In the last 14 seasons, Creighton has played 27 home games in which it brought in a losing streak of two games or more. Each and every time, Creighton won that home game, and in 19 of those 27 home games, they won by 10 points or more — including 11 wins by 20 points or more. So history is on our side here. Which is nice.
***
Since their first meeting, which was capped by the Carl Richard buzzer-beater to give the Trees a big win, Indiana State has come back down to Earth a little bit. They immediately followed the victory over Creighton by handing first place Missouri State a one-point defeat, a win which was their sixth straight. They then lost two straight — a 93-83 triple overtime loss at Wichita State, and an inexplicable 66-63 home loss to Evansville. In fact, of their three MVC losses, two are to the Purple Aces, who swept the season series.
And so the Sycamores come into Saturday tied for third with Northern Iowa at 7-3, a full two games up on Creighton who sits at 5-5, but a full two games behind first place MSU. For a team picked to finish last or nearly last by most publications, including us, it might be surprising that their balloon has burst despite having such a lofty record this late in the season. That’s what a home loss to Evansville will do to you.
Both teams are riding two game losing streaks, and both teams have something to prove. For the Sycamores, they’re still in the hunt for the regular season title, and a win Saturday would give them a huge jolt of confidence. For the Jays, a favorable seed for St. Louis is still very much in sight if they can protect home court the rest of the way and steal a couple of road wins — something that is eminently possible given that they play Drake and Bradley on the road still.
Aaron Carter led the Sycamores in the first meeting with Creighton, scoring 20 points on 7-15 shooting, and made 6-9 from behind the arc. He averages 8.6 per game, and shoots 37% from behind the arc on the season, so it would be surprising if he equaled — or even neared — his totals from the first game. However, Dwayne Lathan scored two points on 1-7 shooting in that first meeting, and he leads the team in scoring at 12.2 a game.
Carter was the only serious threat behind the arc in that first game, as only three other players attempted more than one of them…and only Steve McWhorter, who was 2-2, made more than one. It will be interesting to see if the Jays gamble by continuing to take Lathan out of the game offensively, as they did in the first matchup, and daring someone else (like Carter) to beat them. It backfired in Terre Haute. Would it backfire again?
About the Sycamores: Indiana State has never won at the Qwest Center in eight tries, and has not won in Omaha since 1999 which is their longest active road losing streak against a member of the Missouri Valley Conference … The Indiana State defense has been strong this season, holding opponents to just 40.8% shooting which is the best field goal percentage defense mark in the Missouri Valley. In league play, the Sycamores are allowing just 40.0% from the field, which is tops in the conference … Indiana State has won a total of five games by five points or less this season … Senior Aaron Carter and junior Carl Richard have both reached double digit point totals in each of the last six games … ISU is currently tied for second in the league with a 14.3 assists per game average, and has posted double figure assist totals in 12 of its last 13 games, including a Valley-best 19 in the opener against Bradley and again against Northern Iowa … Freshman Jake Odum is averaging 5.5 assists per game in league play which leads the league … Indiana State is a perfect 9-0 on the season when allowing less than 63 points to the opposition, and has held their last five opponents below that threshold … Oddball stat of the year: Indiana State senior Aaron Carter has converted a 4-point play, defined as being fouled in the act of shooting a successful 3-point field goal and then converting the free throw, seven times in his Sycamore career … Even stranger: Indiana State redshirt freshman RJ Mahurin has posted two 4-point plays this season, one each in ISU’s games against Drake and Bradley … Indiana State’s triple-overtime loss against Wichita State on Wednesday is believed to be the only 3OT game in the school’s 2500 game history.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: The Sycamores have outrebounded Creighton just twice in the last 23 meetings, including the 38-32 margin in Terre Haute two weeks ago. Not surprisingly, the Jays are 17-6 in those 23 games vs. the Sycamores … Creighton lost on Wednesday at Northern Iowa despite shooting 50.0% from the field and owning a +11 edge on the glass. The last time the Jays shot at least 50% from the field and were +10 on the glass in a loss was Jan. 12, 1985, when Nolan Richardson’s Tulsa team topped Creighton by a near-identical 70-66 score; In that contest, Creighton shot 21-39 from the floor and won the battle of the boards, 48-36 … Wednesday was the first time since the inception of the three-point shot (1986-87) that Creighton lost despite shooting 50% or better from both the floor and three-point arc, and also winning the boards by 10 or more. Creighton had been 9-0 previously when doing that, winning those games by an average of 27.0 points … On Wednesday, Doug McDermott was one rebound shy of becoming the first Bluejay with three straight double-doubles since Nate King in 1993-94 … Creighton is one of three MVC teams that has played just four league home games, joining Missouri State and Evansville, which means five of its final eight league games will be at home … On the other hand, Drake, Indiana State and Northern Iowa all have played six league home games, meaning five of their final eight league tilts will be away from home.
The Last Time They Played: Carl Richard’s tip-in as time expired lifted Indiana State to a 61-59 win over Creighton on January 16. The game featured 10 ties and 14 lead changes, but Indiana State scored the final four points in the last minute to pull out the win.
The Series: Creighton owns a 49-24 record all-time against Indiana State and has won 20 of the last 26 games in the series, but Indiana State won the first meeting this year. The Sycamores are seeking their first season sweep of the Jays since 1993.
The Bluejays lead the series 28-7 in 35 previous Omaha meetings, including 11 straight victories. Seven of the last nine Omaha meetings have been double-digit Bluejay victories, including the past four. ISU’s last win at Creighton was Jan. 17, 1999 (70-69).
Greg McDermott is 8-4 in his career against Indiana State, including a 4-1 mark in home games. McDermott is 0-1 against Greg Lansing.
Gratuitous Linkage: I’m a big fan of Interpol, and I’m a big fan of pretty much everything Fred Armisen does — especially “Portlandia” — so this video widget of three live Interpol songs introduced by Armisen is the greatest thing I saw all week.
Out of Context Simpsons quote: “When I look at the smiles on all the children’s faces, I just know they’re about to jab me with something.” – Homer Simpson
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: On January 29, 1970, in Coach Eddie Sutton’s first year patrolling the Creighton sideline, the Jays upset Sam Lacey and #5 New Mexico State 72-68 at the Civic. The crowd of 11,214 was, and remains, the largest crowd to ever see a game at the Civic Auditorium (how it was possible to squeeze that many people into the Civic, I will NEVER understand. Sounds like it must have been a blast.)
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day: The world’s greatest cover band! (Seriously, has there ever been a band with a more disproportionate number of hit original songs versus cover songs? I think not. I mean this lovingly, however.)
The Bottom Line: The Jays outplayed Indiana State for large chunks of the game in Terre Haute. On Saturday, they’ll finish the job.
Creighton 64, Indiana State 60
