Men's Basketball

Polyfro Primer: Creighton at Marquette

[dropcap]After[/dropcap] 15 games, Marquette is 9-6, or the exact same record they had a year ago after 15 games. Unlike last year’s team, however, which was picked to win the league and saw a 9-6 start as a gross underachievement, there’s optimism surrounding the team this year.

A lot of that has to do with the addition of Indiana transfer Luke Fischer at the semester break. A 6’11” sophomore center that Creighton tried desperately to recruit to Omaha (twice), Fischer has only played in seven games but upon stepping on the floor he instantly became one of, if not the, best player on their roster. It’s a season-changing addition, much like when Gregory Echenique became eligible for Creighton mid-season in 2010. Before he became eligible, Marquette’s tallest player was 6’7″, making them an undersized, undermanned squad. With him, their rebounding has improved, their zone defense is better, and their record (and outlook) is on the upswing.

Fischer has scored in double figures in points in five of his seven outings and has grabbed six or more rebounds in four games. Overall, he’s averaging 13.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. He’s been a ruthlessly efficient scorer, making 81.6 percent (40‐of‐49) of his opportunities from the field, including a 6‐of‐6 effort in the loss at Georgetown on January 6. True story: he’s missed just nine total shots in a Marquette uniform. I’ve heard of making up for lost time after redshirting, but this is ridiculous.

Their second-leading scorer is also a transfer — guard Matt Carlino, who averages 12.3 points and 3.6 assists a game. Carlino played for BYU for three seasons and competed for them in the NCAA Tournament a year ago, but because he graduated in three years and because Marquette offers a masters program not available to him at BYU, he was eligible immediately. His addition was big for a program that lost several key players either to graduation or because of the departure of Buzz Williams; Carlino averaged 12.5 points, 4.6 assists and 3.3 rebounds in 96 career games for the Cougars.

Carlino can score off the dribble (22-59, 37.3%), but he’s actually a bit more efficient from three-point range (31-81, 38.3%). And he’s capable of going off, as his eight 3-pointers against Georgia Tech earlier this year can attest. In that game, he scored 38 points on 8-14 from three-point range, went 14-16 from the free throw line, and also managed six rebounds.

Juan Anderson is their leading rebounder (6.5 per game) and third-leading scorer (11.3 per game). The 6’6″ senior forward is 54-97 (55.7%) on two-point shots, 10-19 (52.9%) on three-point shots…and 32-59 (54.2%) from the free throw line. You read that right: he’s missed nearly as many free throws as he’s made, and he’s a better shooter from almost anywhere else on the floor than he is from the free throw line. In fact, up until the last game when his three-point percentage dipped slightly, there was a funny note in the Marquette media notes that said, “Anderson is shooting better from the field and behind the 3‐point line than from the free throw line”; I’m sure it’s happened but I can’t remember the last time a scouting report on a player said that. Why teams don’t just hack him every time he attempts to shoot and force him to score from a place where he’s statistically less capable of scoring from, I don’t know. And of course, now that I wrote that, you watch: Anderson will go 15-15 from the charity stripe tonight and totally destroy the Bluejays with the best shooting display of his life. When it happens, blame me.

Rounding out the starting five are Duane and Derrick Wilson (no relation), a pair of guards averaging 10.9 and 6. Duane, a 6’2″ freshman from Milwaukee, ranks second among Big East freshman with his 10.9 points per game scoring average, while Derrick, a 6’1″ senior from Anchorage, Alaska, averages 3.1 rebounds a game to go along with his six points a night.

The Golden Eagles lean heavily on their starters, because they’re limited in numbers — they have just eight active scholarship players and nine total players on the roster. They had to add two walk-ons earlier this month just so they could scrimmage five-on-five in practice after Deonte Burton and John Dawson left. As a result, seven players get the bulk of the minutes.

Before the season started, this looked like one of the few road games where Creighton had a legitimate chance for a win — but as that ninth-place prediction looks more and more realistic, and as Marquette has shown unexpected feistiness in beating Providence and nearly beating Georgetown, that seems less likely. It’s a winnable game if the Jays can contain Fischer, a chore that falls mostly to Will Artino with Zach Hanson still out with his shoulder injury; Keep Carlino from getting hot early and burying the Jays in an avalanche of threes (not that that’s ever happened to them this year…); and continue the good half-court ball movement we saw on Saturday, with James Milliken and Devin Brooks driving to the rim to create offense when the threes aren’t falling.

Will the driving lanes be as accessible against the 6’11” Fischer as they were against Seton Hall’s bigs? If not, can Milliken still be as effective driving? I’m really curious to find out, because if he’s able to consistently do what he did on Saturday against the Pirates, that’s an entirely new facet to the offense that could potentially pay big dividends.

Quick Notes on the Golden Eagles:

  • Marquette has made nearly as many free throws (216) as its opponents have attempted (236), but interestingly, they make just 67.5% of their shots from the line — which is why opponents average nearly three more points per game at the line than Marquette, despite attempting significantly fewer shots. Sounds familiar, because the last time these two teams met, Creighton went 17-22 from the free-throw line, while Marquette missed 16 (20-36). 16 missed free throws. That’s absurd.
  • The Golden Eagles are currently forcing 15.2 turnovers per game, while turning it over
    just 11.7 times per contest. Through games of Jan. 11, that differential (3.5) ranks second in the Big East and 21st in the nation.
  • Marquette has finished with more turnovers than its opponent on just one occasion (at DePaul) and the team is averaging 16.6 points per outing off of opposing mistakes. The Golden Eagles are also currently 22nd in the nation in steals per game (8.7) and feature three players (Juan Anderson, Duane Wilson and Jajuan Johnson) ranked among the top‐15 in the Big East.

Bluejay Bytes:

  • Saturday against Seton Hall, James Milliken became the first Bluejay since Booker Woodfox to score 20 or more in his first career start. Woodfox had 26 points vs. New Mexico on November 16, 2008, the start of a season that saw him earn MVC Player of the Year accolades. The only other players to do so since the 1994-95 season (the start of the Altman Era)? Kellen Miliner (20 vs. Alcorn State on November 15, 2004) and Nerijus Karlikanovas (20 at Missouri State on January 10, 1999). Curiously, only Miliner (14) scored in double-figures in his second career start.
  • Saturday’s starting five was the seventh different starting line-up combination tried this season by Greg McDermott. By comparison, CU had used just 10 different starting combinations in his first four seasons at the helm, and utilized the same starting five in every game in both 2011-12 and 2012-13.
  • Creighton has uncharacteristically struggled from three-point range during its five-game losing streak, shooting a collective 36-for-128 (28.1 percent) in that span — even lower than the 33.6 percent they’re shooting from long range for the season.

Possibly Motivational, Probably Hilarious Quote of the Day:

“On nights like this when the cold winds blow, the air is awash in the swirling eddies of our dream. Come with me and find safe haven in a warm bathtub full of my jazz.”

-Ron Swanson (as Duke Silver), Parks & Recreation

The Series:

The Golden Eagles lead the all-time series 48-30. Prior to last season, the most recent meeting between the two programs came in the 1998 National Invitation Tournament, where Marquette posted an 80-68 victory in the opening round at the Bradley Center.

Marquette has claimed 21 of the last 27 outings, including 10 straight between 1975 and 1984, but Creighton swept the home-and-home series in 2013-14.

The Last Time They Played:

Doug McDermott scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half and Ethan Wragge added 22 as No. 11 Creighton beat Marquette 85-70 on February 19, 2014 in Milwaukee. It remains the largest home conference loss for Marquette in its Big East history, and biggest margin of defeat in a conference home loss since February of 2005 when it fell to UAB. Here’s the key sequence of the game, as described in the Morning After:

With just over seven minutes to play in the game, Marquette made a last stand, trimming the lead to just five at 64-59. The crowd was suddenly into it, momentum was shifting, and if felt like with one more defensive stop Marquette’s comeback would be an unstoppable locomotive.

They looked to be en route to getting that stop, as Creighton ran most of the shot clock down without being able to get an open look. Then, with the clock under ten seconds, Doug McDermott put up a three-pointer from NBA range, buried it and immediately silenced the crowd. He’d make a tough one-handed layup on a nice drive to the rim on the next possession, and then Jahenns Manigat made the play of the night. Will Artino had a shot blocked by Chris Otule, and on the ensuing fast break, Manigat chased Todd Mayo down and got in front of him a few feet from the basket. It looked like another momentum-shifting play, a sure-fire foul-and-one. Instead, Manigat stripped the ball clean, dished an outlet pass to Devin Brooks, and Austin Chatman took advantage of a mismatch in transition to bury a three. It was a six-point swing, effectively ending any comeback hopes Marquette was still harboring.

Man, I miss those seniors.

Gratuitous Linkage:

Andrew Gruman of Fox Sports Wisconsin writes,

“Rated as the top conference in terms of RPI by numerous outlets, the Big East is a much-improved league from a season ago. ESPN.com’s Joe Lunardi recently projected eight of the 10 Big East teams would be in the NCAA tournament if the field were to be selected at the midway point of the season. Marquette was one of the two teams on the outside looking in, but the schedule presents opportunity for resume-building wins for either the NIT or the NCAA tournament.

Whether Marquette has the talent to turn close losses against NCAA tournament-caliber teams into victories is a different question. The schedule presents opportunity but could also be unforgiving to a young basketball team without much of a margin for error.”

This Date in Creighton Hoops History:

On January 14, 2014, Creighton’s record-setting offense had perhaps it’s finest moment (Non-Villanova Edition). In an 88-60 beatdown of Butler, they scored on 14 straight possessions, outscoring the Bulldogs 32-6 over the final 9:47 of the first half. All totaled, Creighton scored 53 first-half points on 30 possessions, or 1.76 points per possession — to put that in perspective, after that game CU led the nation in offensive efficiency at 1.20 points per possession, and the national average was somewhere near 1.0, so 1.76 was INSANE even for that Creighton team.

I’ll say it again: man, I miss those seniors.

Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day:

The Bottom Line:

Every rational thought says Creighton ought to lose this game and fall to 0-5 in the league. I can’t bear the thought, and I can’t predict it. So let’s reverse Saturday’s score and call it good, eh?

Creighton 68, Marquette 67

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