Of all the surprises after one week of play in the MVC, Indiana State being 2-0 qualifies as one of the most shocking. Picked to finish between fifth and seventh in the league by most prognosticators, they were a pedestrian 5-3 before heading to Hawaii for the Diamond Head Classic, where they promptly dispatched with Ole Miss — a middle-of-the-pack SEC team — 87-85 in overtime. The next day they had a lead over 18th ranked San Diego State with under ten minutes to play, but couldn’t hold on and succumbed 62-55 to the Aztecs. In the consolation game, they beat Miami on a buzzer-beater by Jake Odum for a 57-55 win.
Those two wins over BCS opponents gave them a shot of confidence heading into conference play, and they haven’t squandered it. They knocked off Illinois State — picked to finish second, and as Creighton can attest from their hard-fought win over the Redbirds earlier this week, a quality team — and then went on the road to beat Northern Iowa. The Panthers are reeling, but it’s always difficult to win in Cedar Falls, so their two wins have turned heads around the league.
How are they doing it?
For one, Jake Odum is has put his injury-plagued sophomore season behind him, and is averaging nearly 15 points a game with an 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. His numbers are up across the board — his 14.8 points per game is three points higher than his previous best, his 49% field goal percentage is the best of his career, and he’s made 42% of his three-pointers (his previous best was 32% as a freshman). He’s maintained his excellent point guard skills in setting up their offense, and his ability to get to the line remains among the best in the league. Add in his increased offensive production, and Odum is — if you can believe it — even better than he was before.
But over the last month, 6’8″ sophomore Justin Gant has emerged as an unstoppable force, particularly in MVC play. Against Ole Miss, he scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds; the next day he lost one of his front teeth in a collision in the Miami game, and had a root canal before the MVC opener. The painful dental work didn’t affect his play, as he had his second double-double of the season by scoring 18 points with 11 boards against Illinois State. Gant followed up that performance with 18 points against Northern Iowa, including eight in an 11-0 run during the first half.
6’9″ junior R.J. Mahurin joins him on the front line, and gives them a big man that stretches defenses — he’s 15-44 so far this year from three-point range, and is a 35% career three-point shooter. Mahurin averages 9.2 points and 3.9 rebounds a game, while splitting starting duty with sophomore Jake Kitchell. A 6’10”, 240 pound banger whose impact doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, Kitchell provides solid minutes for the Sycamores backing up Mahurin.
Gonzaga transfer Manny Arop earned two consecutive MVC Newcomer Of The Week honors during December, one of them after leading the team in scoring over three games at the Diamond Head Classic team with a 17.7 ppg average; Arop hit 18-of-44 shots for the week (40.9%), including seven 3-pointers and hit 10-of-11 free throws (90.9%). He averaged 4.7 rebounds per game and posted two assists with two steals while averaging 33.7 minutes per game.
They’re a young team — Odum is the only returning starter from a year ago — so they’re still a bit of an enigma. Are they closer to the team WBR picked to finish seventh in our preseason poll, or are they capable of maybe sneaking into the 4-5 game on Friday in St. Louis? It’s hard to say. What’s certain is that the team coming to Omaha on Saturday is a confident bunch who believes they belong with the other 2-0 teams in the Valley (Creighton, Wichita State and Bradley) — and who is having trouble being taken seriously despite knocking off the preseason #2 and #3 teams in their first two MVC games. Their 2-0 start raised eyebrows around the Valley; a win Saturday in Omaha would raise eyebrows around the country.
This will be a closer game than last year’s contest in Omaha (a 75-49 drubbing) but at the end of the day, Creighton should be on the winning end.
About the Sycamores: Indiana State is 7-1 on the season when holding teams to 63 points or less and is 33-2 when doing so under third-year head coach Greg Lansing … The Sycamores are 6-1 this season when Jake Odum scores at least 16 points and are 5-1 when committing 12 or fewer turnovers … Jake Odum is nationally-ranked in four different statistical categories (171st in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.71), 71st in assists per game (4.8), 229th in free throw percentage (77.7) and 247th in points per game (14.7) … A win Saturday would give the Sycamores a 3-0 start to MVC play, which would be its best since the 2007-08 season when they also started 3-0 … The Sycamores have played the toughest schedule of all 10 MVC teams, according to the RPI, as ISU leads the league with a No. 25 Strength Of Schedule ranking. The Sycamores have played five Top 50 RPI teams this season and own quality victories against No. 15 Miami, No. 50 Ole Miss and No. 64 Illinois State.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: On average, Creighton has held its opponents 7.67 points below their scoring average, and they’ve kept 11 of 14 opponents below their scoring average, while Evansville & Wisconsin scored a measly one point over their averages. The other team was Boise St., not coincidentally the only game the Jays have lost (thanks to former WBR contributor and current OWH staffer Ryan Holmgren for that awesome stat!) … Meanwhile, the Jays have scored 12.1 points a game more than their opponents give up on average … The Sycamores have outrebounded Creighton just twice in the last 26 meetings, and not surprisingly, the Jays are 20-6 in those 26 games vs. the Sycamores … Since 2003, Indiana State’s five victories over the Jays have been by a combined 21 points (2, 2, 3, 6 and 8).
The RUN-DMD Show: Doug McDermott added to his expansive trophy case this week, when he was named ESPN.com named McDermott the National Player of the Month after a December that saw him average 26.5 points per game — the best scoring average in America — while shooting an absurd 57.5 percent from the field, 57.6 percent from three-point range and 88.9 percent in the line in six Creighton victories.
He was also named the Lute Olson Award Midseason National Player of the Year honoree. Interestingly, McDermott was named the Lute Olson Award National Player of the Year at the end of last season.
The Last Time They Played: On the final day of the 2011-12 season, Creighton defeated Indiana State 61-60 in Terre Haute. The Bluejays overcame a four-point deficit in the final three minutes with a game-ending 7-2 run that featured the final four points from Antoine Young. 25 of Creighton’s 33 points after halftime were scored by Young and Doug McDermott, as the Jays held off a pesky Sycamore squad to secure the #2 seed in Arch Madness.
The Series: Creighton holds a 52-24 edge, and has won 23 of the last 29 games in the series. The Bluejays lead the series 30-7 in 37 previous Omaha meetings, including 13 straight victories. ISU’s last win at Creighton was Jan. 17, 1999, when the Sycamores won 70-69 — a frustrating game where the Trees made nine of their final 13 shots over the last eight-plus minutes of the game to erase a Bluejay lead and prevail.
Nine of the last 11 Omaha meetings have been double-digit Bluejay victories, including the past six. In last year’s Omaha meeting, Creighton held such a massive lead that ESPN cut away from the game to show more competitive action; the Jays won 75-49.
Greg McDermott is 11-4 against Indiana State, including a 3-1 record at Creighton.
Gratuitous Linkage: After two MVC games, there’s only two players in the league who rank in the top five in both points and rebounds. One is Doug McDermott. The other, as the Terre Haute Tribune-Star’s Todd Golden writes, is ISU’s Justin Gant.
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: On January 5, 1985, Creighton defeated defending MVC Champ Illinois State 73-63 in front of 8,673 fans at the Civic Auditorium. Benoit Benjamin had 16 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks, while Vernon Moore added 17 points for the victorious Jays.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day: No reason for this one, other than I felt like seeing Falco riding on a motorcycle in a rainbow wig today. But then, what other reason does one need, really?
The Bottom Line: This one will be closer than a lot of people — Vegas included — think. But the final score will probably be about what the experts think.
Jays 77, Indiana State 65
