(Click here to see photos from Creighton’s win against Bradley)
Creighton trailed at halftime in all three of its losses this season. Two other times (versus UAB and Wisconsin), the Bluejays were down at the break only to come back and post double-digit wins. So when the Jays headed to the locker room down by 3 points to Bradley Saturday afternoon, I didn’t sense a panic among the pink-clad crowd of 18,000-plus inside the CenturyLink Center.
The Bluejays were just struggling to knock down open perimeter shots. Frankly, that hasn’t happened too often this season. But CU was being given uncontested looks from long range, as the Braves seemed content to clog the paint so as to prevent Gregory Echenique and Doug McDermott from getting easy looks.
Geno Ford’s strategy worked to a degree: The Jays shot 34.5% from the field in the first half, settling for 21 three-point attempts. CU only made 7 of those shots (33%). In fact, the Jays only made three shots inside the arc in the first half. There weren’t many of the three-pointers that I’d consider bad shots. And for a team that leads the nation in three-point shooting percentage, Ford was banking on the Bluejays having an off night from behind the arc.
All those misses gave BU a chance to beat the Jays on the boards in the first 20 minutes, and that’s exactly what happened. Couple cold outside shooting by Creighton with some solid guard play by Dyricus Simms-Edwards and Walt Lemon Jr., and you could excuse the Braves for having a bounce in their step heading into the locker room at the break.
Still, while the Jays had tied their lowest scoring output for a first half this season, it seemed that CU would be OK. And when halftime ended, Creighton showed why.
In just under three minutes, the Jays turned a 3-point deficit into a 5-point lead thanks to four baskets in the paint. Wonderful set plays for McDermott and Echenique led to layups on CU’s first two possessions. Austin Chatman and Jahenns Manigat missed a few three-pointers, but the Jays retained possession on both misses and eventually converted the possession into a hoop by Echenique. Manigat then followed that sequence with a steal, and McDermott converted a hoop thanks to a nifty assist by Grant Gibbs.
Ford had tried a timeout to break up the furious offensive outburst during the first few minutes to no avail. The Braves kept it close — it was a two-possession game until midway through the second half — but the Bluejay offense was too potent during the second 20 minutes: Creighton’s 48 points were the second-highest second-half output during the season, trailing the 52 points CU scored to break a 27-27 tie at home versus Indiana State en route to a 13-point win against the Sycamores a month ago.
The Jays still attempted 10 threes in the second half, making 5 of them. But they scored on 13 field goals inside the arc and made all 7 of their free throw attempts. The Bluejays made 69% of their shots in the half. CU outrebounded BU 18-4 in the second 20. And McDermott and Echenique (25 second-half points combined) nearly outscored Bradley (28 points) by themselves in the second stanza.
Doug McDermott and the Bluejays are alone in first place with 7 league games left (Mike Spomer/WBR)
In the end, the fourth largest crowd in CU hoops history left the building happy. The Jays posted their 20th win of the season. And a few hours later, Creighton would sit alone in first place, thanks to a Wichita State loss at Northern Iowa.
A few thoughts while wondering how Indiana State will recover against the Jays Wednesday following a heartbreaking overtime loss at Drake this past weekend.
The Bluejays protected the basketball pretty well against the Braves. Creighton committed just 10 turnovers, and Bradley only converted those miscues into 4 points.
BU leads the league in steals per game (10.1; 8.8 in MVC games), but the Braves swiped just 4 against CU on Saturday afternoon, while the Jays recorded 5 steals. Coach McDermott mentioned in the postgame radio show that if someone had bet him that Creighton would end up with more steals than Bradley, he would have lost a lot of money.
This Creighton team isn’t going to collect double-digit steals very often (CU has done that twice in 23 games this season, 10 against Arizona State and 17 against Tulsa). In fact, the Jays have had only one game in conference play when they swiped more than 5 steals (9, against Drake in a loss in Des Moines).
As long as they protect the basketball, though, Creighton should fare well against most teams, regardless of how many steals they force. Saturday’s win marked the third time in four games that the Jays committed 10 or fewer turnovers.
The Bluejays average 12 turnovers a game for the season, third fewest per game among MVC teams. That average ticks upward a bit counting only conference games (12.4), but considering the up-tempo offense the Jays employ I’m sure Coach Mac and his staff will gladly average 79 points per game in Valley play (10 ppg more than Illinois State, the next most potent offense during MVC games) in exchange for a few extra turnovers. (Creighton scores 1.19 points per possession, third-best in the nation and tops in the Valley.)
As for the CU defense, BU shot 2 percentage points better than their season average from the field and more than 4 percentage points better from three-point range. Still, the Jays held the Braves to 58 points, nearly 9 points fewer than their season average (66.6 ppg).
With seven conference games to play, the Jays control their own destiny. Wichita State traveled to Cedar Falls Saturday afternoon and lost to UNI. The Shockers’ second straight loss created some separation for each of the first four places in the league standings: At 9-2, the Bluejays lead WSU (8-3) by a game. They Sycamores couldn’t take advantage of the WSU loss; the Trees dropped a game at Drake in overtime and now sit in third place at 7-4. Evansville, too, couldn’t take advantage this weekend, as the Aces lost to Missouri State and dropped to 6-5 in the MVC (fourth place).
Creighton’s trip to Terre Haute this week gives CU an opportunity for an important win in two regards. First, a sweep of the Sycamores would go a long way to creating space between the Jays and the Trees as the season winds down. And Indiana State owns two of the best non-conference wins among the Valley’s ten teams, two-point wins over Miami (#2 RPI according to Statsheet.com) and Ole Miss (#42 in RPI). For comparison, CU only owns one top-50 RPI win outside of conference play (Wisconsin, which is #40 in the RPI on Statsheet.com as of Sunday night).
But let’s be honest. I’ve been harping about the Bluejays needing to win an outright Valley championship for years. And with less than half of the regular season to play, Creighton controls its championship fate. Expect as boisterous a crowd that could possibly congregate in the Hulman Center to show up Wednesday.