Creighton basketball team ran out of gas

<br> <br>OMAHA, Neb. (AP) _ Creighton's final game was a microcosm of its season. The Bluejays ran out of gas. <br><br>After a 12-0 start that ranked as the second-best in program history, the Bluejays

Thursday, March 18th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) _ Creighton's final game was a microcosm of its season. The Bluejays ran out of gas.

After a 12-0 start that ranked as the second-best in program history, the Bluejays finished on a 3-7 slide that ended with Tuesday's 71-70 loss to Nebraska in the NIT. The Bluejays led by nine points with six minutes to play.

``This is how our season went toward the end,'' senior forward Mike Grimes said. ``It was right there, and we couldn't find a way to finish. That exemplified our season.''

The Bluejays (20-9) won 20 games for a sixth consecutive year, and they were tied for second in the Missouri Valley Conference at 12-6.

But it was apparent that they missed point guard Tyler McKinney, who didn't play after Jan. 7 and underwent a cornea transplant on March 5. Creighton was 10-9 without McKinney, who had started 62 straight games and played in 74 in a row.

It's unlikely McKinney will play next season. Creighton hopes to have him back for 2005-06.

Two starters, guards Nate Funk and Johnny Mathies, and guard Kellen Miliner are the most experienced players set to return next season.

Funk led the team with 11.1 points a game, and he shot 42 percent on 3-pointers. Mathies, who replaced McKinney as starting point guard, averaged 7.8 points and 1.4 steals.

Miliner came off the bench to score 9.8 points and hit 40 percent of his 3-pointers.

Role players such as forwards Jimmy Motz and Quincy Henderson also return.

Four fifth-year seniors are leaving, and Mathies said he expects the Bluejays to have renewed enthusiasm next season.

Grimes and fellow seniors Brody Deren, Joe Dabbert and Michael Lindeman combined to average 33.2 points, nearly half of the teams' 68.4 average.

``We're going to come back ready to work harder knowing that we ended our season this way,'' Mathies said. ``For the last five years we've been going to the NCAA tournament, and I think this year a little bit we got complacent, thinking that success is just going to come. It's definitely a wake-up call.''