Key Stats:
CU outrebounded Longwood 47-29, forced 19 turnovers (12 of them on steals), outscored them 49-28 in the paint and 25-7 on points off turnovers, and 15-4 on fastbreak points. Everywhere you look, there’s statistical proof of how big a mismatch this was. In the first half alone, Creighton shot 9-14 from three-point range and 22-32 overall, scoring a CenturyLink Center record 62 points.
But that’s all window dressing in a game like this; of course a Top Ten team is going to pile up awesome numbers against the worst team in D1 according to the RPI. So here’s the real key stat, to me: 12 players saw double-digit minutes, with no starter logging more than 23 (Maurice Watson).
Standout Performance:
Mo Watson finished with a double-double (10 points, 11 assists) thanks to a first half that was almost unfair, as he sliced and diced through a hapless Longwood defense to the tune of 10 points and 8 assists against just one turnover. Two other Bluejays were one rebound short of joining him in the double-double club. Toby Hegner had 10 points with 9 boards — four of them offensive, while Khyri Thomas had 16 points with 9 boards.
But it was the performance of Martin Krampelj that we’ll spotlight. The redshirt freshman will have a more important role than expected this year after the injury to Zach Hanson, and games like this where he can log big minutes will pay dividends in February and March. In a season-high 19 minutes, Krampelj had 11 points with 8 rebounds (four offensive) to go along with two blocks and an assist. He still plays a bit sped up at times, and doesn’t always make the right decision defensively, but he’s their most active player on the glass when he’s in the game and could eventually be the kind of rebound-hawking player Jays fans (and coaches) have clamored for.
Recap & Analysis:
For the second time in 48 hours, Creighton’s opponent scored the first basket and then went on a prolonged scoring drought. Longwood’s Khris Lane made a bucket to put them up 2-0; an 11-0 Creighton run before the first media timeout eventually turned into a 24-9 lead by the second timeout, with Khyri Thomas and Isaiah Zierden both making a pair of three-pointers and Marcus Foster taking off for another of his patented breakaway dunks in transition.
Even though it was against a clearly out-manned opponent, Mo Watson’s play to open the game was still a sight to behold. He assisted on four of the Jays’ first five made baskets, the lone exception being Foster’s steal that he took coast-to-coast for a dunk. Watson then made a three of his own to cap a 17-5 blitz to open the game; in less than five minutes of action he had four assists.
Over the game’s first eight minutes, Creighton went 10-14 from the floor and 7-8 from three-point range, a pace Longwood had no chance of keeping up with. Even Justin Patton got in on the three-point madness, making an Ethan Wragge Special (aka a Trailer Three):
The early lead gave Creighton head coach Greg McDermott the chance to get Davion Mintz and Kobe Paras into the game and play with some of the starters, rather than in the mop-up situations they’ve mostly played in so far. The offensive fireworks continued, however. Foster had another explosive dunk:
And Patton had another lob alley-oop:
as the Jays increased their lead to 39-22. Moments later they doubled up the Lancers, 44-22, after a three-pointer by Watson with 5:36 to go in the half. Then they followed a Longwood bucket with an 18-1 run to end the half featuring eight points from Toby Hegner, and started by this transition dunk from Thomas:
By halftime, they led 62-25, setting an arena record for most points scored in a half. The old record? 61 points, set twice previously — their second half against Houston Baptist on December 17, 2007, and their first half against Texas San Antonio last November 17.
Often times in games like this, a massive, satisfying blowout gets closer in the second half as the team in the lead takes their foot off the gas. Not Friday night. The Jays were nearly as lethal in the second, scoring 51 points, and actually increasing their lead. Thomas got the half started with another dunk:
And before the first media timeout, the free pizza threshold of 75 points had already been hit. It was 77-37 Bluejays after Foster’s three pushed them over the top, and still the Bluejays pushed. Krampelj scored on back-to-back possessions, the latter on a breakaway dunk after a steal by Zierden, and then Patton punctuated the festivities with a dunk that served as the curtain call for the starters.
Ronnie Harrell scored four straight after checking in, and with 9:30 to play we saw something you don’t see very often: a 50-point lead. Leading 89-39, Paras took flight:
As a developmental game, Friday night went about as well as you could have hoped. The Jays blew out to a huge early lead thanks to continued offensive fireworks from their top players, which allowed the bench to get into the game early and often. Mintz and Paras played a career-high 10 and 12 minutes, respectively, giving them lots to look at on film as they continue to improve. Krampelj played a career-high 19 minutes and impressed, as we discussed above. And more importantly, Foster, Patton and Huff took most of the night off, none playing more than 17 minutes.
With the win, Creighton moves to 10-0 and will almost assuredly remain ranked in the top ten. They have an excellent chance of ending the non-conference slate undefeated, something they’ve not accomplished since the 2003-04 team began Valley play 8-0. Despite a slate full of potential stumbling blocks, they’ve escaped (thus far) unscathed. That’s something a Creighton team hasn’t done in a very long time.
They Said It:
“It’s great to get our bench into the game in the first half. For Davion and Kobe to get that experience where they’re playing with some of the other rotational players is really valuable for them, and gives us good teaching moments on the film when we go back to look at that once things settle down after finals.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
“We did what we had to do. There was certainly a threat of a little hangover after Nebraska, with that game being 48 hours ago, so I was pleased with the way we got out and ran. Maurice’s ball-movement and vision to start the game was — he’s been pretty good at it, but I’m not sure I’ve seen it as good as it was tonight. He made every right play early in the game. He makes us go. Guys have to follow his lead.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
“I thought Davion was tentative in the first half when he went in. He came off the ball screens and instead of trying to really get downhill and engage the defender, he just kinda came off flat and almost went up the floor without any pressure, like he wanted to get rid of the ball. The second half he was on the attack a little bit more and made a couple of nice plays. He needs more time, and we just need to get him out there in situations where he can learn and where he can grow. It’s tough in some of the games we’ve been playing to throw a freshman into the mix. With Tyler Clement you know exactly what you’re going to get. With Davion, like most freshmen, you don’t know what you’re going to get. Even with Justin sometimes I’m not sure. He’s a freshman, and his consistency isn’t where it needs to be either. That’s typical of a freshman. Tonight was really big for both Davion and Kobe.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
“Martin gave us good minutes. He was active on the glass, he made some free throws, and he missed a couple plays at the rim where he tried to dunk. But I like his aggressive approach to making plays. We just have to keep growing with him. Right now at that position, we’re playing two redshirt freshmen which is a little scary. The combination of Justin and Martin, and then rotating Toby over there has given us some good things.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
“What part of Justin’s offensive game have Creighton fans not seen yet? They haven’t seen his ability to make free throws yet (laughs)! Neither has his coach and he’s ready to see it (laughs)! We spent a ton of time on that yesterday, he was in the gym again this morning working on it, and we just have to keep at it. Free throws look so easy, but a game free throw is so much different than shooting in your driveway or shooting in practice. I know Justin’s up there thinking right now, ‘I can’t make a free throw and everybody in here knows it.’ We just have to try and clear his mind the best we can, because he’s too good of a shooter to have the struggles he’s had. He’s going to have to score a few more points on the block for us as the season goes along, we need to have someone we can throw it to and get us a basket down low when we’re struggling from the perimeter. He’s done a lot of good things through ten games and I’m not sure…I thought he was going to be good but I don’t think I would have forecasted that he’d be at the point with his game that he is.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
“I don’t know if anybody expected us to be 10-0, so I guess the easy answer is the team has exceeded expectations. The offensive efficiency numbers are 54.5% from the floor and 45% from the three point line. Those are pretty crazy numbers through ten games. And until tonight we’ve played a pretty good schedule. UMKC’s off to a good start, Loyola-Maryland obviously wasn’t great but tonight’s the first game we had against a team from maybe a lesser league that wasn’t picked very high, and they also had three injuries to it, so you just end up with not as competitive of a game. It’s nobody’s fault, they’re doing the best they can with what they’ve got. But also, it’s important to have some of these games. I know our fans would like to stack up Wisconsin and NC State and teams like that game after game, but the reality of it is you need games to play guys like Davion Mintz and Kobe Paras and get Ronnie out there and Martin out there a little bit more. They build confidence, they grow, they learn, we grow more confident in them as a coaching staff, and we can start to make changes in their game based on what they do on the gamefloor. These games are important. Tonight was also an important game for us to bounce back, and play well on the heels of the Nebraska game and our guys took care of business.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
“I still don’t like our rebounding. It might just be something we have to live with. We’ve got to keep working on the fundamental part of it. But Cole’s not moving great, so he’s not even the rebounder he was a year ago. And then Justin is just so light he gets knocked around. And we’re not that big in the guard corps. We have to get better there, and our guards have to continue to come in and clean up some of the balls bouncing around off the rim. Defensively, I thought we took a good step forward against Nebraska. I’m glad we had that game. I know our fans would have liked 18-4 to turn into 36-8, but having to play a grind-it-out game where our offense wasn’t as efficient and having to win with defense wasn’t something I was sure this team was ready for. And to do it on the road is a good step for us. We defended Nebraska really well. Their points per possession were something like .82, even after giving them a layup line for five or six possessions late in the game. We really dug in and did what we had to do defensively, and we can build on that. We can be a good defensive team along with being an elite offensive team. Now, the teams that are elite on both ends are usually in the Final Four so if we want to aspire to make noise in the NCAA Tournament, our offense has to keep trending up. Hopefully our guys understand that and we can continue to move that direction.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
“The volleyball team making the Elite Eight is so awesome. I sent Coach Booth sixteen roses and I told her next week she’s only getting four (laughs). There’s no pressure (laughs). We couldn’t be more thrilled for Kirsten and her team, to be on the ropes tonight 2-1 and come back to win. Now you get a chance to take down Texas at Texas which would be pretty cool. The way they’ve done it and the way they’ve represented our athletic department is incredible. They’re first-rate citizens, every gal on that team. It’s been so fun to watch Kirsten build that program. She was still in the early process of building it when I got here seven years ago. To get it to this level is one thing. To keep it there the way she has is really incredible. It’s such a credit to her and her staff. We’ll be watching them on TV and cheering them on tomorrow.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame
You Said It:
https://twitter.com/crimebait/status/807383993071140864
https://twitter.com/crimebait/status/807385875759960066
https://twitter.com/crimebait/status/807391591723835394
https://twitter.com/crimebait/status/807398453680730113
https://twitter.com/cjlathrop/status/807400089555795968
https://twitter.com/straightillin48/status/807403815662141440
https://twitter.com/ryanholmgren/status/807406398304718848
https://twitter.com/cjlathrop/status/807404393498902528
You Said It (Special Volleyball Edition):
After the conclusion of the basketball game, the CenturyLink Center put the ESPN3 video feed of the end of the volleyball team’s Sweet 16 match on the video board. Fans stuck around to cheer them on as they attempted to close out Michigan and clinch a spot in the Elite Eight. Here’s tweets of that very cool scene, the reaction of some of Creighton’s other teams watching the final point together, and the aftermath.
GO FREAKING JAYS!
https://twitter.com/dannyobyrne/status/807412147869384704
https://twitter.com/dannyobyrne/status/807413412925947904
https://twitter.com/mue11er/status/807420194159230976
https://twitter.com/dannyobyrne/status/807414781812600832
https://twitter.com/mue11er/status/807414799709642752
https://twitter.com/carlitritz/status/807416389220835329
https://twitter.com/dannyobyrne/status/807421985479331840
https://twitter.com/ryanholmgren/status/807415043092422656
