Creighton upsets Southern Illinois for MVC title, NCAA bid

Mar 4, 2007 - 10:32 PM By PA SportsTicker

Southern Illinois knew it had locked up a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Creighton made sure it left no doubt.

The Bluejays became the sixth team to collect an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament with a 67-61 upset of the 11th-ranked Salukis on Sunday in the Missouri Valley Conference championship game.

Nate Funk scored 19 points and Anthony Tolliver added 15 as Creighton (22-10) avenged a pair of regular-season losses to Southern Illinois and secured its seventh NCAA Tournament berth in the past nine years under coach Dana Altman.

Creighton improved to 10-1 in the MVC championship game since the conference tournament began in 1977.

Last season, the Bluejays were upset in the opening round of this event and were among the most notable teams that did not receive an at-large bid along with MVC squad Missouri State.

The top-seeded Salukis (27-6) had a 13-game winning streak snapped in their bid to become the first MVC team collect the league regular-season and tournament titles in the same season since Illinois State in 1998.

Southern Illinois is still expected to receive an at-large bid when the NCAA Selection Committee announces the 65-team field on March 11. The Salukis are one of 15 teams to reach the "Big Dance" in the past five seasons.

Funk, who led the conference in scoring this season, again showed the way for the Bluejays.

Coming off a 33-point effort in Saturday's 75-58 semifinal victory over Missouri State, Funk finished 9-of-19 from the field to score in double figures for the 24th consecutive game.

The Bluejays led at halftime, 32-28, behind 12 points from Funk and extended the margin to 47-34 with 11:23 remaining.

Southern Illinois rallied and sliced the deficit to 64-59 with 51 seconds left on a jumper by MVC Player of the Year Jamaal Tatum, but Creighton closed out the game at the foul line.

Four automatic berths to the NCAA Tournament were decided Saturday, with Winthrop, Belmont, Davidson and Eastern Kentucky all winning their respective league tournaments.

On Friday, Pennsylvania claimed its third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth and the Ivy League championship with an 86-58 victory over Yale. The Ivy League is the only one of 31 conferences that does not use a tournament to determine its champion.

Three more berths will be decided Monday night as champions will be crowned in the Colonial, Metro Atlantic and West Coast conferences.

The 34 at-large selections will be announced March 11.