Subscribe to our Newsletter

Men's Basketball

Morning After: Creighton 90, Chicago State 58

By
0
Share

[Box Score]

Key Stats: Chicago State shoots 13-29 in the first half (7-14 from long range), and just 6-21 in the second half (3-10 from long range). Creighton has 24 assists on 27 made baskets, and goes 16-25 from three-point range for the game. CU outrebounds the Cougars 35-22. Creighton leads wire-to-wire for the fourth straight game, which is just absurd.

Favorite Moment: With around four minutes to play in the first half, the Jays defense had been struggling to find a spark. As he’s done many times before, Will Artino provided it. Chicago State’s Corey Gray drove the paint, and was met by Artino, who swatted the ball with such ferocity you could hear the slap 20 rows deep in the stands. It was positively Echenique-esque. I’m sure it’s a coincidence, but from that point forward, the Jays’ energy defensively was much better, and as a result, Chicago State scored just 28 points the rest of the way.

Quick Recap: On the first three possessions of the game, Doug McDermott and Ethan Wragge nailed three-pointers, and Grant Gibbs threw down a slam dunk. Then McDermott made a jumper, two free throws and three consecutive threes to give him 16 points just five-and-a-half minutes into the game, and his team a 21-12 lead. Chicago State hung around and kept things close for the remainder of the half, though that’s as much a credit to Creighton’s shoddy defensive work as it was to Chicago State’s offensive execution. The Jays did a poor job of identifying shooters and closing on them, giving the Cougars open looks time after time.

However, the Cougars also made a variety of wild shots that had no business going in, including two 30+ foot threes by Quinton Pippen that could almost be classified more as “heaves” than “shots”. That’s not an effective long-term offensive plan, but it worked for a while.

With just under eight-minutes to play in the first half, they cut the Jays’ lead to 27-26 on one such shot, bringing the capacity crowd to it’s feet as they sensed the need to give Creighton a jolt of energy. Jahenns Manigat promptly nailed a three to extend the lead back out to four, 30-26, and the Cougars would never be as close again the rest of the way.

CU eventually ran the lead out to 45-36 late in the half, and took a seven point lead into the locker room. After adjusting at halftime for what Chicago State was doing, they clamped down significantly — identifying shooters, closing out on them, and forcing them into contested shots or in several cases, desperation shots. The Cougars scored just 20 points in the second half, going 6-21 from the field and 3-10 from behind the arc as foul trouble and fatigue set in.

Meanwhile, the Jays continued to shoot lights-out, with Manigat and Wragge both making five 3-pointers and McDermott making four. As their lead grew, they were able to get significant minutes for the back end of their rotation — the bright spot being Zach Hanson, who played nine minutes, scoring nine points with two rebounds and two blocks. Isaiah Zierden and Avery Dingman both played big minutes, as well, and impressed in different ways. Zierden had five points and two assists, knocking down a three and drawing a foul on a nice drive to the rim, while Dingman played excellent defense, being aggressive both on and off the ball.

In the end, the game was similar to most Chicago State games this year — they were competitive for 25-30 minutes, and were pummeled over the final 10-15. It was encouraging to see Creighton blow them out in the second half, and not let up on the gas, allowing them to give their starters a rest. In case you hadn’t heard, there’s kind of a big game on Tuesday.

Quotables:

“We’ve watched every game they had played, and we knew this was the best shooting team in the country. If there is another team in the country that shoots the ball like these guys shoot, I would love to see that team.” -Tracy Dildy, Chicago State head coach

“Usually I come into games later, but I’ve been trying to stay ready to come in at any moment, whenever they need me. There’s going to be foul trouble, so I just have to be ready to help whenever that happens. As the season has gone on, I’ve realized I need to really review what’s happening on the court while I’m on the bench so I’m ready to attack and bring energy when I get in.” -Zach Hanson on 1620AM Postgame Show

(On whether offense or defense has been the bigger adjustment) “There’s been adjustments on both, but there’s so many more things that we do defensively here than what we did in high school, with screens and schemes and everything. It’s been fun to work on those things and adjust to them.” -Zach Hanson on 1620AM Postgame Show

“In the first half, I didn’t think we were doing a terrible job, but we didn’t play our best basketball either. We needed to crank up our intensity and lock in on our scouting report, especially on defense. That was the biggest adjustment we made at halftime.” -Zach Hanson on 1620AM Postgame Show

(On whether he knew about his free throw streak) “You know, I actually did, and I was mad at my teammates for bringing it up because I had no idea before that. The first trip to the line tonight I was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ (laughing) My natural instinct is to be calm, but that was rough. But it was cool, I was glad I was able to do it, and obviously catching Booker (Woodfox) is cool.” -Doug McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show

“Especially now that Ethan is starting games, I know I’m going to need to focus on being in the post more. I can eventually float out to the perimeter as the game goes on, and just kind of feel it out, but that’s definitely been an emphasis in practice. We’re doing a lot of roll-and-replace type of stuff, getting me and Ethan to play together and be interchangeable. I think it’s working out well for us.” -Doug McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show

“I didn’t expect to take a lot of threes tonight at all. I was expecting to be more inside-out. But that’s just kind of what Chicago State’s defense was giving me. We ran a play to start the game to free me up on the perimeter, I happened to knock it down, and that one really got me going.” -Doug McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show

“Defensively, it’s all about communication with us. We work so much in practice on that. A lot of people look at our defensive numbers and think we’re just an offensive team, and that that’s all we do, but I’d say 75% of our practices are working on our team defense. Just really focusing in on the scouting report, and we have to continue to do that. When we have a night where we aren’t shooting it 16-25 from three-point range, and we will, we’re going to have to rely on that defense. Like the Cal game. We’ve gotten a lot better on defense, and we have to continue to get better. We can’t get complacent.” -Doug McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show

(On Marquette) “We’re really excited. It was hard before the game, because this whole week we’ve been thinking about Marquette and we didn’t want to overlook Chicago State. Now we’re finally here. This is the one everyone’s been waiting for — us, the players, the coaches, all of you guys, the fans — we’re so excited for it. It’s going to be a huge first test in the Big East, but I think we’re ready for it.” -Doug McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show

“Our guys were much more locked in on the defensive end in the second half. I think one of the shots that Pippen hit in the first half was so far out that you guys could have touched him. I got on Avery because we watched it on film this morning. I told him, ‘He will shoot these shots, whether you have a hand up or not.’ So you might as well get your hand up. Avery kind of backed up, and was thinking ‘There’s no way he’s going to shoot it from there.’ Lo and behold, he shot it from there (laughing). I just thought our attention to detail and our energy was so much better in the second half.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show

“The thing about Doug playing inside is, it’s hard work to go down there and get the heck beat out of you. And that’s how people have decided to guard him on the block — if he goes in there, just beat the heck out of him, rotate guys, and just pound him. And they may call one or two of them fouls, but the other 15 they’re not. That takes a wear and tear on his body, and so we’ve got to pick our spots, especially as we move into conference play. He’s going to have to be a little bit more creative, and get down there a little more.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show

(On Marquette) “I said it at Media Day in New York: our players are excited, our fans are excited, and the only ones that aren’t excited are the coaches who have to prepare for the game, because we understand how good Marquette is. I think it will mean more somewhere down the road, probably when my coaching career is over and I look back. Hopefully Creighton is going to have a long tradition of success in the Big East, and I can look back and say, ‘You know, I was part of the first Big East game ever. It was an incredible night at the CenturyLink. The crowd and everything around the game was electric.’ Now, I just hope we win the game. I’ll be disappointed if we can’t figure out a way to get that done.”  -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show

And Now, Here What’s You Had to Say:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

0
Share
Newsletter
Never Miss a Story

Sign up for WBR's email newsletter, and get the best
Bluejay coverage delivered to your inbox FREE.