A sort of New Year’s malaise crept through the CenturyLink Center Tuesday night. Maybe it was Creighton fans’ collective hangover following the Bluejays’ euphoric win at Wichita State. Or simply the boredom of watching an inferior Drake team try and shut down Doug McDermott and the rest of the Jays. Whatever the reason, it seemed the winter blahs were alive and well.
The pace of the game wasn’t exactly conducive to a crazed audience or a concentrated Creighton squad. Fouls and miscues by both teams contributed to the choppy play, including some uncharacteristic turnovers and poor plays by the usually efficient Bluejays. In sum CU committed a season-high 20 turnovers, thanks in part to Drake’s 14 steals (an arena record for an opponent) and largely due to a waning focus as the Jays toyed with the Bulldogs for the better part of the evening.
Doug McDermott in a familiar spot -- snuggled up next to the rim (WBR)
With just less than 13 minutes to play in the first half the Bluejays held a 13-point lead. When they weren’t busy shooting themselves in the foot with errant passes and other miscues, the Bluejays were shooting well enough to overcome their self-inflicted mistakes. The Jays hit 60% of their field goal attempts and hit nearly half of their three-point attempts, scoring more than 70 points for the first time in Missouri Valley Conference play. Doug McDermott celebrated his 20th birthday in efficient style, scoring a game-high 24 points on 9 of 12 shooting from the field. Antoine Young added 18 points, Gregory Echenique had a monster second half en route to 10 points, and a few guys stepped up off the bench to knock down a shot here and there.
Defensively, it was evident early that Rayvonte Rice, Drake’s most dynamic scorer, was on his way to a less than exceptional evening. The Bluejays carried over the solid defensive effort on display in Wichita a few days earlier and applied it to eliminate Rice and most of his teammates from posing much of a threat. Rice collected 5 of Drake’s 14 thefts, but he scored just 6 points. His most amazing shot was a miss — an uber-athletic dunk attempt that went awry. Had it not been for the sweet shooting of Ben Simons (17 points from a multitude of spots on the court), the final margin (already 17 points) would have been beyond respectable.
And that’s fine with me. The Jays were 3-6 in their previous 9 games against the Bulldogs, including two home losses. I wasn’t interested in watching Drake leave the court celebrating in front of me like Kyle Weems and Missouri State did less than one week earlier. And I wasn’t buying the pregame talk about the Bulldogs being a tough matchup for the Jays. It was a game Creighton should have won going away, and they did. Are 20 turnovers acceptable? Nope. But in league play I don’t really care how a team gets it done: wins trump everything else, including the stumbles suffered along the way to those victories.
A few other thoughts while wondering if Bradley will prove to be the trap game it was last season, sans blizzard.
Teaching moments abound after the Bluejays’ win against Drake.
I mentioned a few Thoughts ago how much I enjoy listening to Greg McDermott’s postgame radio comments. I know he wasn’t, but McDermott practically sounded giddy about the opportunity he and his staff had to teach his players following the sometimes sloppy and unfocused play against Drake. It is a long season, especially factoring in the team’s trip to the Bahamas, and I’m sure at times the process of playing major college hoops — the practices, the film sessions, the weights, the study halls, the travel time — can be extremely monotonous. Add to the equation the heaping praise placed on this team during a terrific 10-1 start to the season, and its possible that difficult yet important coaching moments can go in one ear and out the other.
Start with protecting the basketball. Think Northern Iowa or Evansville or Wichita State can’t come to Omaha and turn 20 turnovers into a bunch of points against the Bluejays? For the most part Creighton’s pretty careful with the ball. But the Jays won’t shoot 60% every night, and when they don’t they can’t be giving opponents easy opportunities on the other end due to wasted possessions.
Gregory Echenique rocked a few dunks against Drake (Adam Streur/WBR)
Gregory Echenique turned a halftime chat into a second half worth noting.
McDermott mentioned that he talked to Echenique at halftime. He told the Bluejays’ starting center to assert himself more, to be more physical. He took just one shot in the first 20 minutes of the game, missing it, and didn’t grab a rebound in 14 first-half minutes.
Whatever the message, he took it to heart for the second half. The Jays tried to establish Echenique offensively right out of halftime like they have in each of the past few games, and the results were outstanding. He scored 10 points on 5 of 6 shooting, chipped in 5 rebounds, and absolutely obliterated a few blocked shots (2 in the second half; 4 for the game). He still seems to struggle at times to catch the ball cleanly (doesn’t everyone when compared to fellow frontcourt player Doug McDermott?). But it is encouraging that Echenique answered the call from coaches at half and turned in a solid 12 minutes of play in the second stanza.
Collectively, Creighton’s defense was exceptional for the second straight game.
Speaking of learning opportunities, if the 77 points Missouri State put up on the Bluejays to open Valley play do nothing but draw attention to the defensive lapses that plagued CU too often in the first third of the season, the loss may have been worth it. Since Weems and his fellow Bears beat up on Creighton the Bluejays have honed in on a wholesale focus on defense.
Winning at Wichita State can be chalked up to limiting a potent Shockers squad to just 61 points and 33% shooting from the field. Beating the Bulldogs in Omaha as badly as the Bluejays did only happened because guys like Young and Grant Gibbs and Josh Jones and Jahenns Manigat pressured Drake’s perimeter players effectively. Echenique eliminated a few shots and altered others, but often the DU offense didn’t even get toward the paint. Guards Karl Madison (0-7), Kurt Alexander (3-10), and Rice (2-10) combined to shoot less than 20% from the field. CU’s guards challenged shots and played solid defense. That’s what it will take night in and night out if this team wants to win a championship: they are capable offensively, but must focus consistently on defense to win the Valley.