Creighton 77, UAB 60
I’m not sure how many other people felt this way, but going into the game on Wednesday night against UAB, I had this bad feeling in my stomach that fans might be overlooking what the Blazers might bring against the Bluejays, even more than North Texas last Friday night. Yes, they had a new coach in Jerod Haase and a new style of play, but that uncertainty of what might happen can cause a lot of problems. Switching from a slow it down, grind it out to a run up and down the court game can cause some problems for opponents. For the first half on Wednesday night, that bad feeling was starting to feel a little too true.
Grant Gibbs took over the offense tonight to calmly lead the Bluejays (Streur/WBR)
As the game got under way, there just seemed to be little buzz in the CenturyLink Center. It was nothing like the opening game last week against UNT with a full student section and a crowd fired up over the hype this team was getting in the preseason coverage. Then, with UAB doing everything in their power to limit Doug McDermott and any entry pass down low, before you knew it, Doug McDermott had two fouls and headed to the bench. The last 14:13 of the second half was tough to watch. Life without Doug McDermott became reality and I wondered how the Bluejays would respond. The offense had a tough flow to it and Greg McDermott tried anything to get things going, at one point keeping both point guards Austin Chatman and Andre Yates on the bench and having Jahenns Manigat and Josh Jones taking the point guard duties.
Throughout the half, I saw lineups that I didn’t expect to see this season. The fans around me were wondering who was going to be handling the ball in those lineups. As the half came to a close, the Jays were able to keep things close with some deep shots from Ethan Wragge and Avery Dingman, but there were a lot of questions heading into the half down four points. The national media had Creighton on “upset watch.”
The second half didn’t seem like it was going to be any better. UAB was as physical and athletic as ever and held the Bluejays to two points in the first four minutes of the half and extended their lead to 10. It was at that point that senior Josh Jones entered the game for the first time in the half. After missing an open three pointer, Jones then took the next four shots (including two three pointers), got fouled and hit his two free throws and single-handedly tied the game with a 10-0 spurt, finally getting the crowd in a frenzy. Grant Gibbs also took over the point guard duties to get things going for the Bluejay offense. Gregory Echenique played like a beast, dominating the boards grabbing 16 rebounds and putting in 13 points (going a perfect 5-5) from the field and played some really tough defense to keep UAB off balance including four big blocks.
Echenique was a beast on the boards with 13 points and 16 rebounds (Streur/WBR)
It was those Seniors that took over the game for the Bluejays. Jones finished with 18 points in 19 minutes of play. Gibbs had 13 points of his own to go along with 6 assists and four rebounds. You all just read what Echenique did. This was all on a night where Doug McDermott, the preseason All-American, was held to five points and seven rebounds in only 23 minutes of play. Creighton discovered a little more about themselves tonight and fought through the adversity of UAB’s defensive game plan turning a 10 point deficit four minutes into the second half into a 18 point lead with just over a minute to go. What we learned is that teams are going to have to pick their poison–do everything in their power to stop Doug McDermott or worry about what the rest of the team will do to them. That is why it is a team sport. It isn’t one player–a mantra that this team has always talked about. They didn’t disappoint tonight.
The Bluejays now get a little reprieve as they play the first two games of the Las Vegas Classic on their home court on Sunday and Tuesday against Big South opponents Presbyterian and Longwood. These games will likely prepare them for the game the day after Thanksgiving against Wisconsin out in Las Vegas. This is going to be a fun season. Although that feeling in my stomach has gone away for now, I’m sure it will be back. Luckily the Bluejays seem to handle the pressure better than I. Definitely good for them.