Amadou Sow made sure he was seen. UC Santa Barbara’s 6-foot-9 forward stepped into the lane and raised his arms high into the air, as Big West Player of the Year Jaquori McLaughlin split a pair of defenders.

“Amadou was wide open, so I made the pass right there,” McLaughlin said. “And he’s money in the paint.”

Sow grabbed the pass as the final seconds sprinted off the clock, absorbed contact and tossed the ball softly into the air. The ball struck iron once, then again, then one more time, before hope rolled off the rim.

Just a few inches separated the 12th-seeded Gauchos from their first NCAA Tournament win in 31 years.

After storming back from a 10-point second-half deficit to claim a late lead, UC Santa Barbara fell painfully short of pulling off the NCAA Tournament first-round upset, but lost 63-62 to fifth-seeded Creighton on Saturday in Indianapolis.

“We got a little lucky they missed a lay-up down at the other end,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. “It takes a little bit of luck sometimes to advance in this tournament.”

The Bluejays (21-8) ended a seven-year drought without an NCAA Tournament win, advancing on Christian Bishop’s go-ahead free throws with 16 seconds remaining, and will face No. 13 Ohio in the second round.

Bishop, who had missed 2-of-3 free throws before stepping to the line for the deciding one-and-one shots, hit just 57 percent from the line this season.

“Whenever you’re in the gym at midnight or whatever, just shooting around, you envision like ‘Three, two, one,’ you go and take the last shot. It’s fun seeing it come true,” said Bishop, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds. “I just stopped and smelled the roses, honestly, when I was out there.

“I was ready to hit the shots.”

Creighton, entering off a 25-point loss to Georgetown in the Big East Tournament title game — which came in the wake of the racially insensitive remark from McDermott that resulted in his one-game suspension — trailed by eight early, but fought back to take a 34-30 halftime lead.

The Gauchos (22-5), who had won 18 of their previous 19 games, seemingly took control with a six-point lead late in the second half after hitting five 3-pointers during an 18-3 run. But Creighton responded with nine straight points to reclaim the lead with 1:31 to play.

UC Santa Barbara went back in front on Sow’s free throws with 37.9 seconds remaining, and the underdog followed with a stop, but it couldn’t secure the rebound off a Damien Jefferson miss, landing in the hands of Bishop. He was fouled by Sow and headed to the line.

It was time to stop and smell the roses.

“All my life people have been doubting me, and so just being in the situation, I never thought I would be here before,” Bishop said. “Playing in March Madness is a dream come true, and being the one to hit the big shot at the end of the game was even better. I’m excited to see what we’ve got in store.”