OMAHA, Neb. -- So, this is Creighton, a team that isn't just Kyle Korver.

	Brody Deren, center, and Creighton showed they have the toughness to win despite a poor shooting night.

The nation needed to get a glimpse to see what the fuss was all about. The fans in the Missouri Valley knew about this squad. They certainly had a loyal and loud following in Omaha.

But the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, the poll voters, and anyone else following the sport were probably just blindly filling in Creighton. The No. 18 Bluejays were the only team ranked in the 18-team, nine-game Bracket Buster Saturday event. They were, according to one selection committee member, the only team that as of Saturday would be in as an at-large team without winning its conference tournament.

That's why this game against Fresno State was so important. First impressions -- even though Creighton had been on ESPN2 once earlier this season against Southern Illinois -- are everything to a potential at-large team.

There was no national hype for that first Creighton-SIU game on Jan. 18, especially since there was another big game that day in College Park, Md., involving the last two national champs (remember Duke in 2001 and Maryland in 2002). So, our best guess is that not too many folks were focused on that game.

And what about Creighton's wins over Notre Dame in Kansas City, over BYU here in Omaha, or the two-point loss at Xavier? Not on national television. The highlights barely got around.

The promotion for the Fresno State-Creighton game took up the major spots on the ESPN family of networks all week. This was the featured game in the all-day Bracket Buster Saturday made-for-TV event.

And that's why, "this was important and we had more to lose,'' Korver said. "Because of the little exposure we get, we had to play well.''

Korver definitely did. The all-American candidate and likely MVC player of the year again lit up Fresno State for 27 points in 33 minutes in the 67-66 victory -- Creighton's national-high 24th of the season. Korver picked his spots, dealing with a draping, hanging on for dear life defensive job by Fresno State's Travis DeManby, to finish 7 for 15 on 3s, 7 for 20 overall.

Korver has seen every gimmick defense that has been designed from a box-and-one to a triangle-and-two. Straight man has happened but not much zone. Korver is a momentum burst for the Bluejays, taking a lull in the game and eliciting a euphoric reaction from the packed house at the Omaha Civic Auditorium. If he goes too long in between 3s, then everyone in the crowd and his teammates are almost too anxious waiting for the next one to drain.

"The place just goes nuts when he hits one,'' Creighton forward Michael Lindeman said. "And when he does, I'm like, 'oh, oh, here's a string of three or four.' When he hits one it picks up everyone's energy.''

"I felt like he was more aggressive, he had that look in his eye like he expected his shot to go down,'' Creighton center Brody Deren said. "We play non-conference teams and they tend to play more loose on him because they don't know his tendencies like teams in our league.''

Lindeman, Deren, Larry House, Tyler McKinney, DeAnthony Bowden, Nate Funk and Mike Grimes all have benefited at one time or another throughout the season from the attention on Korver. Few teams help off of Korver, meaning they're going to be open. But Korver isn't just about 3s. He showed his overall game, and for that matter Creighton's, Saturday with a vicious screen on Fresno State's Terry Pettis. The screen was so hard that Pettis fell to the floor like a boxer on a stun punch to the chin.

The screen set up a McKinney-to-Grimes layup and subsequent foul that gave the Bluejays a 67-62 lead (Grimes missed the free throw for the three-point play) with two minutes remaining. No one would be surprised if Korver has set those kinds of screens to set one of his brothers up at the family hoop in Pella, Iowa. Dad, Kevin, said Korver and his younger brothers Klayton (heading to Drake), Kaleb (eighth grader) and Kirk (sixth grader) are known to play ball on their popular hoop outside their house. No word if anyone has hit the pavement, but the games are always spirited and Korver has always had to learn how to screen and roll for a shot or just get someone else open.

"I've set picks, but nothing like that,'' Korver said. "He was shaken up, you could tell by him rubbing his chin.''

Fresno State held the nation's top shooting team (51.5 percent) to 40.4 percent and 29.2 percent on 3s -- and still lost.

That's what we learned, that the Bluejays could win games with their defense and rebounding against a more athletic and aggressive team. Fresno State had two looks for a game-tying 3-pointer with the score 67-64, but couldn't get it to drain before a late follow jumper at the buzzer closed the scoring.

"And that's what we gained out of this game,'' Creighton coach Dana Altman. "We can win with our defense and rebounding when we don't shoot the ball as well.''

But there's much more to this win for the Bluejays. Creighton hadn't handled being the squad everyone loved to beat this season.

"We struggled with all the attention we've had,'' Altman said. "We're not used to getting this much attention. There was a pep rally the day before we played at Wichita State. They stormed the court when we lost. They stormed the court at Evansville when we lost. Even at Xavier, Xavier? We were the hunted team not the hunter. How is that possible? Because we were ranked higher.''

Altman said he could tell the Bluejays were playing not to lose rather than playing to win.

"But Kyle played to win (Saturday),'' Altman said. "The way we won, not just winning, was important for us. We had to figure out a way to win.''

But this is far from over for the Bluejays. They've got to go to Southwest Missouri State on Wednesday, a team that is two games back in the loss column. Then, the Bluejays go to fellow conference leader and biggest rival Southern Illinois Saturday. The regular season ends next Monday with Wichita State at Creighton, two weeks after beating the Bluejays. The strength of the MVC was certainly enhanced Saturday with all four Valley teams winning their Bracket Buster games -- Southern Illinois over Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Northern Iowa over Louisiana Tech and Illinois State over Marshall (the last two on the road).

The MVC regular-season champ hasn't been snubbed for a bid since Illinois State in 1993. Only twice since '93 has the outright regular-season champ won the conference tournament. So, the pressure is still squarely on Creighton.

Once the Bluejays get through that stretch they've got to handle being the target team throughout the MVC tournament. The coaching staff isn't totally secure with their position but feels at least two wins in their final three and a trip to the conference title game should be a lock for the Dance. That's still asking a lot but the Bluejays seem to be more prepared for this stretch run than last season. Even though Creighton beat Florida in the NCAA Tournament last season before losing to Illinois in the second round, the team and coaches look at this squad as more cohesive, versatile and even better defensively.

The Bracket Buster Saturday worked for Creighton. MVC commissioner Doug Elgin said the format of the event needs to be tweaked for year two and there should be fewer teams and more wild cards in the event. But that's not going to get decided for months.

The nation got a sneak peak Saturday. It wasn't overly impressive, nor did it send a possible NCAA opponent to shudder. But it was clear this team is talented enough to win a game or two in the NCAAs and Korver is one of those special players who can carry a team. This was a snapshot of their season Saturday and anyone watching should have the Bluejays and definitely Korver (don't give him space to get a shot) in focus from this point forward.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.