Jamiya Neal apologized for his rim-hanging windmill dunk with 1.5 seconds left in Creighton’s Big East semifinal victory against UConn that sparked a square-off between him and Huskies guard Hassan Diarra.

“I got caught up in the emotions of the game. Just a lot of emotions going on. So I would like to apologize for that,” Neal said after the Bluejays won 71-62 to earn a spot in the conference tournament championship game against St. John’s on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

“I respect coach (Dan) Hurley and those guys over there. They have a great, great program. Obviously, they are two-time national champs. Just got caught up in the moment, and I shouldn’t have did it.”

After Neal’s dunk, UConn’s Diarra pushes Neal and words are exchanged. pic.twitter.com/C7upaurX6q

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Creighton rebounded a UConn miss with about 7 seconds left and a 7-point lead, and the Huskies backed off, allowing the Bluejays to dribble out the clock. With no one between him and the basket, Neal had something else in mind. After he threw down the dunk and did a pull-up on the rim, Diarra met him back on the floor with a push to the chest and a finger pointing in his face.

“I felt it was disrespectful to the game of basketball,” Diarra said.

Officials and teammates quickly separated the players. However, Neal looked toward the stands to taunt UConn fans.

Both players received technical fouls.

On the sideline, Hurley and Creighton coach Greg McDermott exchanged some words, as did UConn assistant Luke Murray, but seemed to hash it out and shook hands after the final second and a half ran off the clock and the buzzer sounded.

(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)