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Morning After: Creighton Leads Wire-to-Wire, Defeats Marquette 67-49 in Big East Debut

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[Box Score]

Key Stats: Creighton outrebounds Marquette 38-36. Marquette commits 15 turnovers, and Creighton scores 20 points off of them. CU ties a school record with 35 three-point attempts, making 13 (37%).

Favorite Moment: I wasn’t there (or alive, to be more precise) for the Bluejays’ game on January 29, 1970 where they miraculously circumvented fire marshal rules to cram 11,214 fans into the 9,200 capacity Civic Auditorium. That night, Eddie Sutton’s first Jays squad defeated Sam Lacey and #5 New Mexico State 72-68, and what was, for a long time, considered to be the most raucous crowd in CU history stormed the floor following the win to carry Cyril Baptiste and his teammates off the court.

I have been there for what I’d consider to be the other four top crowds in CU history:

  • December 20, 1998 vs #18 Oklahoma State (Eddie Sutton’s return)
  • January 18, 2003 vs Southern Illinois (another Fire Marshal Special as 10,184 piled into the Civic)
  • March 23, 2009 vs Kentucky (Perhaps the wildest NIT crowd ever)
  • March 2, 2013 vs Wichita State (Final MVC game)

and it would take a lot to supplant any of those in a “Top Five” list. Still, even adjusting for the “bias of newness”, I’d put this one not only in the top five, but at the top. The CenturyLink Center was a madhouse, with students camping out 12 hours before the game to ensure prime seats, 18,525 fans cranking the decibel level to well over 100 for nearly two straight hours, and literally dozens of all-time classic banners and signs scattered around the arena. I loved the giant 15-foot “Section 122 says…In the East, the West is the Best!” banner that one entire row in that section held up during the first timeout. The “Hey Wichita, How’s the Valley?” sign that a student in the front row had was a tad uncouth, but it did make me laugh a little. There were several others that I don’t have space to single out here, too, all of which added to the environment.

But then there was the second-half timeout where Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” blared from the P.A. It was announced as merely a fun, celebratory song for New Years — it’s never been played at a Jays game before, at least not that I can recall — because songs that everyone knows enough words to in order to sing along with are a blast. And if it had merely turned into 18,000 fans swaying their arms and singing along to the song, that would have been fun in the moment, but hardly memorable.

No, it was what happened after the song stopped that was truly remarkable. People continued singing along, and when I say people, I don’t mean a handful, I mean the ENTIRE FREAKING ARENA. 18,000 fans singing a capella spontaneously, with such gusto and sheer joy that it was impossible for even the most cynical and grizzled of fans not to join in. It might have continued for even longer than it did, had the European soccer-style singing not distracted Marquette into a turnover.

Whenever I think back on the first ever Big East game Creighton played, that’s the moment I’ll remember most. Here’s a video WBR’s Matt DeMarinis forwarded to us from a reader of the site — it’s a little shaky, but it captures the essence of the moment brilliantly. Man, it gives me chills to watch that video.

So good, so good, so good!

Favorite Moment, Part Deux: “We stand on the shoulders of those that came before us.” That’s a line that has been uttered a lot as Creighton has entered this new era, and Greg McDermott echoed it in a tweet he sent out a few hours before the game with a photo of him with three all-time CU greats: Eddie Sutton, Tom Apke, and Tony Barone.

Creighton basketball simply would not be what it is without the efforts of those three, plus Red McManus and Dana Altman (whose wives stood in for them at the halftime ceremony). To have all of them in the building for Creighton’s grand entrance to the big time was something truly special, giving all of them an opportunity for a well-deserved curtain call in front of the Bluejay faithful.

Coaches Sutton, McDermott, Apke and Barone before the game. (Photo courtesy of Greg McDermott's Twitter account @cucoachmac)

Coaches Sutton, McDermott, Apke and Barone before the game. (Photo courtesy of Greg McDermott’s Twitter account, @cucoachmac)

Favorite Moment, Part Tres: Buzz Williams taking off his coat in the second half, and instantly looking like one of two things (take your pick): a waiter at a stuffy restaurant or an assistant in Gob Bluth’s magic show. It’s not just me saying it, either. Marquette blog Anonymous Eagle wrote afterwards, “I was watching this game with Rubie Q, and he spent the entire second half making drink orders every time he saw Buzz, as he was pretty sure that Buzz was dressed as a waiter.”

Quick Recap: For the fifth consecutive game, Creighton lead wire-to-wire, piling on points early and often against Marquette. With 18,525 fans primed, lubricated and looking for a reason to cheer, Doug McDermott gave it to them by knocking down a three-pointer on the game’s first possession. The Jays never trailed after that, and the crowd never stopped yelling.

On the surface, it appeared like they were clicking on all cylinders; they blew out the preseason favorite in the league, after all. Offensively, if you can believe it, they actually had an off-night. Marquette gave them a crap-ton of open looks from the perimeter, the Jays took a crap-ton of shots from the perimeter, and made 37%, which is quite a bit lower than their season average of 43%. CU was held to 1.05 points per possession (they average 1.18 for the year), tied a school record with an absurd 35 three-point attempts, missing 22 of them (!!), and only went to the free throw line four times. Oh, and they had 13 turnovers.

The story of this game was on the defensive end, where the Jays took an already-offensively challenged team and frustrated them further. Marquette’s offense appeared to consist mostly of taking an ill-advised shot, then using their size and athleticism to get the rebound for a quick putback at the rim. Creighton put a dent in that strategy by boxing out and grabbing more than their share of rebounds — they actually out-boarded MU 38-36 — and without the easy putbacks, those ill-advised shots they were hoping to use as de-facto passes to themselves were just ill-advised shots.

For all their offensive struggles this year, Marquette came into the game shooting 45% from the field, and shot just 35% in this one. They’re a 30% shooting team from behind the arc for the season, and made just 16% of their perimeter shots against CU. It was a dominating defensive effort, which is shockingly becoming a trend — a Bluejay team once maligned for its’ defensive shortcomings is suddenly not just competent but at times stifling, and they’ve moved up to #46 in KenPom’s defensive rankings, after infamously being #222 two years ago. They deny shooters the ability to get open looks, they’re in position to contest almost everything, and they jump passing lanes to either stop passes or to intercept them. The best example of the latter was by Jahenns Manigat, who jumped in front of a pass in the first half, then streaked downcourt to throw down his first career dunk.

Manigat, as usual, played terrific defense. But so did Ethan Wragge and Will Artino, both of whom held their own in the paint against much bigger, more physical players, boxing out on rebounds and moving their feet well to be in position to at least contest shots, if not stopping them. They had just five combined rebounds, but by boxing out and doing all the dirty work inside, they created opportunities for CU’s guards and forwards to grab rebounds that wouldn’t have been available otherwise. Avery Dingman also played well, despite continuing to struggle offensively — he was a physical presence on Marquette’s wing players defensively, staying in their faces and cutting off driving lanes consistently. He’s uniquely positioned among CU’s wings to be that physical defender they’ve lacked, because he has both the size and the relative quickness to stay in opponent’s grills. Now that he’s finally grasped what his role can be and how to succeed as a defensive stopper, he’s a huge factor on that end of the floor.

An 18-point win where the defense stole the show? A new league isn’t the only thing that’s new this year.

Quotables:

“It was crazy out there, I couldn’t even hear myself think with the noise. The fans were so loud. We appreciate that, because this was a brutal game. Offensively and defensively, we had to really be strong because there was some big dudes on Marquette.” -Devin Brooks on 1620AM Postgame

(On his “flexing” after scoring a bucket in the paint) “It’s just to get the crowd involved, and to show the opponent that you might be big, but I’m big too. We all big. It’s a man’s sport, we’re all big (laughing).” -Devin Brooks on 1620AM Postgame

“Duke and Cincinnati last year were certainly two of the most physical teams that we’ve played, but Marquette was right up there. That’s impossible to say who was more physical between those three. It was extremely physical out there, but we didn’t back down or step off, I felt like we did a really good job of when we got punched, get up and punch back.” -Jahenns Manigat on 1620AM Postgame

“Our crowd made it so incredible. This was such a memorable night. Who would have thought that, four years ago, we’d be here? That was so much fun. But we don’t want this to be our Super Bowl, we don’t want this to be our biggest moment of our season. We want it to be a building block for what we want to accomplish. And so as soon as we hit the practice floor tomorrow, we’ll turn the page to Seton Hall.” -Jahenns Manigat on 1620AM Postgame

(On whether his “dunk” was a dunk) “Here’s what we’re not going to do (laughing). Until we get the photo finish at the end, at the top of my jump, if I touched the rim, then we can call it a dunk (laughing). But I’m not going to lie, you guys want to know what I was seriously thinking about? UNI, freshman year, MVC Tournament. I still remember missing that fastbreak layup. If I wasn’t trying so hard to slap the backboard I probably wouldn’t have missed it. But that shows the growth, right? (laughing) I had a good athlete trailing me, I just wanted to make sure I finished with a bucket. I told my teammates, you guys and all 18,525 fans lifted me up on that one. I couldn’t jump like that on my own!” -Jahenns Manigat on 1620AM Postgame

“In some ways, we beat Marquette at their own game. We talked about rebounding, and how important I thought it was. We won that battle, and points in the paint was 28 to 24, so the things that had to happen for us, happened for us. And because of that, we won and I’m very, very proud of our team.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame

“We got 35 threes in the air, and I wouldn’t have guessed that would be possible, but our guys adjusted in the second half and went to the rim a little bit more. We got great contributions from not only the starters but from our bench. Devin and Will gave us a huge lift in the second half. Isaiah and Avery had to be ready with some of the foul trouble we had, and they contributed really well. Just a great team win.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame

“Otule and Davante Gardner, they’re not used to guarding guys that can shoot it from 25 feet. So we put them in a situation where it’s very difficult for them. Ethan made them pay for doubling Doug, and I thought Doug’s movement over the first 12 or 13 minutes of the game was outstanding. When he cuts to the basket, more than one defender is going with him, so then all of a sudden everything collapses and then Ethan or Jahenns has a wide-open three.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame

“Anybody that’s around our team understands how important Jahenns is to us. The guy, very seldom in the four years he’s been here, has had a bad day. When I say that, I don’t mean that he hasn’t had a bad day where he hasn’t played well. He hasn’t had a bad day where he’s not appreciative of what he has. His human spirit is just oozing out of him, because he just loves life. That’s infectious, it really is. We’re lucky, and I’m fortunate that I coach a bunch of guys that really are a great group of teammates in general. There’s not a bad apple in that bunch. It’s a great group of guys and Jahenns is our emotional leader. He’s our verbal leader. The opponent calls out a play that we have sniffed out, and everybody within the first ten rows knows what’s coming because he’s screaming it at his teammates.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame

“This is special for all of us. As I told them before the game, outside really of Devin and James, who signed late, none of us expected that this would ever happen when we agreed to come to Creighton, both players and the coaches. So all of a sudden to have this sprung on you, in the middle of the Valley tournament or the NCAA tournament, wherever we were when it happened, and to be standing here tonight…and to be understanding that you’re part of something you didn’t sign up for. It’s really, really cool. Your fan base is so excited. They’ve been talking about this game since the schedule came out. From a coaching perspective, I wanted to get the darn thing over with. The anticipation was immense. Theresa asked me today, are you nervous? I said, I’m not nervous, I’m just tired of waiting. I want to play the game. I thought our guys felt the same way. This is such a good group of guys, and if there’s a group that gets to win the first Big East game in the history of Creighton, I can’t think of a better group of people to have that happen to.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame

“It was an incredible environment in here tonight. It’s something that our guys will never forget, they’ll take it with them for the rest of their lives. From the starting lineups to the opening tip, Doug hits the three to start it, they never stopped being a factor. They never left the game. They were engaged the entire time. I hope people understand what a big difference that makes for us. There’s going to be some games like this in the Big East, it’s just the way basketball is played in this league. There’s going to be some grind-it-out games, and you’ve got to be ready to get into the fight. And our crowd has to be in the fight with us, because every possession is so critical.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame

“This was an incredible night. In the media room, they asked me, do you think you’ve sent a message, do you feel like you had something to prove? What I think we proved tonight was, I’ve been talking for years about ‘When will the Creighton story get told?’. I think people that watched tonight, that hadn’t seen us, and hadn’t seen this place, and our crowd, probably went ‘That’s going on in Omaha, Nebraska? Really?’ For recruiting, and everything else that we need to do as we move this program forward in this league, a night like tonight will go a long way.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame

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