Key Stats: Creighton goes 24-26 at the free-throw line, including a perfect 13-13 for Doug McDermott. Jays outrebound UAPB 40-24. CU has 21 assists on 27 made baskets.
Favorite Moment: The reserves saw a lot of time on Tuesday night, in particular in the second half. My favorite stretch of play by one of those reserves was a two-minute sequence that saw Zach Hanson throw down a dunk off a nifty pass from Will Artino, then block a shot on the other end, and bookend it with another dunk. For the night, 39 of CU’s 88 points were scored by bench players.
500-ish Word Recap: For about 25 minutes on Tuesday, Creighton played pretty good basketball. In between were 15 pretty lousy minutes, including the first 10 of the second half. The Jays built a 44-22 lead at the half thanks to nice all-around play — they shot 50% from the floor, they had 10 assists on 12 made baskets, they outrebounded Pine Bluff 16-11, and they offset their six turnovers with five steals of their own.
Doug McDermott had 14 points and 8 rebounds in that first half, getting his night started with an alley-oop just 56 seconds into the game. A three from McDermott followed, then two in a row from Ethan Wragge, and after a three-point play by Jahenns Manigat, the lead was double-digits, where it would remain the rest of the night. Manigat had a solid first half, as well, recording 8 points, 3 assists and 2 steals, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of the period.
Then the second half came around, and they lost their focus. It took them nearly eight minutes to score their first field goal (a bucket by Doug McDermott at the 12:42 mark) and they’d miss 13 of their first 14 attempts overall. Fortunately, Pine Bluff was unable to capitalize on the nearly ten minutes of futility, slicing just four points off the lead during the drought. CU’s bench played the majority of the game’s final ten minutes, and provided a spark, nearly doubling the lead after entering, as they ran away with a 37-point victory.
Quotables:
“When we had success against the zone, it was because of our ball movement, getting into the middle of the zone. Once you get into the middle, they have to collapse and then we can spray out to Ethan and Jahenns, and I thought we did a good job of that.” -Isaiah Zierden on 1620AM Postgame
“I thought Will and Avery did a great job of coming off the bench, and staying ready. Coach Mac said that at halftime, that the reserves have to do a better job of being ready. Much like in the Long Beach State game, Will and Avery and I came in and did a great job.” -Isaiah Zierden on 1620AM Postgame
(On the nine-day layoff) “I think we felt pretty good. We weren’t sluggish. It was good to get finals over with and get back on the court. Nine days seems like forever, especially when you end that last game and realize, ‘Oh man we’ve got another week until we play again.’ But we did a good job of not looking at it that way and still working to get better every day.” -Isaiah Zierden on 1620AM Postgame
(On the change in routine over Christmas break) “You know, my Dad always told me, and I’ve talked to a couple of NBA guys about this too: you’ve got to find your routine, even without classes, and still do the same thing every day. Even though we’re not in session, I still try to get to the arena at 4pm, get in 45 minutes of shooting, and try to prepare the same way as if I had class. Obviously, you get a little bit more time for sleep, which is great, but you’ve got to continue to do the same routine you had before and not switch it up.” -Isaiah Zierden on 1620AM Postgame
(On his comfort level in Game One compared to now) “It’s totally different. I don’t know how it looks to everyone else, but I feel a lot better. I’ve settled down. I was so worried the first couple of games about who was open, where I needed to be moving, that kind of stuff. But I feel a lot more comfortable now.” -Isaiah Zierden on 1620AM Postgame
“When the change happened, obviously at first it was disappointing to go back to coming off the bench after two years of doing that, but I sat down with Coach Mac to talk about it before the Long Beach State game. He told me, ‘We need to shake something up, get our defense playing better, and we want to get you back to how you were playing at the end of last year.’ I understood it. I wasn’t playing as well as I had been, and I feel a little more comfortable coming off the bench. I don’t put as much pressure on myself. All I need to do is replace Ethan’s numbers coming off the bench, and provide the same spark I did last year.” -Will Artino on 1620AM Postgame
“Basically, what I try to do is go into a game and try to make things happen. If I foul, if I make a mistake, I don’t worry about it as much. I was trying so hard to replace Gregory Echenique’s presence, and do what he was doing, but I’m not Gregory. Our games are polar opposites. Going back to the bench helped. But Coach said this could change game-to-game, all year, so if it changes I think I’m more prepared and ready to bring that same type of play into the starting lineup if it happens. If not, I’m comfortable, I like how we’re playing right now as a team since the change.” -Will Artino on 1620AM Postgame
“After the change, Doug came up to me and told me, ‘Man, you’ve been here before, you’re a veteran, don’t let this affect you, we need you.’ Against Long Beach State, I came in, got a couple of dunks off the bench, provided a spark and I started to feel good again about my play, and like maybe this is the way I need to be used. It’s the same thing Coach Mac and Coach Sellers talked to me about, and told me a story I can’t repeat (laughs). But it helps to know you have the support of your teammates and coaches. Everybody in that locker room has each other’s back. That makes it fun to play, no matter your position.” -Will Artino on 1620AM Postgame
“It’s tough coming off a nine-day break. That’s a lot of seeing each other on the practice floor. It felt like October again. But also, it’s the same thing that happened in the Nebraska game. It’s the same thing that happened in a lot of games. We need to figure out some way to get going to start the second half. It’s happened the last two years as well, we’ll be up 25 points at half and suddenly we’re only up six with 15 minutes left. It’s something that’s been a problem for a while. I think we got this one switched around a lot faster than the Nebraska game, though, which was great to see.” -Will Artino on 1620AM Postgame
(On the start of the second half) “It was boring, just go ahead and say it. You miss 13 out of 14 shots, it has a tendency to be that way. We found a way to get it done, and I thought for the most part our shooters — I have to go back and look at the film — but I thought we were getting decent shots. Ethan’s been licking his chops all week for this zone, and he had some great looks that he just didn’t make tonight. It’s the first time back on the floor going up and down after nine or ten days off and I think the legs are a little tired.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
“Arkansas-Pine Bluff has played stretches of really good basketball, where they’ve been in the game at halftime against really good teams, like SMU and Oklahoma State. We talked to our guys all week about, let’s not allow that to happen. Let’s get off to a good start, let’s build a lead, and then try to carry it home. I was proud of the way we started, but I didn’t like the way we started the second half, although I thought the guys we went to on the bench really brought us some activity and movement against that zone.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
“I think teams will play zone against us in conference play, so a game like this is good for us because we had 40 minutes of teaching. We can look at it and say, ‘Here was a situation where we made the right read, and here’s a read that was inaccurate. Here’s a spacing mistake. Here’s an opportunity to pass-fake.’ All of that stuff is going to be really good to teach the guys, because we’re going to see some zone. People are going to mix it up, like Nebraska did, especially if our offense is rolling. When you play against a zone for 40 minutes, your shots come from different places than they usually do over the course of a game.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
“The ball got stuck a few times, where we didn’t get into the seams of the zone. When we got it to the middle, good things happened. We talked to the guys almost every timeout, they were kind of inviting that short corner pass because they wanted to trap it. So we really told them at halftime, if we’re going to throw it down there, we have to make a quick decision. Otherwise, let’s try to really dig and get it into the middle of the floor.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
“Avery Dingman’s had his three best days in a row as a Bluejay. He’s really practiced well two days in a row, and I thought he came out and made some aggressive plays on both ends of the floor tonight. He’s in a good place, and we’re going to need that bench to be ready to go.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
“We’ve been talking to Zach (Hanson) constantly about, forget layups. Just go dunk the ball in the hoop, be aggressive. He’s practiced well this week. We need that bench mob to kind of keep coming along, to stay confident, to understand that we’re going to pick our spots with each of you sometimes, but you have to be ready to go. Because of fouls, because of injuries, you never know when your number will be called.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
“When Devin (Brooks) and I watch film together, we go through not just the turnovers but the plays that are almost turnovers. He had a behind-the-back pass in transition where the defense wasn’t set, and it prompted me to ask him, ‘Devin, you had a really good semester in the classroom, your GPA is high, so you should be able to count. If there’s not five jerseys for the other team back there, that means somebody’s coming behind you and you can’t throw it behind your back in that situation.’ I give Devin a lot of credit though. From the first day of practice to today, he’s come farther than anybody in our program. He’s really trying to fit into what we want him to do, yet at the same time, I’m trying to allow him to be who he is. There’s a fine line there. We’re getting closer to that every single day. Defensively he’s trying to do good things. I pulled him aside real quick tonight because he was in the wrong ball-screen defense. Just said it during the timeout, and it was a quick teaching point, I said ‘When you go back in, you’ve got to know what’s going on.’ He went back in, and he played. He’s learning quick, and doing some good things.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
And Now, Here’s What You Had To Say:
Not having Fox 2 in hi def sucks. Forgot how bad it is to not have a sport on in hi def #creighton
— Jeff Pomeroy (@jeffpomeroystl) December 18, 2013
Anyone have a step-stool for @KevinKugler? He’s not as tall as Dickie Simpkins. #Creighton @FoxSports2 pic.twitter.com/PNWXmxz4jG
— Rob Anderson (@_robanderson) December 18, 2013
#Creighton hoops having a little fun in pregame. Game vs Arkansas Pine Bluff at 7 on FoxSports2. https://t.co/4ktODEv5Gk
— Dan Bailey (@JaysStrength) December 18, 2013
.@BluejayMBB started the game 8-of-12, then hit 5 of its next 26 shots, before making 14-of-18 to end the game. #streaky #Creighton #BigEast
— Rob Simms (@IamRobSimms) December 18, 2013
Looks like McDermott’s night is done. 25 pts, 9 reb, 12-12 FT. And this was an off night by his standards. #Creighton
— Chase Williams (@chasepwilliams) December 18, 2013
I love the chaos of the last minute of a blowout when the walk-ons get in the game. All trying to get a stat. #RollJays
— Cynthe (@theCyntheCyn) December 18, 2013
