Creighton men’s basketball coach Greg McDermott said before the Bluejays’ trip to Italy that the games were secondary to their real reason for the tour — to build some cohesiveness with a team that will feature a lot of new faces when they start the regular season on November 14 against Texas Southern.
While the significance of the games may be true in McDermott’s eyes, for fans and even the players themselves the exhibitions quenched a thirst for some actual basketball action.
The Bluejays finished their foreign trip exhibition experience a perfect 3-0, wrapping up action with games against All Star Rome and Foligno Basket.
To call them “games” might be misleading, though:
My favorite MBB stats from Italy: Creighton scored 67.30 points per game last year. During Italy trip CU won by average margin of 67.33 ppg.
— Rob Anderson (@_robanderson) August 13, 2015
If you take one thing away from the games during this trip, remember this:
Creighton @BluejayMBB‘s top 5 scorers on its Italy trip (Huff, Watson, Thomas, Krampelj, Albert) combined for 0 Division I minutes last year — Rob Anderson (@_robanderson) August 13, 2015
Here is a recap of what went down this week:
Creighton Bluejays 101, Foligno Basket 49
The Bluejays played their second game in two days to finish their exhibition play “only” winning by 52 over Foligno. Cole Huff really broke out in the final two games of the Italy exhibition, leading four Bluejays in double figures in the finale with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
Khyri Thomas continued his wild summer, flashing his all-around game while finishing with15 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 assists in the victory. Thomas and every other Bluejay on the roster (except Alex O’Neill) scored in this one, which the Jays controlled from the outset thanks to a 31-12 first quarter.
The new press that Creighton unveiled this trip has paid dividends: they had 39 points off turnovers and 29 fast break points.
Creighton with a 12-0 run to start the 3rd quarter and now leads 71-20. Foligno can’t keep up with CU’s fast break lay-up line. #ForzaJays — Creighton Basketball (@BluejayMBB) August 12, 2015
Foligno was so overmatched that early on it was revealed that there would be no foul disqualifications in the game.
Creighton with an early 5-3 lead. Fouls are being tracked, but been told no foul outs, so don’t be worried by Krampelj’s quick 2 personals. — Creighton Basketball (@BluejayMBB) August 12, 2015
Foligno’s Raul Cardenas finished with 10 personal fouls in this one, but also lead the team with 15 points and was the only Foligno player to score in double-figures. Enjoy the highlights courtesy of Creighton MBB:
Creighton Bluejays 109, All Star Rome 31
There was nothing “all star” about the team the Bluejays played in Rome. After getting down 2-0 to start the game, the Bluejays went on a 26-0 run to turn it quickly into a laugher. The Jays led 32-5 after the first quarter and didn’t look back.
Huff stole the show. The transfer from Nevada went 6-of-6 from the field and finished with a team-high 14 points, leading six players in double figures for the Jays. Another three players were on the cusp of double-figures with 9 points.
The posts got a lot of the play in this one with Geoffrey Groselle, Zach Hanson, and Justin Patton posting 12, 12, and 10 points respectively. Mo Watson, Malik Albert, and Thomas combined for 18 assists in what was just an overwhelming display of depth and athleticism for the 2015-16 Creighton Bluejays.
Creighton @BluejayMBB outscored Rome All Stars 82-6 in the paint tonight. That’ll win some ballgames. #ForzaJays — Rob Anderson (@_robanderson) August 11, 2015
Jays outrebound All Star Rome 58-20, including 24-6 on the offensive glass. 82 of their 109 points come in the paint, 29 on fast breaks. — White & Blue Review (@whitebluereview) August 11, 2015
Enjoy the highlights of this one, including some nice dunks:
So, the opponents weren’t great (cough). But the Bluejays leave Italy having built some buzz among the fanbase thanks to these late summer exhibitions. And the extra practices McDermott’s team held before the trip will definitely help the Jays gel; if anything they are more prepared not only for October when full team practices start again. Plus, they got the trip of a lifetime. Win-win.
