only bumped up their record to 7-3, but made national news by defeating a nationally ranked opponent.

Creighton (7-1) came into Saturday's game at Michael J. Hagan Arena ranked #19 in the country. They were averaging 85 points and had one of the country's leading scorers in Doug McDermott. McDermott is averaging 24 points and six rebounds per game. Creighton looked sharp early, as they used two McDermott three pointers to jump out to an early 15-7 lead. But Creighton could never capitalize on the early momentum they had established. Carl Jones and C.J Aiken, '14, both hit big threes to tie the game at 17. At this point, the Hagan crowd really started to get into the game. Martelli complimented the students for their great support and said Saturday's game had "a great atmosphere." The Hawks picked up their pace and drew on that momentum to make a run. It started with a Langston Galloway, '14, drive and layup, plus the foul. After the one-and-one, Carl Jones made a great pass and found Halil Kanacevic, '14, down low for a dunk. After a Creighton miss, Jones blew past his man, scored in the lane and was fouled. The biggest play of the first half was yet to come, however. With the Hawks up 32-25, Jones led a three-on-one and found Ronald Roberts, '14, for a dunk that made ESPN's top 10 list at number four. Roberts dunked over Antoine Young and was fouled.

"Those high flying plays, they are worth more than two points," said Martelli. "That one was ridiculous. I hate to call a human being a freak, but c'mon seriously, he threw the ball in the basket. Where are you at that point, are you 11 feet in the air?" Roberts' dunk almost brought the roof down.

The Hawks went into the locker room up at halftime, 35-30. The second half began with the Hawks and Creighton trading baskets. The momentum swung in the Hawks' favor when Chris Wilson,'15, hit a corner three, after a great move and dish by Jones. That put the Hawks up by six and they were able to push the lead to 10 when Jones and Roberts scored on back-to-back possessions. Creighton cut the lead to five after a McDermott hook shot. McDermott came to play for Creighton and kept them in the game. He may have finished the night with 26 points, but all eyes were on Jones in the second half. He scored 29 of his game high 29 points in the second half. His most thrilling moment was with about six minutes left. He broke his defender with a nice crossover and scored. That pushed the Hawk's lead to 11. Aiken basically ended the game when he caught an alley-oop pass from Galloway. The Hawks made enough of their free throws to seal the game at the end. The final was 80-71.

A game after scoring his 1,000th career point,  Jones really stepped up his game. He had a game high 29 points, five rebounds and five assists. "I felt like I had to be aggressive for us to win. I felt like I had to do a lot of scoring," said Jones. Galloway had 12 points for the Hawks. Roberts had 12 points and six rebounds. Both Martelli and Greg McDermott, Creighton's coach, continued to praise him after the game. "I think he [Roberts] is their most impactful front-line player because he can do a little of everything," McDermott said. "He can drive it and finish and he can score over both shoulders. I just think he really competes extremely hard."

Martelli recalled when he told Roberts, who excelled in the preseason, that he was going to come off the bench. "I sat him down and said look C.J. [Aiken] is going to start; Ron you are going to be a starter but you won't get your name called. He didn't even blink," said Martelli.

Kanacevic, '14,  added 12 rebounds and was very physical on the glass. "They really beat us up," said McDermott, talking about the Hawks' physicality on the glass.

The Hawk's play Villanova on Saturday. They play Harvard on Dec. 21 before entering into A-10 play.