One-third of the way through their season, Creighton cemented a number of theories in a road win against Seton Hall. If teams decide to defend Doug McDermott one-on-one, he can seemingly score at will. Seton Hall tried to play Creighton’s All-American candidate straight up, and he scored against the Pirates early and often. McDermott scored 13 of the team’s first 15 points and poured in 22 during 19 first-half minutes of play.
Teams that choose to pay extra defensive attention to McDermott must contend with a supporting cast that knows its strengths and weaknesses, and executes in a highly efficient manner. The Pirates tried other strategies after McDermott’s scorching start, limiting CU’s start to 8 second-half points. But the defensive changes left Seton Hall vulnerable to Creighton’s supporting cast, and the Jays didn’t disappoint when set up to score. Ethan Wragge and Jahenns Manigat both made two three-pointers in the second half, the Jays assisted on 9 of 14 made field goals during that half, and they limited turnovers (2).
For the game, the Bluejays committed just 4 turnovers while assisting on 18 of 31 made baskets. Creighton is second in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, buoyed largely by an offensive system and skilled shotmakers that results in CU having the 8th most assists in the country.
The offense was anything but ideal Saturday. Starting point guard Austin Chatman picked two fouls as quickly has he’s done in his Creighton career, relegating him to the bench for all but 8 minutes of the game. Still, the Jays were able to effectively run their sets, with Devin Brooks playing a career-high 27 minutes. The junior guard from New York, playing in front of more than a dozen friends and family, posted his first double-figure scoring production (11 points) since his 23-point outburst against Arizona State in Anaheim.
Seniors Grant Gibbs and Manigat were the steadying hands again for Greg McDermott’s team. The two guards combined for 9 assists without a turnover while scoring 26 points and combining for 9 rebounds. Manigat, especially, is playing at a high level right now. He always gives tremendous effort on defense, but he’s riding an extremely hot streak on the offensive end of the court too. After posting one of his best offensive games as a Bluejay against Marquette, Manigat scored 14 points, dished 4 assists, snared 4 rebounds, and collected a steal in 35 minutes against Seton Hall. He’s shooting 48.8% from three-point range, effectively daring CU opponents to play McDermott straight up or fear the triple. In his last six game, the Canadian Red Bull has a 6.66 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Jahenns Manigat is playing at a high level for the Creighton Bluejays (WBR/Mike Spomer) CLICK TO BUY
As mentioned, too, Manigat is a big piece of Creighton’s defense, the sum of which is greater than its individual parts. Seton Hall became the first time since Nebraska to crack 40% shooting from the field against the Jays. But they attempted 25 fewer shots than the Jays, partially a result of securing just one offensive rebound (to Creighton’s 11). Take away some of the 30 free throws that the Pirates shot (making 20), and it is clear just how badly Seton Hall missed two of their best frontcourt players and a healthier Fuquan Edwin (8 points on 2-6 shooting in 27 minutes off the bench).
That’s right, 30 free throw attempts for the Pirates. Defensively, the Jays got caught swiping too often again, especially in the second half. During the first 20 minutes, CU went 6-6 from the line while Seton Hall attempted just a pair of free throws. Things changed quite dramatically during the second half; CU went 1-2 from the line and the Pirates shot more than twice as many free throws (28) as regular field goals (16).
Sure, it is only a sample size of two games, but the Bluejays are giving up far more free throw attempts than they’re taking. CU went 11-12 from the line against Marquette and Seton Hall, while the Golden Eagles and Pirates combined to shoot 29-46 from the charity stripe. In fact, the first two Big East games represent the only two times this season that Creighton hasn’t attempted at least double-figure free throws.
And who missed the free throw? McDermott, snapping his school record streak of makes at 45. Speaking of Dougie McBuckets…
Saturday afternoon was a good one for Creighton’s “Macs.” McKenzie Fujan scored a career-high 38 points — 28 during the second half — to lead Jim Flanery’s Bluejays to a comeback win over DePaul at Sokol Arena. That game concluded a few hours after McDermott became the first Bluejay since Benoit Benjamin to score at least 30 points, grab 10 rebounds, and record 5 assists in a game.
For his efforts against the Pirates and Marquette, McDermott earned a nod for National Player of the Week from CBS Sportline while securing his fourth Player of the Week nod from the Big East.
The Bluejays hadn’t beaten the Pirates since 1950. They hadn’t played since March 1991, a second-round Seton Hall win in the NCAA Tournament. I was 10 years old, and I was devastated.
My hoops idols as a young Bluejays fan were Bob Harstad, Chad Gallagher, and Tony Barone’s cast of Creighton Bluejays from the late 80s and early 90s. Barone’s team led P.J. Carlesimo’s Pirates 32-31 at halftime, but Seton Hall pulled away late for an 81-69 win in Salt Lake City.
Entering their first season in the Big East, the Bluejays historically had played more games against Marquette (76) than against any of the other nine teams in the league. CU had played Seton Hall just six times before that 1991 tournament game; the seven total meetings before Saturday were the fourth fewest against the Big East teams.
The Bluejays continued their first Big East road trip Tuesday, at DePaul. Creighton has played 22 games — second-most among teams in the Big East — against the Blue Demons, including the most recent contests CU can count against Big East foes.
I was there the last time Creighton played in Rosemont, in November 2005. It was a brutal night, considering CU shot 30% for the game and Nate Funk injured his shoulder. Since then the Jays have topped the Blue Demons twice; in P’Allen Stinnett’s CU debut in 2007 and in the semifinals of a holiday tournament in Las Vegas in 2008. The Jays will bring a national ranking and a seven-game winning streak to Chicago; here’s hoping it goes better than their last visit.