Creighton Vs. Oregon in 2011 CBI Championship Game

The Creighton vs. Oregon series in the 2011 CBI will head to a game three after Oregon won Wednesday night. Both teams are playing for the College Basketball Invitational championship, which now comes down to one final game in Eugene, Ore..

Rather than having an important Final Four in the CBI, the Invitational allows the two teams that make it through the brackets to play a three-game series to determine the champion. It removes luck from the equation, and allows both schools to have a great shot at taking the title.

Wednesday night's game was put away early in the first half, as Oregon jumped out to a nice lead and held onto it into halftime. That 35-21 score was about all they needed, and the Ducks kept the Bluejays from making any great charges in the second half. The game would finish 71-58 in favor of Oregon, forcing a third game in the series.

Malcolm Armstead came up big on defense for the Ducks, notching five steals to continue his pursuit of Oregon school records for a season and career. He also added 14 points, helped by 18 from Joevan Catron and 10 from E.J. Singler.

Game one in this series took place Monday, March 28, and Creighton showed that they were in this to win it. They held serve on their own home court with an 84-76 win, and knew that they just needed to win one game in Oregon to clinch the championship. The loss Wednesday made it tougher, because now everything is on the line in the final game Friday.

Tip off for the CBI Championship Game will be 7 p.m. PST Friday, April 1, and it should be a great game between two evenly matched teams. It will also be the 39^th game of the season for both schools, far exceeding what their expectations had to be when the regular season came to an end.

For the Ducks, they were just 14-16 during the Pac-10 season, but then won in the first two rounds of the Pac-10 Conference Tournament. That included an upset victory over UCLA, which would later receive an invite to the 2011 NCAA Tournament. They received an invite to the CBI with a combined record of 16-17, and now have proved that they were well worth that invite. Maybe the players at Creighton now wish Oregon had been snubbed.

For Creighton, they are now 23-15 for the 2010-11 season, and look to bring an added level of respect back to the Missouri Valley Conference with a win on Friday.

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