After splitting the final two-game homestand — a maddening, frustrating loss to Marquette and as complete of a blowout as you’ll ever see in a conference game against St. John’s — the Bluejays now head out on the road to two of the toughest environments in the league to wrap up the regular season.
But before we move on to Providence, let’s take a minute to appreciate that game on Sunday. The Bluejays won 100-59, and that 41-point victory was their fifth-largest ever in a league game — even during all their years in the Valley when a parade of buy game-quality opponents visited Omaha in January and February, they only beat four of them by more points than they beat the Red Storm by on Sunday. For that matter, it’s the biggest win for anyone in Big East play since Syracuse blasted DePaul 107-59 back in 2011. On the glass, Creighton also had a historic day; their +26 margin tied an arena record first set vs Samford in 2011, and is the eighth biggest gap in Big East history.
It was such an uncompetitive game that Chris Mullin lost his mind and begged to be excused from watching the rest — let’s be honest, that’s what you’re doing, at least subconsciously, when you’ve already been assessed one technical and you choose to run out onto the court to verbally accost a referee. If message board gossip is to be believed, he was upset about the student section’s constant mocking of his shoes and the officials’ refusal to put a stop to it. That’s absurd and ridiculous and really, really hilarious, and I so desperately want it to be true because the idea of an original Dream Teamer getting tossed from a game because he couldn’t handle some people taunting his shoes is terrific. It’s message board gossip, though, so do with it what you will.
Unfortunately, CU’s loss to Marquette last week ended their slim NCAA Tourney at-large hopes, so their only avenue to the dance is by winning the league’s auto bid in New York City next weekend. The final week of the season is about positioning for the conference tourney, and thanks to those same Marquette Golden Eagles, their road to that auto bid got shorter by one game — their win over Georgetown on Tuesday night guaranteed that Creighton can finish no worse than sixth in the league. That means they’ve avoided the Wednesday night play-in round of the Big East Tournament.
Should they finish with the six seed, they’d likely draw a red-hot Seton Hall team in the quarterfinals, with second-seed Xavier to follow (assuming the Musketeers don’t stumble against the winner of Marquette and St. John’s). If they can win tonight, or if Butler loses to the Hall tonight, CU moves into the 4/5 game where they’d play Providence, with Villanova to follow should they win (and if Villanova avoids an upset to Georgetown or DePaul). Those are both tough roads, but it’s tempting to think the Seton Hall/Xavier route is slightly more favorable, since the Jays have beaten both of those teams this year and Providence and Villanova have both given them trouble.
The Friars have won five of the six meetings between the schools since Creighton joined the Big East, and four straight. They’ve become THAT team, the one that has the Jays number regardless of the circumstances, the one the Jays can’t seem to get a win against without moving Heaven and Earth — I mean, the only time they’ve done it was in Doug McDermott’s final game in Omaha. Providence is their nemesis.
Both teams come into tonight’s game a bit banged up. Toby Hegner, Zach Hanson, and Cole Huff continue to battle nagging injuries, and Isaiah Zierden was added to the list when he injured his shoulder last week against Marquette. Zierden played a season-low 20 minutes on Sunday after struggling to play through it. He’s listed as a starter in the school’s game notes, but this morning’s World-Herald notes that he’s questionable.
For Providence, Kris Dunn has been sick with some sort of mystery ailment for two weeks, and his coach Ed Cooley told the World-Herald’s Steve Pivovar “Kris has been sick for about two weeks. We don’t know what it is. A virus? A stomach bug? He’s had chills. He’s been throwing up. He just can’t shake it. He’s playing at probably about 40 percent.”
Dunn did not start in their last game, logging two points and four assists in 17 minutes of a win over DePaul. He had eight points and zero assists the previous time out, a 70-52 loss to Seton Hall, and he’s not listed as a starter in the Friars’ game notes for tonight. Given that it’s in all likelihood his final home game, it would be a gigantic shock if that comes to pass. I wouldn’t count on him coming off the bench, or playing only 15 minutes, or having an ineffective game. He’s a fierce competitor, and a great player, and my guess is he’ll look like a player close to 100% tonight.
Dunn stuffs the stat sheet, averaging 16.4 ppg., 6.3 apg., 5.7 rpg., and 2.9 spg. Even when he has an off night, he finds a way to beat you — in the first meeting this year, he went 6-17 from the field and 1-5 from three-point range, and had more turnovers (5) than assists (3), but made 7-8 from the line and hit the game winner at the buzzer.
Coming into the season, he was widely considered the best player in the Big East, but as the season winds down it’s debatable whether he’s the best player on his own team. That’s no knock on Dunn and it’s no fault of his own — Ben Bentil has simply been that good. He leads the league in scoring at 20.9 points per game, and has managed to average MORE points in conference games than he did in the non-conference, averaging 22.7 in Big East play with three games of 31 or more.
The 6’9″ 235-pound sophomore isn’t just a scorer; he grabs 7.7 rebounds a game, too, and is an effective shot blocker. Oh, and Bentil’s playing perhaps his best basketball of the year right now — he scored 31 points and grabbed six rebounds in PC’s loss at Seton Hall on Feb. 25, and in the Friars’ win over DePaul on Feb. 27, he recorded 28 points, eight rebounds, a career-high five assists, one block and one steal. Bentil had one of his worst games in league play against CU, scoring 13 points on 4-12 shooting, including 1-5 from three-point range. That isn’t likely to happen again.
The only other Friar averaging in double figures is Rodney Bullock, who scores 12.0 points with 6.9 rebounds a game. He was nearly invisible in the game in Omaha, going 0-2 from the floor, both on three-pointers, and scoring zero points with one rebound in 22 minutes.
Creighton’s been a team this year who has played opponents much better the first time than in the rematch — they’re 2-5 in second meetings this year after going 7-2 the first time around. Thankfully, even the most pessimistic person can’t imagine them playing worse than they did the first time around against Providence. They shot 17-66 from the field and 5-23 from three-point range, and scored a season-low 48 points. While each of the Friars had bad nights they aren’t likely to replicate, Mo Watson isn’t likely to go 3-16 from the field again, either. Geoff Groselle played only 14 minutes and attempted just four shots before fouling out, Zach Hanson played through foul trouble too and was also limited, and you’d have to figure the Jays will get better performances from them as well.
Given the way the last week has shaken out for the Jays and their NCAA hopes, this is a game that now means a great deal more in terms of the big picture to Providence than it does to Creighton. Regardless of a win a or loss tonight, CU most likely winds up in basically the same place — in the 4/5 game of the Big East tourney, with the only difference being whether they wear white or blue jerseys in the game. PC is in the same boat in terms of Big East tourney seeding, but they’re currently an at-large team in the field of 68, and need a win tonight to keep it that way. It’s also the final home game for Kris Dunn, in an arena the Bluejays have never won in — or even played well in, frankly — and that’s a recipe for a game that’ll be tough to win.
Quick Notes on the Friars:
- Prior to the tip off, Providence will honor graduating seniors Kris Dunn and Junior Lomomba. They’re both juniors in terms of athletic eligibility, but both are on track to graduate in the spring; Dunn will almost certainly forego his final year for the NBA, where he’s a certain lottery pick, while Lomomba could return for one more year.
- The Friars have posted a 20-9 record this season, marking the third consecutive season the team has earned 20 or more wins. It’s the first time they’ve done that since the Disco Era — the last time the Friars posted three consecutive 20-win seasons was 1977-78 (24-8), 1976-77 (24-5) and 1975- 76 (21-11). Providence has recorded 20 or more wins in just 26 of its 89 seasons of basketball.
- Ben Bentil is trying to become the seventh Friar all-time to earn the league scoring title, and the fourth in the last six years to accomplish the feat. The six Friars who have led the Big East in scoring are LaDontae Henton in 2015 (20.1 ppg), Bryce Cotton in 2013 (18.3 ppg), Marshon Brooks in 2011 (26.0 ppg), Herbert Hill in 2007 (19.9 ppg), Ryan Gomes in 2005 (23.2 ppg) and Eric Murdock in 1991 (27.2 ppg).
Bluejay Bytes:
- In league play Mo Watson leads all Big East players in assists and is fifth in points, while Kris Dunn is second in the league in assists per game and seventh in points per game. Purely from a head-to-head perspective comparing Watson and Dunn over the course of their careers (both men are juniors), Watson owns more games played (94-89), minutes (2882-2800), points (1234-1115), assists (600-515) and three-pointers (69-64), and shoots better from the floor (.484-.473) and free throw line (.704-.688), while Dunn owns more steals (203-155) and is ahead from behind the arc (.344-.330).
- Geoffrey Groselle’s 22 points and 11 rebounds vs. St. John’s made him the first senior with a double-double on Senior Day since Randall Crutcher in 1997. Groselle entered his senior season averaging 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds per contest, collecting 200 career points and 102 career rebounds in his first 63 games. This year Groselle owns 10.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game and has 316 points and 177 rebounds in 29 games (including 28 starts).
- Cole Huff has thrived since moving to a reserve role, averaging 11.0 points per game in that span. Huff owns 10 or more points in five of his last six games, averaging 13.5 points per game in that time. Huff was held scoreless for one of two times this season in the first meeting with Providence, going 0-for-3 from the field in 14 minutes of action.
The Series:
Providence has won five of the six meetings since Creighton joined the Big East, has an 11-5 edge all-time, and a 6-1 record in Providence. The only time the Jays have beaten them in Big East play? Senior Night in 2014, and they needed 45 points from Doug McDermott to get that one.
The Last Time They Played:
Kris Dunn hit a buzzer-beater to lift the Friars to a 50-48 win in Omaha. It was every bit as ugly as that score indicates — Providence was 16-54 from the floor and 4-24 from three-point range, with Kris Dunn shooting 6-17, Ben Bentil going 4-12, and Jalen Lindsey going 2-6, while Creighton was 17-66 from the floor and 5-23 from three, with Mo Watson shooting 3-16, Isaiah Zierden going 2-8, and Toby Hegner going 4-11.
Our headline the next day called it a “Rock Fight”, and what an apt term that is. Good Lord.
Gratuitous Linkage:
Jim Donaldson writes in the Providence Journal that Kris Dunn’s legacy at PC is worth honoring, and ranks him fourth all-time among Friar guards.
What the Other Side is Saying:
Providence media site CoxHub has lots to say about this one. Vin Parise says the first five minutes are the most critical for PC tonight, while Corey O’Leary writes that Maurice Watson will do whatever it takes to win.
And finally, our own Patrick Marshall squares off with Daniel James in a segment called “Five Fouls” where they debate five questions surrounding the teams.
This Date in Creighton Hoops History:
On March 2, 2013, Creighton defeated Wichita State 91-79 in a winner-take-all game for the MVC Regular Season title on the final day of the season. It was a memorable Senior Night where the Venezuelan national anthem was played for Gregory Echenique prior to the “Star Spangled Banner”, Josh Jones suited up one final time and was introduced as an honorary starter, and the greatest moment the CenturyLink Center DJ has ever had, playing audio of Dorothy from “Wizard of Oz” stating “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore…” right before the tip, leading into video of the locker room speech from Rudy.
Then Doug McDermott went out and scored 41 points to lead the Jays to the title, in what would wind up being the Jays’ final MVC regular season game, and it became an even better memory. What a helluva game that was. Here’s a whole bunch of links to WBR content after that one, because it’s worth reliving.
- Morning After: Creighton 91, Wichita State 79
- Creighton Seniors Defeat Shockers, Cut Down Nets in Home Finale
- Ott’s Thoughts: McDermott Remarkable in Championship Clinching Win Against Wichita State
- Highlight Reel
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day:
The Bottom Line:
Providence opened as three point favorites, and that sounds about right given everything surrounding this one. Creighton could well pull off the win, and I hope like heck they do. But the Friars have been their nemesis, and I just have a hard time figuring a way that they put an end to that tonight.
Friars 73, Bluejays 70
