On Sunday, Creighton travels across I-80 to Wells Fargo Arena for the second straight November to play an Iowa school. Last year’s game was a wild, wooly affair, with Iowa State pulling out a 91-88 victory. Whether it was friendly rims, a great shooting backdrop, or terrible defense, both teams shot ridiculously well from outside in that game — ISU made 13-26 from long range, and Creighton made 14-27.
It was the ultimate in statistical outliers, as the Jays would only score 88 or more points one other time all season long, when they hung 102 on Davidson in the CBI. Their 14 three-pointers were a season-high; the next closest performance was 13 in the win over San Jose State in the CBI.
Apparently the Jays like shooting at Wells Fargo Arena, which is a bad sign for Iowa if it continues on Sunday. Through three games, it’s clear the Hawkeyes are improved in Fran McCaffrey’s second year, but it’s also clear they’re vulnerable inside, as Brendan Stiles from HawkeyeDrive.com told us. The Hawks interior defense was an area of concern before, but with big man Andrew Brommer being questionable after aggravating a knee injury earlier this week, it becomes a major problem area against a Creighton team with Gregory Echenique and Doug McDermott patrolling the paint.
Melsahn Besabe is their power forward, and while he had his moments as a freshman — scoring 22 points, grabbing 13 rebounds and blocking six shots against Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger was undoubtably the highlight — at 6’7″, 225 he’s probably not going to go toe-to-toe with Echenique (or if he does, he’s not likely to be very successful.) With that being the case, if Brommer can’t go, or if he’s ineffective due to the injury, the task of guarding the Jays’ big man seems most likely to fall to one of two guys:
- Devon Archie, a 6’9″ senior that’s been a bit of an enigma throughout his career, and has played limited minutes off the bench in a supporting role — yet is one of just two players, other than Brommer, taller than 6’8″.
- Aaron White, a 6’8″ freshman that has impressed early but has yet to play a game away from Iowa City. He had 19 points and 10 rebounds in the opener against Chicago State, but just 2 points, 4 rebounds and 4 turnovers against North Carolina A&T.
They could also conceivably try to guard Echenique with Zach McCabe, a 6’7″ sophomore, but that doesn’t seem like a great option either, given the dramatic height-weight difference between the players. Ouch. As Stiles told our Patrick Marshall, “If Creighton is able to get the ball inside effectively, it could be a long afternoon, especially if 3′s aren’t falling for Iowa early on.” For the Hawks to win, they’re going to have to hit threes — they simply do not have the interior presence, or the depth, to matchup with the Jays in the paint. Iowa will need their guards to be hot, and make shots from behind the perimeter.
Don’t totally discount that from happening. Iowa has made a combined 31 triples its first three games, which is a school record to start a season (the previous record was 30 triples to start the 1994-95 campaign, back in the hey dey of the Dr. Tom era). Against Northern Illinois on Thursday, the Hawkeyes shot 62% (13-21) from behind the arc and 54% (33-61) from the field in their 88-55 win.
Matt Gatens is the best of Iowa’s guards, and the team’s leading scorer. He averaged 12.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and nearly 2 assists a game last year, and shot 33% from behind the arc. Fellow senior Bryce Cartwright is their point guard, and he averaged 5.8 assists against 3.3 turnovers a year ago, while averaging 10.9 points and playing nearly 32 minutes a night. He can shoot a little from outside, but isn’t a huge threat — he was 19-69 a year ago from three-point range (27%).
Head coach Fran McCaffrey knows it’s a tough matchup, and told the media at his weekly press conference as much:
“(Creighton’s) not going to panic. They’re not going to be in a situation where in any way, shape or form they’re nervous. They’re just going to play their game and we’re going to have to beat that team. They are not going to beat themselves.”
Given the Hawks’ inexperience, their lack of depth inside, and the fact that their best big man will be hampered at best, this seems like a game Creighton should win as long as they can keep Iowa from scorching the nets from long range.
If it becomes a battle in the paint, that favors Creighton. If it becomes a shootout, as the game with Iowa State was a year ago, it’s more of a tossup. Luckily, if it’s the latter, the game is televised this year, providing the officials with courtside monitors to clear up any “confusion” that might result.
Meet Iowa: Iowa has five players averaging double figures in scoring: Matt Gatens (16.3), Eric May (15.3), Melsahn Basabe (12.3), Zach McCabe (11.0) and Aaron White (10.0) … The sophomore McCabe has come off the bench to average 11 points and four rebounds in the team’s first three games … In the win over Northern Illinois, Josh Oglesby (16), Matt Gatens (15) and Eric May (14) combined for 45 points, shooting a combined 9-of-13 (.692) from long distance, while Bryce Cartwright handed out a game-high nine assists, one shy of his personal best, in only 19 minutes of action … Against common opponents Chicago State and North Carolina A&T, Creighton had an average margin of victory of 33 points, while Iowa bested them by 24.5 … Iowa has started the season with three consecutive wins; the last time Iowa won three straight at any point in a season was Dec. 5-12, 2008.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: With a win on Sunday, Creighton will start 4-0 for the first time since the 2007-08 season. Each of Creighton’s last seven teams to start 4-0 have reached the postseason … Creighton has played at least one Iowa native in 553 straight games, a streak dating back to a Feb. 5, 1994 win against Wichita State … This is the first year Creighton has hosted two games against Big Ten competition since 1939, and the first time since 1936 CU has hosted different Big Ten teams in the same season … Creighton’s Antoine Young led the Missouri Valley Conference with 5.0 assists per game last season, while Iowa’s Bryce Cartwright led the Big Ten in league contests with 6.83 assists per game … Doug McDermott has scored 21 and 27 points in his last two games, respectively, giving him 20 or more points in his last nine games overall dating to last year. Creighton has not had a player score 20 or more points in three straight games since Kyle Korver did it from Dec. 21, 2002 – Jan. 5, 2003.
The Last Time They Played: In a completely and thoroughly maddening game, Iowa defeated Creighton in the first round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament in Uniondale, NY. Over the final ten minutes of the game, the teams combined for three field goals — the scoring was dominated by Iowa center Reggie Evans making 12-13 free throws during the stretch (and 13-15 for the game). Surprising, given that he scared (and scarred) backboards coast to coast with his bricks, making just 63% during the season.
The teams also played each of the two seasons prior to that, part of a home-and-home series agreed to by Coach Tom Davis. In the first game, played in Iowa City, Rodney Buford had 24 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists in a 75-73 Jays win. The return game is the one a lot of people remember fondly, though: it was the last time Creighton has played host to a Big Ten team, and the only time since 1973. In the second game of Steve Alford’s tenure on the Iowa bench, Creighton again won, this time 85-76.
Ranked 23rd and coming off a stunning upset of #1 UCONN, Iowa was “upset” that day by Creighton 85-76. I went back and watched the telecast of that game last night, and forgot how well Ryan Sears played that day — 19 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and he played 37 minutes. It was amazing how good he was in that game. The highlight in rewatching it, though, at least in terms of hilarity, was seeing Jacob Jaacks, the hotheaded center on those Iowa teams, give the student section a two-fingered salute after fouling out. See, the students (with me among them) had mocked him all afternoon for wrestling around with Donnie Johnson and Alan Huss (literally wrestling — one of those three crashed into the court almost every possession, in a ridiculously physical inside game).
A crowd of 9,374, which was the fourth-largest for a Creighton game in the Civic at that time, saw Dana Altman out-fox Alford again, just as he had all those years when he was in Springfield. Beating Iowa was great, but beating Alford made it even better — especially with Alford getting T’d up in legendary fashion for arguing a foul call, and his star player mocking the student section. The next day, Tom Shatel wrote a send-off of sorts to Creighton’s favorite bully at the time, Steve Alford, in the World-Herald:
It had to seem like old times for Alford, now 1 – 4 in the Civic Auditorium. You know he’s tired of seeing the Jays, who swept him at Southwest Missouri State in three games last year and kept him from winning the Missouri Valley Conference title. Alford must really hate these guys. He upsets No. 1 Connecticut in his first game. He’s the king of Iowa City. Then he comes to Omaha, and they do it to him again.
No, now that he’s at Iowa, and he’s in the Big Ten, and he can play anyone he wants, you can forget about seeing Alford in the Omaha city limits ever again. But at least Alford left the fans a nice going – away present.
Alford would later be run out of Iowa City, and would return to Omaha — albeit to the Qwest Center — with his New Mexico team in 2008, and Creighton again beat him, 82-75.
The Series: Iowa leads 14-10, but Creighton has won four of the previous six meetings. Greg McDermott is 5-4 all-time against Iowa from his days at UNI and Iowa State, but has never faced Fran McCaffrey.
Fun fact: Creighton has reached the NCAA Tournament each of the last four seasons it has played the Hawkeyes.
Gratuitous Linkage: When I was watching that old 1999 telecast, I was delighted — and there’s a word I don’t use very often, “delighted” — to find this gem wedged in at halftime. So I ripped it and uploaded it to YouTube, because I just had to share it.
Out Of Context Seinfeld Quote: “I don’t know what it is about that mirror in that bathroom. I love the way I look in it… I feel like Robert Wagner.” -George Costanza
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: On November 20, 2000, Dana Altman won his 100th game at Creighton with a 96-50 win over Western Illinois in the season opener. With a suffocating press, and three treys from sophomore Kyle Korver, the Jays jumped out to a 15-0 lead less than four minutes into the game and never looked back. Terrell Taylor, a fellow sophomore, made his first career start and had 17 points, five rebounds and three steals.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day: Huge thanks to Patrick Marshall for filling in while I was away this week. He did an awesome job, mostly, but I can’t abide that Nickelback video. No can do.
That seems like the perfect segue into “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” by Hall & Oates, but instead, as the Jays play the first of three Big Ten teams in a month, let’s enjoy “Big Time” by Peter Gabriel.
The Bottom Line: In a couple of years, Iowa is going to be ridiculously tough as Fran McCaffrey’s rebuilding efforts add players like Adam Woodbury and Mike Gesell to a promising group of returners. But we’re not talking about two years from now, we’re talking about two days from now.
Creighton 79, Iowa 65