If the shoe fits…
Referee Kelly Pfeifer was in need of a new sneaker after blowing out one of his shoes during No. 3 Creighton’s 77-60 first-round March Madness 2024 win over No. 14 Akron Thursday afternoon in Pittsburgh.
He made his way to the scorer’s table with one shoe on and wearing just his sock on his other foot before alternate referee Adam Flore saved the day.
It just so happens that Pfeifer and Flore wear the same size shoes.
So Flore took the shoes off his own feet — both, since they were a different brand than Pfeifer’s and the latter didn’t want to mix two different shoes, according to CBS sideline reporter Evan Washburn — and gave them to Pfeifer, who put them on and resumed play.
It was similar to Zion Williamson, then starring for Duke, blowing through his shoe during the team’s 88-72 loss to North Carolina on Feb. 20, 2019, which left him with a sprained knee.
Pfeifer seemingly avoided any injury, however, and thanks to a good refereeing teammate was able to continue.
It only momentarily paused Creighton’s dominance.
Ryan Kalkbrenner led all scorers with 23 points, while Trey Alexander chipped in 19 and Baylor Scheierman added 15.
“We were able to get stops and then on the offensive end, we really took care of the ball in the second half,” Scheierman said after the game. “In the first half, we had a lot of turnovers. Against a team like that, when you take away possessions, and their ability to score, the game can be close like that and I think we did a good job in the second half taking care of the ball. And then, obviously, just making shots.”
Creighton, which is one of just three teams from the Big East in the NCAA Tournament, will next face the winner of No. 6 South Carolina’s clash against No. 11 Oregon.
“I say it all the time, sometimes the first-round game is the toughest one because of the emotions of it being the first game of the tournament ” Scheierman said. “I think we did a good job settling down and doing what we do.”