Rolling downtown to Creighton’s inevitable win Wednesday against Evansville, I tried to think of the last time I had so much trouble trying to find a home for an extra ticket to a Jays game. And, given the Purple Aces’ o-fer record in Missouri Valley Conference play, I pondered exactly what would make the evening’s game entertaining; aside, of course a Bluejays blowout.
Three things I did consider:
- Solid team defense
- Improved individual performances from some underclassmen
- Kenny Lawson dominating the Aces for a second straight meeting
Three things I didn’t consider:
- Candy
- Our own Patrick Marshall putting (or, trying to putt)
- Our own Paul Liberty dancing (not trying to; very much dancing)
That’s right, candy. It was Lady Liberty’s birthday Wednesday, so I stopped by the Candy Shoppe in the Old Market to pick up some Jelly Belly jelly beans. I eat jelly beans maybe once a year, around Easter. And I, for the life of me, don’t remember them being as fantastic as the JBs (new acronym alert) were last night. The mix-n-match option is clutch (because I’m a control freak). The price was right (a big bag of beans for less than a beer at the Qwest). And they were easy to smuggle into The Phone Booth.
Unfortunately, the best part of the game’s first half was the tasty bean-like treats. Sure, the Bluejays shot 63% in the first half and Justin Carter scored 12 of his team-high 17 points in the first 20 minutes of action. But, with just under 4 minutes to play in the first stanza, the Bluejays trailed by 10, a sparse crowd was more upset and uninterested, and the Valley’s freshman phenom Colt Ryan had 13 (going on 14) points.
- I figured the Jays would handle the Aces defensively — wrong! Evansville shot 61% from the field, 70% from 3-point range, and 75% from the free throw line in the first half.
- I figured some of the underclassmen would step up, seeing as a few are playing more minutes in lieu of P’Allen Stinnett stepping on the court. Wrong again. Antoine Young went scoreless with 1 turnover and zero assists in the first half. Josh Jones stepped up a bit, hitting a 3-pointer and knocking down a few free throws.
- And I figured Lawson would be well on his way to another 18/11/7 game like his first effort against Evansville this season. Um, wrong. Dana Altman said the Aces paid a lot of attention to Lawson all night, and that attention allowed his teammates some opportunities to score and make plays. That’s fine. What I saw, from about 30 feet away, was Lawson struggling to post up against Clint Hopf. The Aces didn’t throw too many double-teams his way, since Lawson didn’t seem to touch the ball much in the paint. He hit a jump shot just a few minutes into the game, and that was it for the half.
So, with none of these sources of entertainment providing much to appreciate, and with Creighton staring squarely at a 6-point halftime deficit, I turned to the Jelly Belly beans. Candy never disappoints. High fructose corn syrup never fails to give you something to cheer about. But then the seemingly unimaginable happened: the Creighton offensive juggernaut Jays fans have heard about all season (and even before the season started) unleashed itself on the Aces. Forget the sugar rush; the second-half scoring surge was all I needed to get pumped up.
For as frustrated as I was at the end of the first half (with the sore throat and inflamed vocal chords to prove it), I was equally pleased after the second 20 minutes of play. Patrick pointed out a few statistical nuggets in his Wildjays Wrap. But it is important to note (and to rub in anyone’s face who chose not to make it to the game because “it is Evansville” or “Creighton sucks this year” or “it is Wednesday and I need to stay home and watch Criminal Minds or some other serial drama”) just how staggering some of the stats look on paper (or, in this case, the Internet).
- Even after shooting 63% in the first half, the Bluejays bettered their percentage from the floor to almost 70%.
- After making 5 3-pointers in the first half, the Bluejays stayed warm from behind the arc and made 5-10 attempts from long range.
- The Bluejays improved on a 3-6 first half effort at the free throw line to the tune of 15-18 to close out the second 20 minutes — that’s 83%.
- After essentially finishing the first half even on the boards (10-9 UE), the Bluejays beat the Aces 15-9 in the same stat in the second half.
And then there were the individual efforts.
- Seemingly fed up that the Bluejays went to the half trailing, Young assisted Casey Harriman’s 3-pointer to start the second stanza and then gathered in a steal (leading to a Darryl Ashford tip-in), hit a jump shot and the ensuing free throw to finish a 3-point play, then hit another jump shot and a 3-pointer. All told, Young took the game over and finished with 12 points, 2 assists, zero turnovers, and 3 steals in 15 minutes of second-half play.
- Jones continued to flash offensive potential as bright as his cheek-to-cheek smile. He added 9 points to his 5 from the first half, giving him second-highest scoring honors for the game. Since taking some of the suspended Stinnett’s minutes, he has posted two double-digit scoring efforts in three games (while averaging 21 minutes a game, more than double his 9.7 mpg season average).
- Fellow frosh Ethan Wragge also hit double-figures for the game, for the first time since MVC play started in late December. Through the first 11 games in conference play, Wragge was good for about two 3-pointers or so per game; overall, he’s averaging a little over 6 points per game for the season. But Wednesday night he was perfect from the field, hitting a couple of 3-pointers, a couple of free throws, while grabbing 3 rebounds. Marty Simmons has worked his fabulous freshman Ryan to the brink of exhaustion, whereas Dana Altman has brought his younger players along at a slower pace, playing-time wise. It remains to be seen how fresh Wragge will be come the stretch run through February, but hopefully his effort against Evansville is a positive indication.
Other guys did some good things, as well. Casey Harriman hit some 3s. Cavel Witter recorded 5 assists (a season-high for the senior) and committed just 1 turnover. Ashford got his legs back after missing a few days for a family emergency.
In the end, it was another blowout of Evansville in Omaha. The Bluejays have hammered the Aces repeatedly since moving to the Qwest Center. And I’m fine with it. For once, just one time, can we win a conference game at home that doesn’t have to come down to a last-second shot or a last-possession stop? It is fun to blow teams out. Sure, the winless-in-conference Aces led at the half. But Creighton shot a school-record 66.7% from the field for the game. The Bluejays scored 52 second-half points. Once Young initiated his one-person momentum-swing early in the second stanza, the game was effectively over. But that didn’t mean the fun had to stop.
Our own Patrick Marshall was summoned to the court to participate in an in-game promotion. Which, unfortunately revolved around golf, a sport Marshall does not play with even irregularity. Unfortunately for the Blogger Extraordinaire, that fact showed in his putting follow-through.
Alas, WBR found a bit of redemption in the dance stylings of one Paul Liberty, aka Dance Cam Guy, aka husband to the Birthday Girl, aka father to Dance Cam Baby, aka one heckuva Apache dance-look-alike. His usual turn of in-game fame came in the second half, but this time there was a bit of a surprise for Section 123 … and the rest of the arena, for that matter. Let your eyes feast on these moves!
