Despite a blizzard burying the streets of Omaha, and a young, scrappy, and aggressive Tulsa squad refusing to give up, the Creighton Bluejays emerged victorious Wednesday night. The Jays (11-1) wrapped up their early season non-conference schedule by defeating the visiting Golden Hurricane, 71-54.
For a while in the beginning it seemed like the weather outside was affecting the play inside. With his parents in attendance, senior Gregory Echenique scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Jays in the first half. However, he was the only one playing well for either team early on as both teams were very sloppy to start the game, committing a combined 13 turnovers in the first eight minutes. “I was happy [my parents] were here, but I try to block all of that stuff out. I was trying to play my game and stay focused,” said the senior from Guatire, Venezuela.
Creighton led 8-7 with 11:39 left when freshman Andre Yates stole the ball from a Tulsa guard, drove down the court, and found a trailing Doug McDermott for an easy layup. It was McDermott’s only field goal of the first half.
That bucket started a 16-1 run for the Jays as Grant Gibbs found sophomore Avery Dingman and junior Ethan Wragge wide open for three-pointers on consecutive possessions. It was still the big man, Echenique, leading the Jays during the run as he recorded six points, three rebounds, two steals, and a block over the crucial six-minute stretch. The Jays led the Golden Hurricane 38-20 at halftime.
Creighton, however, couldn’t sustain the momentum it carried into halftime as the Golden Hurricane used an 8-1 run in the first 3:15 of the second half to trim the Jays’ lead to 11. Tulsa took advantage of three Creighton turnovers and lackadaisical interior defense as all eight of their points came in the paint during the run. “We just weren’t ourselves tonight,” said Creighton head coach Greg McDermott. “17 turnovers, 19 fouls – that’s not what we’ve been about through the first 12 games. I think there is a lot to learn from it, but we didn’t play very well and still won by 17, so there are certainly some positives to build from as well.”
The positives came shortly after Tulsa’s run to start the second half. Creighton responded with a 14-3 run over the next six minutes, capped off by a three-pointer from sophomore wingman Avery Dingman, to build their largest lead of the game at 53-31 with 10:31 remaining. Dingman, who has seen his role take on more importance in the absence of senior guard Josh Jones, hit on four of his five three-point attempts in the second half. None bigger than the two daggers he hit in the final four minutes to put the game out of reach after Tulsa had scrapped their way back in.
Dingman finished with a career-high 21 points (14 in the second half), missing only one of his nine shot attempts. He also contributed three steals and three rebounds to the cause while not committing a single turnover. Fellow sophomore Austin Chatman was pleased with his classmate’s performance. “It’s really good to see him put it all together. He was a big key to the game.”
For Avery, Wednesday night’s performance was all about taking advantage of an opportunity. “Josh [Jones] was playing over 20 minutes a game, so those minutes had to go somewhere. I talked to Coach ‘Mac’ about it, he’s been getting on me and I’ve been ready. It’s unfortunate not having Josh here, but someone has to step up and I’ve been trying to play some big minutes.”
Tulsa was led by freshman guard James Woodard, who contributed across the board with 15 points (4-10 FG, 2-6 3FG, 5-5 FT), 10 rebounds, two assists, and four steals. It was already the third double-double of Woodard’s young collegiate career.
With the early non-conference portion of their schedule now in the books, the Jays will have 10 days to enjoy time with their families for Christmas while also preparing for a dangerous Evansville team that will be in town on Saturday, December 29 to kick off the Missouri Valley Conference season for the Jays. Last season the Jays opened up their conference season with a December 28th loss at home to Missouri State. This year, senior guard Grant Gibbs says the team has a better understanding of the challenges that await them. “We had a really good start in the non-conference last year, and came out really flat against Missouri State and got beat. We know that can happen if we’re not ready to go against Evansville. I think guys have a better understanding now of how precise we have to be.”
Creighton (11-1, 0-0) vs Evansville (7-4, 0-0) is set for a 7:05 p.m. Central time tip-off at the Century Link Center Omaha on Saturday, December 29. The Purple Aces will play at Nos. 19/25 Butler this Saturday before getting a week to prepare for the Bluejays. Creighton won two of the three meetings between Evansville last season, including a 99-71 win in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
Game Stats:
Tulsa / Creighton
Score: 54 / 71
FG/FGA/FG%: 18-48 (37.5%) / 27-52 (51.9%)
3FG/3FGA/3FG%: 5-16 (31.3%) / 9-20 (45%)
FT/FTA/FT%: 13-18 (72.2%) / 8-14 (57.1%)
Rebounding: 35 (Off: 11, Def: 24) / 28 (Off: 5, Def: 23)
Assists: 10 / 19
Turnovers: 25 / 17
Steals: 9 / 17
Blocks: 3 / 2
Scoring Leaders: Woodard (15) / Dingman (21)
Rebounding Leaders: Woodard (10) / Echenique (8)
Assists Leaders: Ray (3) / Gibbs (6)
Steals Leaders: Woodard (4) / Chatman, Dingman (3)
Blocks Leaders: Black, Harrison, Haralson (1) / Echenique (2)