Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said after his team’s last-second loss Saturday to Northern Iowa that he hopes his team responds to defeat as well as they have to winning. It is a shame the Bluejays have to address the issue, but it was inevitable — in today’s Missouri Valley Conference, no one was going to avoid the type of tough road loss CU just suffered, not even a nationally ranked squad.
So with that said, and with replays of Anthony James’ game-winning 3-pointer finally subsiding in my subconscious, I tried to find the silver lining in Creighton’s loss in Cedar Falls. There’s the overwhelming victory on the boards (44-30 rebounding edge to CU). There’s another great game by Doug McDermott. And there’s the knowledge that the smallest Creighton home crowd of the season would double up the Panthers’ biggest turnout at the McLeod Center all season — for Creighton!
Below are some pros and cons I came away with following the loss (and a few beers) Saturday night.
The Pros
A few times in the last five minutes of the game, Creighton fought back following clutch plays by the Panthers. Marc Sonnen turned a Grant Gibbs turnover into a 3-pointer by Chip Rank with 5:21 to play, a shot that gave UNI a 6-point lead and visibly deflated the Bluejays as they tried to mount a comeback.
But a 7-2 run over the next three-plus minutes pulled CU back to within a point. The teams traded points but then Jake Koch drilled a 3-pointer to give UNI a 4-point lead with 71 seconds left.
Antoine Young knocked down a couple of free throws to get Creighton back within a bucket, only to see Anthony James connect on a trey with 24 second left to give Northern Iowa another 5-point lead. Jahenns Manigat managed to get his own 3-pointer to go with 15 seconds left, cutting the deficit to 2 points and forcing CU to foul.
Surprisingly, James missed a free throw and opened the door for Creighton. Young took advantage, drilling what looked like the overtime-inducing triple from straight on. But in the final scene of a harried and exciting final five minutes, James used the remaining five seconds fully to set up a similar 3-point attempt. Swish. Game over.
Guarded by multiple Panthers and an arena full of jealous souls, Doug McDermott did work. Sure, McDermott only made one of his three long-range shots. But considering the attention Ben Jacobsen, his players, and the UNI fans paid to Run DMD, the sensational sophomore had yet another outstanding game. Eighteen points and 12 rebounds weren’t enough for McDermott to help the Bluejays pull out the win, and that’s partially because he missed a few minutes in the second half due to foul trouble. But the fans who actually paid money to boo him got what they should expect for the next few years: more outstanding play from the son of the guy who saved their basketball program from irrelevance. They might want to rethink the booing some time.
As I wrote last week, dropping a game at Northern Iowa isn’t a bad loss — yet. Creighton’s loss was obviously UNI’s gain, specifically in the NCAA RPI standings. The Panthers gained six spots and start a pivotal week of Valley play at 51 in the official RPI. The Bluejays dropped just two spots, from 14 to 16, in this week’s RPI.
Up next for UNI? A trip to Wichita State. A road win against the Shockers, who are currently 27 in the NCAA RPI, would no doubt bounce the Panthers inside the RPI top 50, and give Creighton one more top 50 win (CU’s 63-60 victory over UNI earlier this year).
A win by UNI in Wichita would eliminate some of the luster surrounding this weekend’s Bluejays-Shockers showdown in Omaha (as would a Creighton loss at Evansville Tuesday night). But it wouldn’t be all bad: WSU would remain in the RPI top 50, Creighton would gain another top 50 win (again, UNI back a few weeks ago), and the Bluejays would have a one-game lead in the MVC standings with just four conference games to play (again, assuming a road win by the Jays against the Aces).
The Cons
What’s worse: committing turnovers, or the inability to cause them? The answer? Both, which unfortunately happened at the McLeod Center Saturday afternoon. Creighton committed 11 turnovers, and barely escaped a few others, while only turning UNI over twice. The Panthers converted those 11 miscues into 17 points, while the Jays could only scape 2 points together off the limited UNI mistakes.
The Bluejays only caused six Northern Iowa turnovers in the first meeting, meaning that in 80 minutes of play between the two teams CU has 20 TOs to UNI’s 8. Ouch. Meanwhile, due to shots not falling from the perimeter and the Panthers clogging passing lanes, Creighton only recorded 5 assists — or, 5 fewer than their previous season low (10, at Alabama-Birmingham). The Bluejays, one of the nation’s most unselfish, efficient teams, stalled on offense.
If a team can’t run its offense effectively, can’t hit open 3-pointers when they’ve been such a large part of its offense all season, and can’t create easy baskets off of turnovers to counter those other two points, said team will find itself needing to claw for a win. The Jays mounted a solid effort down the stretch, but they couldn’t make up for 35 minutes of uncharacteristic play.
The Bluejays’ bench has seen better days. Ethan Wragge connected on a couple of 3-pointers and had an offensive put-back for 8 total points. But in sum the Creighton bench was subpar. Josh Jones and Austin Chatman were a combined 1-5 from the field with more turnovers (3) than points (2). Neither Avery Dingman nor Will Artino attempted a shot, but recorded a combined 4 fouls to just 1 rebound in a combined 7 minutes.
Greg McDermott rode his starters for most of the game. Gregory Echenique battled some foul trouble but still managed 8 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Manigat only made one shot but it was a big hit, that 3-pointer with 15 seconds left to bring CU back. Young had a big night numerically, scoring 23 points and drilling the clutch trey with a few seconds to play. And as stated previously, McDermott had his usual solid evening.
Unfortunately, it was the typically steady Grant Gibbs who turned in an atypical game. Left open to hit shots, Gibbs was oh-fer. He grabbed 6 rebounds, again demonstrating a knack and a nose for the ball. But in 34 minutes he dished only 2 assists and turned the ball over twice. He leads the team in assists but couldn’t facilitate made shots, and he is the team’s leader in steals but couldn’t directly force any UNI turnovers. For a guy who grew up close to Cedar Falls and almost chose the Panthers when transferring from Gonzaga, both the loss and the below average individual performance were no doubt tough to swallow.
Not that there was much to begin with, but the breathing room between the Bluejays and Shockers is gone. There are five league games left to determine a Valley regular season champion. Creighton hasn’t won an outright conference title since 2001, and Wichita State hasn’t won one since 2006. The Bluejays play Evansville twice during that stretch, while the Shockers will see five separate opponents. The next 10 days will test WSU mightily, with home games against UNI and Missouri State sandwiching a visit to Omaha. CU can’t overlook the Aces Tuesday, host WSU Saturday, and then head south for a Valentine’s Day date with Southern Illinois in Carbondale.
Looking at those three-game stretches, the records favor Creighton to lead Wichita State with two MVC games to play more so than the other way around. But road games are tough in any conference, and the Jays have to win in two places that have been less than kind to CU in previous seasons. Meanwhile WSU won at Northern Iowa and at Missouri State, and the Shox will look for the sweep against those two foes on their home court. Advantage Shockers, making Saturday’s CU-WSU game in Omaha must-see TV for anyone inside the Valley.
