There have been big games at the CenturyLink/Qwest Center since it opened for hoops in November of 2003, but none with the implications, the build-up, or the excitement of Saturday’s titanic clash between Creighton and Wichita State. With just three conference games remaining for both teams following Saturday, in all likelihood the winner will be the regular season champion, while the loser will be the runner-up and the two seed in Arch Madness.
If you were compiling a list of the top five biggest games in Phone Booth history, what would be on your list? Certainly the 2006 and 2007 games against Southern Illinois would be on there, as both years those were the top two teams in the league, and both years the games were excruciatingly dramatic. The 2009 regular-season finale against Illinois State, in which they finally beat Osiris Eldridge and won a regular season MVC title in the process, would make the list. I’d put the double-OT win over Dayton in 2005 on there, as well — they were the top non-conference home game that season, and the 91-90 win remains one of the signature games in Nate Funk’s great career. And then I’d put the 2006 win over Wichita State on the list, the game where in the waning moments of a tie game Johnny Mathies drove the lane, dished off to Anthony Tolliver on the wing, and Tolliver nailed the game winner from 15-feet at the horn.
Saturday’s game has the potential to knock one of those from the list. It’s certainly, in terms of anticipation and build-up beforehand, the most excited the fan base for a game has been since the 2007 SIU game. Selling every last ticket almost 72 hours before the game is testament to that. Now it just needs to live up to the hype.
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If you watched the Wichita State-Northern Iowa game Wednesday night on FSN, you saw what happens when the Shockers are clicking on all cylinders: they’re lethal both in the paint and from behind the arc, and when they’re making shots, they can clamp down their defensive pressure to blow a team out. When all of those things happen for them, as they often have this year, Wichita State is as good a team as you’ll find in America outside of the elite four or five teams at the top.
One thing Creighton has going for them that no one else in the Valley does is the ability to guard Garrett Stutz, Wichita State’s seven-foot center, one-on-one. The other teams in the league don’t have anyone big enough — or talented enough — to assign one guy to him, so they’re forced to double team him and roll the dice that either he can’t kick the ball back out to an open shooter on the perimeter, or that their shooters can’t knock down shots. Stutz is a terrific passer with great vision, so the former is a fool’s bet; he’ll find the open guy more often than not. That leaves the latter, and with three players shooting 37% or better from behind the arc, that can be a fool’s bet, too.
Their loss in Des Moines to Drake was a rare example of the fool’s bet paying off. The Shockers were just 7-25 from three-point range, one of their worst performances of the year, failing to capitalize on a bevy of open looks created by the Bulldogs doubling Stutz.
Their only other loss was to Creighton, and because Gregory Echenique is both big enough and talented enough to handle Stutz one-on-one, the Jays didn’t need to double the post. Without the benefit of having open looks created for them by a double-team in the post, the Shockers hit just 5-26 from long-range in the game. Stutz had five points and four rebounds in the game, his lowest output in both categories all conference season. Last year, Echenique was similarly effective: Stutz had a total of three points and no rebounds against the Jays.
That’s remarkable, because Stutz is a monster against everyone else and is the reigning MVC player of the week, averaging 22 points and 10 rebounds over the last five games. Most people point to the battle in the paint as the deciding factor in this game — if Echenique can once again dominate Stutz, Creighton will win. Without his ability to either score himself or to pass the ball out of a double team in the post to open shooters, Wichita State struggles to make baskets. It’s no accident that three of their lowest-scoring games the last two seasons have come against Creighton.
It’s worth noting, however, that Carl Hall is the anti-Stutz when it comes to Creighton. A smaller player at 6’8″, 230 pounds, Hall’s quickness gave the Jays fits in the first matchup. He had 17 points and 13 rebounds, and had he not spent a good chunk of the game in foul trouble, would have done even more damage. While everyone’s watching the Stutz-Echenique matchup, and rightfully so, keep an eye out for Hall. If he plays the way he did in the first game, it will disrupt what Creighton hopes to do defensively, as they might have to double him in the paint. And if that happens, they’ll be left with the same hope as every other Valley team — that Wichita’s perimeter shooters can’t knock down open looks.
The trouble for the Shockers is that Hall can’t be counted on to do that again. Both numbers are career highs in MVC play, both are more than double his average, and he hasn’t had a game remotely close to that production in his D1 career. As beastly as he looked, it was his best game at Wichita State. He’s as likely to get 17 and 13 as he is to get 3 points and 2 rebounds (like he did against Illinois State), 11 and 1 (like he did against UNI) or 13 and 1 (like he did against Indiana State). If the player who scores a few points and grabs no rebounds is the player who shows up Saturday, then Wichita State needs one of two things to happen to win: Stutz will need to win the battle with Echenique, or Creighton will need to continue to miss shots they’ve hit all year.
Ultimately, that’s probably what this comes down to: if Creighton shoots as poorly as they did in two road losses to UNI and Evansville, all the matchups in the world won’t mean anything. They’ll be blown out of their own gym. Fortunately, this game is in Omaha, in front of over 18,000 of their own fans, for a national TV audience on ESPN2. All college basketball teams shoot better at home than they do on the road, and with the energy that will be present at CenturyLink Center on Saturday, Creighton can’t help but play with a greater intensity than they did in either of those two road games.
It’s the type of legacy game where big-time players earn their Bluejay feathers. For Gregory Echenique, it’s an opportunity to cement his legacy as one of the best post defenders in Creighton history with another dominating performance against the Valley’s best post scorer. For Doug McDermott, it’s an opportunity to lead his team to a regular season Valley championship and add to his resume for First Team All-American status. And for Antoine Young, the team’s lone senior, it’s an opportunity to make sure he gets to not only play in an NCAA Tournament before his career ends, but to get a good enough seed to actually do some damage once they get there. All of those opportunities and more are in front of the Jays on Saturday. Can they grab hold of them?
Catching Up with the Shockers: Garrett Stutz was named MVC Player of the Week last week after averaging 24.5 points and 13.0 rebounds in WSU’s two wins last week. His 24 points against Indiana State pushed him past the 1,000-point mark for his career, while his 15 rebounds against the Sycamores helped him to his eighth double-double of the year … For the week, he shot 57 percent (17-30) from the field and 82.4 percent (14-17) from the line. At Missouri State, he had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and against Indiana State he had 24 points and 15 rebounds … In three meetings vs. Creighton since Echenique transferred to CU, Stutz owns a total of eight points and four rebounds in three games. By comparison, Echenique has 38 points and 13 rebounds in those same three games … Three players for the Shockers average in double-figures, a group consisting of Garrett Stutz (14.3 ppg., 8.2 rpg.), Joe Ragland (12.8 ppg.) and Toure’ Murry (12.4 ppg.). Three other men score between 8.8 and 9.2 points per game, giving the Shockers a talented and well-rounded group … The Shockers outrebound teams by 6.3 boards per game and outscore foes by 15.0 per contest.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Since 2002-03, all 26 times the Bluejays beat a Valley rival on the road before hosting the same team, Creighton has completed the sweep with a home victory … Creighton takes the floor Saturday trying to overcome an upset loss at Evansville on Tuesday. The good news is, five of the last six seasons that Evansville has beaten Creighton, the Jays have recovered to win either the MVC Tournament or regular-season title … Creighton hasn’t lost three straight MVC games since Jan. 22-30, 2008, and owns just four losing streaks or three games or more since 2001 … In the last 15 seasons, Creighton has played 30 home games in which it brought in a losing streak of two games or more. In each case, Creighton won the home game. Creighton won 21 of those 30 home games by 10 points or more, including 12 by 20 points or more. The average margin in those wins has been 17 points, with Creighton outscoring opponents by an average of 76.37-59.37 in those games.
The RUN-DMD Show: Doug McDermott has scored 12 or more points in all 25 games this season. McDermott’s streak of 25 straight double-figure games to start the season is CU’s longest streak of double-figure games to start the season since Bob Harstad (27 straight) in 1990-91 … McDermott is the only player in the MVC to score in double-figures in every game this season, and one of three players nationally with 12 or more points in every team game this winter.
The Last Time They Played: On December 31, 2011, Creighton defeated Wichita State 68-61 at Koch Arena. Josh Jones and Grant Gibbs combined for 19 second-half points, as the Jays overcame an eleven-point deficit to post the win.
The Series: Creighton leads the all-time series with Wichita State by a 53-43 margin. The Jays have won 29-of-38 and 36-of-48 vs. the Shockers in recent seasons. Creighton is 29-15 all-time in Omaha against Wichita State, including a 17-1 record since 1993.
Greg McDermott is 8-6 all-time vs. Wichita State (1-2 at Creighton), including a 4-2 record in home games. McDermott is 1-2 against Gregg Marshall. Marshall is 4-6 against Creighton.
Eight of the last 14 Creighton/Wichita State games have been decided in the final seconds. Creighton and Wichita State have played 28 games decided by 12 points or less during the 37 matchups since 1994-95, with Creighton going 23-5 in those games. Additionally, Creighton is 13-3 since 1994-95 in games vs. Wichita State decided by four points or less. In his Wichita State career, Gregg Marshall is 1-4 in games decided by four points or less against the Jays.
Creighton has overcome a double-digit deficit to beat Wichita State six times since 2003, including the most recent meeting in December. The most memorable is a 57-55 Bluejay win over the Shockers on Jan. 28, 2006 in which WSU had led 25-6 before eventually falling on a buzzer-beater by CU’s Anthony Tolliver. That remains the largest comeback victory in CenturyLink Center Omaha history.
Gratuitous Linkage: As always, Paul Suellentrop of the Wichita Eagle has excellent information in his Shockwaves blog on the paper’s website, including some interesting stuff after the UNI game earlier this week. He also sat down with WBR and answered some questions for our “From the Other Side” piece.
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: On February 11, 2004, Kellen Miliner scored a career-high 22 points off the bench in a 74-56 win over Bradley. Brody Deren had 16 points to lead the starters, as Creighton improved to 18-3 on the season.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day: Leggo.
The Bottom Line: I really, truly believe Creighton will get back to the way they shot the ball before the road trip, and Stutz will save his best game against Creighton for last (at least, until the likely meeting in St. Louis next month). Therefore, this will be a close game decided late.
Then again, it always seems to be that way between these two teams, doesn’t it?
Creighton 72, Wichita State 71
