Monday afternoon, Creighton fans stuck at home during a massive ice storm in Omaha will be treated to a rare weekday matinee as Creighton takes on Xavier as part of a made-for-TV extravaganza of Big East Hoops (or, alternatively, CU fans in other parts of the country will be taking late lunches to see part of the game before relying on FoxSportsGO and 1620AM to follow along). The full slate: Marquette travels to Butler for an 11am game, followed by Creighton at Xavier at 1pm, DePaul at St. John’s at 3:30, Villanova at Seton Hall at 5:30, and Providence at Georgetown at 8pm.
Xavier comes into the game 13-4 and 3-2 in the league on the heels of a loss at Butler on Saturday, after being dismantled by #3 Villanova 79-54 last Tuesday night. In the midst of what’s been called one of the toughest three-game stretches in school history, they’re left trying to salvage one win after losing those first two. They’re a desperate team — desperate for a win, desperate to keep from falling to 3-3 and almost out of contention for a Big East title they thought for sure they’d be in the fight for.
Three Musketeers average more than 14 points, led by Trevon Bluiett (16.8 ppg., 5.8 rpg.), a 6’6” junior. Bluiett was held to four points in the game in Omaha a year ago, as he went 0-6 from three-point range; he had 16 points in the rematch on much better shooting (3-6 from three, 4-6 from the line). He’s been in massive slump, and was a combined 4-20 from the field in the losses to Villanova and Butler. After going 2-10 against Butler, he fouled out late in the game.
Point guard Edmond Sumner (15.7 ppg., 4.6 apg.) is second on the team in scoring, and after being held scoreless in the first half against Butler erupted for 22 second-half points. He injured his shoulder in the loss to Villanova, and re-injured it in the final seconds of the Butler loss. He’s listed as questionable for Monday’s game; if he can’t go, that leaves Xavier with a lot to replace. Even if he can play, it’s debatable how effective his jump shot will be with a shoulder less than 100%.
J.P. Macura averages 14.5 points, and though he’s been shooting it better than Sumner or Bluiett of late (he had 16 points against Butler), he also turned it over seven times and fouled out late. Macura didn’t do much against the Jays a year ago, scoring 12 points in two games.
If Sumner can’t go, or if Bluiett continues his slump, the Musketeers will hope to get a big game from Myles Davis, who is getting back up to speed after being suspended for the first 15 games of the season. Davis averaged 10.8 points, 4.1 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 0.9 steals a year ago, while shooting 40 percent from the field overall, 38 percent from long range and 85 percent from the free throw line, but is a good ball handler and can initiate the offense either alongside Sumner or in place of him.
Against a Creighton team that has struggled to rebound the basketball, particularly when they face physical forwards, Xavier has an advantage they may be able to exploit: they lead the Big East and are ranked 23rd in the nation in rebound margin (+7.1 rpg.). They’ve outrebounded 15 of their 17 opponents this season. 6’9” senior RaShid Gaston leads Xavier in rebounding at 6.3 rpg. (sixth in the Big East) and offensive rebounding at 2.6 per game (third in the league) in 18.7 minutes per game, including a career-high 14 rebounds vs. Utah on Dec. 10 and 11 at Colorado on Dec. 7.
Quick Notes on the Musketeers:
- This is the third of three games in seven days against AP top 15 teams for Xavier — they played #3 Villanova on Tuesday, #12 Butler on Saturday, and #8 Creighton on Monday
- Xavier has won 15 straight games overall at Cintas Center, 24 of its last 25 games, and its last eight Big East games at Cintas Center. They’ve also won all six games that have involved two AP Top 25 teams at Cintas Center, including four in the 2015-16 season.
- Xavier finished 14-4 in the 2015-16 Big East regular season and has recorded 34 straight seasons at .500 or better in conference play (MCC, Atlantic 10 and Big East). No other school in NCAA Division I has an active streak of more than 28 years entering this season. The top five include Xavier (34), Murray State (29), Kansas (27), Kentucky (27) and Gonzaga (25).
Bluejay Bytes:
- Creighton is one of six visiting teams that have twice beaten Xavier at Cintas Center, joining UMass, Richmond, Saint Louis, Saint Joseph’s and Villanova. A win on Monday would make Creighton the first visiting team with three wins over Xavier at Cintas Center.
- Since losing to Villanova on New Year’s Eve, the only time in four games that Creighton has trailed was when it fell behind 3-0 to Butler last Wednesday. The Bluejays scored the game’s next seven points and did not trail again. On the season, they’ve trailed for just 85:37 of a possible 720 minutes this season, just 11.9 percent of the time.
The Big Muddy Bulletin!
Justin Patton has made 73.7 percent of his field goal attempts this season, which leads the Big East and ranks third nationally. The best season-ending mark in NCAA history, with a minimum of 5 FG/game, is 74.6 percent in 1980-81 by Oregon State’s Steve Johnson.
The Series:
Xavier leads the all-time series 12-10, including a 7-5 edge in Cincinnati. Creighton has won four of the seven meetings since the two teams joined the Big East in 2013.
The Last Time They Played:
Last March, Creighton did a lot of things right against the fifth-rated Musketeers. They shot 50.8% for the game (31-61) and were 12-30 (40%) from three-point range. They were dead-even on the glass, 30-30, and out-rebounded Xavier 5-3 on offensive boards.
Unfortunately, they allowed Xavier to make 13-24 from outside (54.2%), which was significantly better than the 1-21 they shot in Omaha. And the Bluejays missed 11 free throws in a game that wound up being decided by five. From the Morning After:
“What a strange game. For 18 minutes in the first half, Creighton shot as well as they have all year, defended poorly, and led the fifth-ranked team in the country on the road. Xavier used a 6-0 run over the final two minutes to take the lead, then over the first 15 minutes of the second half did everything they could to run the Bluejays out of the building. And then the Jays refused to go down without a fight, getting up off the mat time after time after time over the game’s final minutes, absorbing one haymaker after another from Xavier and not only refusing to stay down, but rallying to knock them back on their heels time after time.”
Gratuitous Linkage:
Xavier was a “Jekyll and Hyde” team in Saturday’s loss to Butler, giving up 58 second-half points after allowing just 25 in the first. This excellent notes column from the Cincinnati Enquirer discusses several storylines from that game.
What the Other Side is Saying:
“Trevon is shooting 8-40/5-25/15-19 in his last three outings. For the season he is shooting 32.5% behind the arc and only 49% inside the arc. Perhaps most alarmingly, Trevon’s offensive numbers currently resemble those of his freshman season very closely. For a guy who was supposed to shoulder the offensive load this year, that kind of regression just isn’t going to cut it. Xavier needs Trevon to be both more aggressive and more efficient. Instead, as he’s lost his shot, he’s retreated into becoming more and more of a jump shooter. This season he’s taken 12% fewer shots at the rim than he did two years ago. That’s not a positive.”
-“Water Cooler Takes”, Banners on the Parkway
This Date in Creighton Hoops History:
On January 16, 2010, Creighton defeated Wichita State 57-56 for their seventeenth — 17th! — straight win at home in the series. Ott’s recap is a real tour de force; I’d excerpt something from it but I’m not sure where to begin and where to end. Just go re-read the whole thing.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day:
C’mon, do you really think I could let this ice storm go without doing this? I’m a man with great willpower…but it’s not that strong.
The Bottom Line:
Creighton’s played well at Cintas Center over the years, and with Xavier struggling, I’ll change my preseason prediction of a loss in this one to a win. It will be a very tight game, though, and could easily go either way.
#8 Creighton 78, #15 Xavier 76
