Stay the course. Stay the course. That’s the mantra I repeated under my breath during the first half. When Evansville’s seldom-used Jordan Nelson made his first basket since December 29 to give the Aces a 16-point lead with 7:49 to play in the first frame, I replaced that mantra with a hearty laugh. So this is going to be how it goes down, huh? Nelson’s knocking down a shot, but Doug McDermott’s 0-3 from the field and the Jays are in danger of getting run? Awesome.
To their credit, the Bluejays stayed the course. McDermott hit a layup. Ethan Wragge (finally) knocked down a three. McDermott scored again. Austin Chatman hit a couple of free throws and then McDermott hit another shot. Then McDermott made a beautiful pass out of a double team in the post to find Chatman for three, which he hit. Gregory Echenique got involved with a hoop in Creighton’s final possession of the first half, and just like that the Jays were only down 5 points, the aggressors of a 16-5 run over the final 6 minutes of the first stanza.
During their cold stretch, the Aces missed two free throws and 10 field goal attempts, making just one shot from the field and two free throws.
That swing might prove to be the most important so far this season, as there is no way the Bluejays would have recovered from a blowout loss to Evansville to even sniff a chance at winning the league championship, this writer’s goal for this year’s CU squad. But I’ll get to that later.
Dougie, all day. Ned Cox knocked down a shot to start the second-half scoring, but the Bluejays rattled off an 11-2 run immediately thereafter, with McDermott the catalyst. The junior, who would hit the 2,000-point mark for his career late in the afternoon, got a hoop-and-harm situation and capitalized for a three-point play early in the half. McDermott snagged a steal against Troy Taylor and then found Echenique for a bucket. McDermott then found himself on the other end of an assist, as Jahenns Manigat got him the ball for a three-pointer. Seconds later, Manigat assisted on Avery Dingman’s only make of the day, a three-pointer that gave the Jays their first lead of the day.
Evansville wouldn’t go away, regaining the lead on a three-point play by Colt Ryan with 13:45 to go in the game. On Creighton’s next possession, McDermott again found himself hounded by Aces on the block. So he skipped the ball to Chatman (again), who knocked down another three and gave the Jays the lead for good.
McDermott’s 4 assists tied for his season high. He did a great job of passing out of pressure defense situations instead of trying to force too many things. Sure, he scored (21 points on 7-12 shooting from the field, knocking down 6-7 free throws and one of his two three-point attempts). But he turned the ball over just once and connected on some passes to teammates for set up crucial makes.
Meanwhile, it wasn’t exactly a banner afternoon for Evansville’s star. The Purple Aces entered the locker room at half with a 5-point lead, but it could have been larger had Ryan hit a few more shots. The notorious Creighton Killer Ryan went 2-10 from the field in the first half. Still he facilitated thing well for his teammates, dishing 6 assists without a turnover during the first 20 minutes of play.
Things got worse during the second half, though. Ryan went 1-8 from the field and committed all three of his turnovers, the last coming on an offensive foul during a possession with a little more than 5 minutes left that saw the Aces down by 7 with a chance to cut into Creighton’s growing lead. Then, down 2 with a minute to play, Ryan missed a shot near the lane that could have tied the score.
Still, the Aces had a shot. Twice in the final two minutes Evansville cut Creighton’s lead to 1 point. And both times guard Grant Gibbs responded, the first with a layup and the second with one of two free throws. Gibbs was steady in running the offense most of the afternoon; the senior scored 9 points and dished 6 assists while turning the ball over just once in 30 minute of play. His single turnover was his best performance in that statistical category since the second Valley game of Creighton’s schedule, when he dropped 7 dimes and made just 1 turnover at Illinois State.
Gibbs fouled out, the effect of having to try and guard Ryan and others through the bevy of screens set by the Aces. The foul came with about 10 second to play and sent Adam Wing to the free throw line, the Jays clinging to a 4-point lead. Wing made both, Creighton inbounded the ball to McDermott, and the junior All-American missed his first free throw. Ugh.
But McDermott made the second, Cox couldn’t connect on a deep three-pointer to tie the game, and time ran out on the Aces before they could hoist another attempt.
Winning on the road is never easy. It may seem cliché, but it is accurate. And for a team on the wrong end of a three-game losing streak, the challenge was that much greater. The Jays can still win a regular season Valley title; had they lost to Evansville, that hill may have been insurmountable. But again, it won’t be easy.
Late Sunday evening, it seemed that the Bluejays would benefit from an Illinois State win against Wichita State. And then this happened, followed by two technical free throw makes for WSU. Then Johnny Hill turned the ball over against the Shocker press. And then Cleanthony Early hit a three-pointer. And then the Redbirds couldn’t get a runner to go. The Shockers trailed for 30-plus minutes but found a way to win in Normal, albeit under not-so-normal circumstances.
So with two weeks left in the regular season, and three league games left apiece, the Shockers (11-4) hold a one-game advantage over the Bluejays (10-5).
Of course, the regular season wraps for both teams with a nationally televised game at the CenturyLink Center March 2. To have any shot of an outright regular season championship, Creighton would need to beat Wichita State at home that afternoon, something CU hasn’t done since Dana Altman’s final season in Omaha. But the Bluejays would also need some help.
The Jays need to win out and hope the Shockers drop one of their two remaining MVC games not in Omaha. Wichita State is winless against Indiana State and Evansville, its remaining conference opponents other than Creighton. The Jays are 2-0 against theirs, Southern Illinois and Bradley.
The Sycamores beat the Shockers by 13 in Wichita and the Aces dealt WSU a 4-point road loss. One would think the Trees have a better shot than the Aces given the locations of the games. Indiana State is reeling from two straight road losses and will be home at the Hulman Center. The Sycamores’ at-large chances went up in smoke following the latest two losses, I’d think, so the Trees will be playing for seeding at Arch Madness and the potential miracle of WSU and CU losing out.
I repeat, the Bluejays need to win out. Creighton beat SIU in Carbondale and the Braves in Omaha. Barry Hinson’s club is dead last in the league at 4-11, but three of those wins occurred in the Salukis’ past four games. The Jays tagged a 30-point defeat on SIU a few weeks ago and will be favored to win Tuesday night in Omaha.
But it is the trip to Peoria that leaves me worried. Creighton struggles containing athletic guards who can score inside and out, and Dyricus Simms-Edwards and Walt Lemon Jr. are those kind of guys. The Braves upended Indiana State this weekend, with DSE playing through back pain to help clamp down on the Sycamores. Creighton can ill afford to turn the ball over against BU, one of the most aggressive defensive teams in the Valley.