It’s been 39 years since a ranked Creighton team played host to a ranked opponent. You have to go clear back to March 8, 1975 to find the last time it happened — Al McGuire’s #5 Marquette Warriors played the 12th ranked Bluejays at the Civic, with Marquette winning 64-60. After falling behind 28-16 in the first half, Creighton stormed back to take the lead 54-52 with 5:30 to play after a personal 8-0 run by Cornell Smith, a player that was normally the Jays’ fifth scoring option. The final five minutes were back-and-forth, and with Creighton hoping to tie the game on their final possession, Marquette’s Bo Ellis intercepted a pass and drove the length of the court for a game-clinching basket, sending the huge crowd home unhappy.
The only other time it’s happened came the year before, when #16 Creighton hosted #14 South Carolina in Eddie Sutton’s final home game as Creighton head coach. A whopping six CU seniors were honored before the game, including all-time greats Ralph Bobik and Gene Harmon, and an over-capacity crowd of 10,216 packed the Civic, the second-largest crowd in CU history and one of just three games with a crowd larger than 10,000 in the Civic Era. The Gamecocks shot 57% for the game, and their red-hot shooting kept the Jays at arms length all night, winning 78-69. Still, my favorite anecdote from that game is that afterward, South Carolina coach Frank McGuire — winner of three national championships — was so impressed by the Bluejays effort that he asked Eddie Sutton if he could speak to the Jays in the locker room afterward.
Not only is this a game with massive implications for the 2014 Big East regular season title, it’s also the first time in two or three generations that two ranked teams have played in Omaha, and a rematch of the signature game of the Greg (and Doug, arguably) McDermott Era at Creighton. No wonder this is the hottest ticket in town.
The first meeting between these two was an avalanche of three pointers that launched the national narrative of Creighton as Offensive Juggernaut. Eammon Brennan of ESPN called it a comprehensive, ruthless, beautiful display of basketball nirvana. Matt Norlander of CBS Sports said it was the best offensive performance of the year. Deadspin ran a profile entitled “How Creighton Created The Craziest, Deadliest Offense In The Country.” It was the lead story on that evening’s SportsCenter. It was a topic of debate on “Pardon the Interruption.” Greg McDermott was a guest on two of the biggest national sports radio shows, Jim Rome and Tim Brando. For about 48 hours, they were the talk of the sports world, and for the 26 days since then, Villanova’s likely been plotting payback.
The Wildcats have won six straight games since that defeat, and have won those six games by an average of 16 points, including a 23-point pasting of a good Xavier team. They’re an absolute nightmare for most teams to matchup against, because no matter who’s on the court, their five players are interchangeable — everybody does everything, whether it’s posting up, crashing the boards, shooting threes, or even bringing the ball up the court. They go 10-deep and all of them — from 6’2″ guard Tony Chennault to 6’11” center Daniel Ochefu — are expected to, and are capable of, doing everything. They’re also unselfish, all of them willing to turn down a good shot for a better shot, and the speed with which they pass the ball around often leaves defenders’ heads spinning.
The thing is, whereas a team like St. John’s is a matchup nightmare for Creighton, because of their length and athleticism, Creighton actually matches up with Villanova fairly well. For all their talent, depth and interchangeable parts, ‘Nova doesn’t defend the arc well — they allow opponents to get nearly 30% of their points from three-point range, which ranks in the bottom-fourth of D1 teams. Five times this year, they’ve allowed an opponent to make 10 or more three-pointers in a game, and in two other games, the opponent made nine. Unlike St. John’s, who was successful in pushing out on Creighton’s shooters and preventing them from getting open looks even from 25+ feet, Villanova focuses more on cutting down on driving lanes and defending inside of 20 feet. They keep their defenders close to the paint to take away high-percentage shots, and then they crash the boards with three, four or sometimes all five players. That’s a big reason why they outrebound teams by an average of five per game.
If you make 60% of your threes, or make 21 of them in a game (like Creighton did in these teams’ first meeting) it short-circuits everything ‘Nova hopes to do. Against a traditional Big East team that plays inside-out, taking the occasional three but getting most of their offense in the lane, that’s wildly successful. Against a team with shooters everywhere, perfectly happy to take 30 three-pointers in a game if they’re open looks? Not so much.
With that said, Villanova’s ability to rebound the ball is a frightening proposition against a Creighton team that hasn’t always done that very well. In 16 of their 24 games, ‘Nova has grabbed 10 or more offensive rebounds, meaning almost every game they do what Providence did to Creighton — dominate the offensive glass. For the season, they get an offensive rebound on 35% of their missed shots, which is absolutely insane. All those offensive boards do two things: It gives them easier looks on second (and sometimes third) chances, and it keeps their opponents from running in transition. Overall, they’ve outrebounded their opponent in 17 of their 24 games, and tied the opponent in two others.
Most of the first meeting is a complete washout in terms of scouting for this one, because of CU’s otherworldly shooting early in the game. The one portion that we can learn from was the last five minutes of the first half, and the first ten minutes of the second half. During that fifteen minute stretch, CU shot at more pedestrian rates, and Villanova was actually able to run their system.
With 5:07 to play, Creighton led 47-23. The 18-7 run that ‘Nova ended the half on featured the Wildcats rebounding every CU miss, and making wide-open shots in transition. That’s the scary version of Villanova — when your shots don’t fall, and you don’t keep them off the glass, they’re almost unbeatable.
Over the first ten minutes of the second half, though, Creighton turned the tables. When CU missed shots, they got back quickly in transition to defend and force Villanova to pull it back — there were seldom any 3-on-1 or 3-on-2 breaks. Then they did a superb job of blocking out, and allowed Villanova just two offensive rebounds, which allowed the Jays to run. ‘Nova was not as successful in stopping Creighton’s running game as CU was in slowing down theirs, and over those ten minutes, CU pushed their lead from 53-41 to 84-47. It was a 31-6 run without shooting at an unsustainably high level. That’s the scary version of Creighton — when they block out, prevent offensive rebounds, and run in transition where they can get any shot they want, they’re almost unbeatable.
What can we expect on Sunday? If Creighton hits the open threes that they’ll almost certainly get, and if they crash the boards with the ferocity they did in the first meeting, CU will be in good position to pick up the win. If Villanova is able to get 10 or more offensive rebounds, and is able to neutralize CU’s three-point output, they’ll be in good position to win. These are two elite teams, and the game is a tossup, both in Vegas and in most sims (such as KenPom). Who will win? I have no idea, but I know it’s going to be one heckuva fun game to watch. I can’t wait to see this one in person and enjoy how it unfolds.
Is it 4:00 on Sunday yet?
Catching Up with the Wildcats: The Wildcats are a balanced unit featuring four men scoring 9.7 points per game or more, headlined by Naismith Trophy candidate James Bell (16.0 ppg., 5.9 rpg.) … Joining him among their leading scorers are JayVaughn Pinkston (14.9 ppg., 5.9 rpg.), Darrun Hilliard (13.9 ppg.) and Ryan Arcidiacono (9.7 ppg., 3.7 apg.) … The Wildcats score 80.7 points per game and yield just 66.7 points per contest, and shoot 46.7 percent from the field, 35.9 percent from three-point land and 72.8 percent from downtown … In the first meeting, CU outrebounded Villanova 34-32 … Following Sunday’s game, ‘Nova winds up the season with road games against Providence and Xavier, and home games with St. John’s, Butler, Marquette and Georgetown.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: A win could give Creighton two wins over the same ranked school in the same year for the first time ever, and it would also give Creighton two wins over top-10 teams in the same season for the first time in program history … While we’re talking in hypotheticals, a win would be Creighton’s 16th straight home win, matching the program’s longest streak in its 11-year run at CenturyLink Center Omaha, and put them on pace for their first undefeated home slate in the CLink Era … After Thursday’s latest heroics, in the final minute of games the last two seasons, Doug McDermott is now 9-for-12 from the field, including 2-of-2 from three-point range, and also 20-for-24 at the line, with 11 last-minute rebounds.
The RUN-DMD Show: Doug McDermott continues to move up the all-time scoring ladder, and on Sunday, he needs 27 points to pass Larry Bird and move into 13th place. What better stage to pass Larry Legend than a battle for first place in front of perhaps the largest home crowd in school history (and undoubtedly the largest crowd to ever see a basketball game in the state of Nebraska)?
By the way, Doug continues to rank first in the NCAA in field goals made, second in points per game, and third in total points scored. Just in case you were wondering.
Out of Context Ron Swanson Quote: “Any dog under fifty pounds is a cat and cats are useless.”
The Last Time They Played: On January 20, Creighton beat #4 Villanova 96-68. It’s not a very well-remembered game, but you might have faint recollections of it.
The Series: Villanova leads 3-1, with all four previous games played in Philadelphia.
Gratuitous Linkage: Sports Illustrated ran an excellent profile of Jay Wright’s ‘Nova squad earlier this week, detailing how they’ve rattled off 22 wins in 24 games. It’s a must-read before Sunday’s showdown.
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: On February 16, 2005, Creighton shocked first-place Wichita State 82-68 at Koch Arena. After trailing 38-31 at the half, the Bluejays made 16 of 19 shots in the second half (84.2%), setting an MVC record for offensive efficiency in a half, and even more improbably, grabbed the offensive rebound on all three of the shots they missed. Johnny Mathies scored the first eight points of the second stanza to propel the Jays into the lead, and then Dane Watts nailed a three followed by a jumper from Jeffrey Day to complete a 13-0 run.
Nate Funk led the Jays with 35 points on 10-14 shooting and 12-13 from the free-throw line, most of which came while being guarded by MVC Defensive Player of the Year (and all-time great villain) Jamar Howard, which made the success that much sweeter.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day: Remember back in the early days of the CLink (then the Qwest) when this song would play right before tip? I do. Those were glorious days.
The Bottom Line: In a MUCH tighter contest, Creighton and Villanova trade punches all afternoon, neither team able to pull away. The difference? Creighton has the best player in America on it’s team, and Villanova does not.
Bluejays 85, Villanova 81
