Ryan Kalkbrenner had a career day as a Bluejay (Juszyk / WBR)
Creighton got their stay in paradise off to an impressive start on Friday afternoon. One week after Brown took Nos. 18/20 North Carolina to the wire without their best player in a 93-87 loss in Chapel Hill, Greg McDermott’s Bluejays heated up early and led for all but the first 20 seconds of the game in a commanding 78-57 win over the Bears (3-2) at the 2021 Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Sophomore center Ryan Kalkbrenner led five Creighton starters in double figures with a career-high 19 points. Senior forward Ryan Hawkins added 15, freshman forward Arthur Kaluma and senior guard Alex O’Connell each finished with 13 points and five rebounds in 30 minutes, and freshman point guard Ryan Nembhard rounded out the starting lineup with 10 points, four rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
The Bluejays (4-0) used a 19-4 run early in the first half to take a 26-10 lead with 12:12 left before halftime and never let Brown get closer than nine the rest of the way.
“This team scored 87 at [North] Carolina and they didn’t get to 30 in either of the halves against us,” McDermott said. “I was really pleased with our defensive effort. Anytime a team has five assists that tells you you’re making them do something they don’t want to do. That’s really a credit to our guys on a short prep to be able to put that all together.”
Brown came into the game shooting 42.9% from 3, 53.6% from 2, and had averaged at least 1.20 points per possession in three of their first four games of the season, including the road game at UNC. On Friday, however, Creighton never allowed the Bears to sustain any type of rhythm on the offensive end of the floor. Brown shot 1-of-9 from 3-point range and had just one assist as a team and nine turnovers in the first half as the Jays led 46-29 at the break.
In the second half, the Bears got a couple more threes to go down, but still missed 10 of their 13 shots from beyond the arc and turned the ball over eight more times over the final 20 minutes.
“I thought we did a really good job,” McDermott said. “We lost [junior guard Paxson Wojcik] on a couple threes there in the second half, but other than that I thought our guys were really locked in defensively.”
On the offensive side of the ball, Hawkins and Nembhard helped the Jays got off to a quick start, each starting 2-for-2 from beyond the arc as Creighton built that 26-10 lead. Brown cut the deficit to nine with 4:53 left in the first half, but Kalkbrenner scored at the rim to push the lead back to 11, then ran the floor well in transition to seal his man in the low post and create a driving lane for Nembhard to attack and finish. That sequence sparked a 16-5 end to the half for the Jays that was spearheaded by their seven-footer, second-year big man’s efficiency in the low post against a long, physical front line.
“This is a really good team,” Kalkbrenner said. “The coaches were telling us to be strong with the ball, be solid. Their bigs are really good at blocking shots … I give them credit for being a really good team, but we came in with a good game plan and we were able to execute it.”
With a 39-28 lead and less than 90 seconds left before halftime, the Bluejays converted on their final trips up the floor — a jumper on the left block and driving layup on the right side by O’Connell, and a pick and pop three by Hawkins with 15 seconds left — to take a 46-29 advantage into the locker room.
Creighton’s lead in the second half grew to as much as 24 and never got smaller than 14. Brown was never able to put anything together that really ever made the Jays feel any pressure. Kalkbrenner carried over his strong finish to the first half by scoring 13 of his 19 points after halftime and to finish 9-of-13 from the field overall. His 27 minutes for the game continues as uptick in his playing time that has seen him log 23, 25, and now 27 minutes the last three games.
“I’ve had to prove to the coaches that I can guard a little bit so I can stay on the floor a little more,” Kalkbrenner said. “I think I’ve been working my way to that so they are able to leave me out there longer. It felt good to stay out there.
“It makes you feel like you’re having a real impact on the game. When you’re coming off the bench you obviously do, but sometimes it doesn’t feel like it. There is a certain level of being extra engaged when it’s like that. It’s definitely helped me a lot.”
The seven-footer out of St. Louis, Missouri also swatted away two more shots on Friday and is now averaging 2.5 blocks to go along with 15.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 63.6% shooting from the field over his last two contests. In Tuesday’s win at Nebraska, the Huskers were 13-of-33 (39.4%) inside five feet. On Friday, Brown was 18-of-38 (47.4%) inside the arc against outscored 46-26 in the paint against CU. Some of that can be credited to the wings ability to guard the ball, funnel it to help, and lock in to tendencies and personnel, but they also have quite a luxury anchoring their defense on the back end.
“His blocked shots really don’t do justice to what he does defensively for us around the rim,” McDermott said of his young big man. “He changes so much stuff. I feel like he gets credit for about a third of the blocked shots he actually has. He’s been terrific for us. It’s been fun to see his development.”
The opening round win gives the Jays on off day on Saturday, but it won’t be all fun in the sun. They have an unbeaten, experienced, and talented Colorado State team waiting for them on Sunday at 4:45 p.m.
The Rams (4-0) beat Bradley 66-60 in the game preceding Creighton-Brown, and based on what the Jays’ head coach saw in person and Friday, as well as what most prognosticators think of CSU this season, they’ll be a handful for these young Bluejays.
“It’s a very good team,” McDermott said. “I don’t know if they are picked to win the Mountain West or finish second, but I know they are right up there. They’re a team that a lot of people expect to see in the NCAA Tournament. They’re veteran, they have great guard play, and they have the big kid inside who is a really difficult matchup — not just for us, but everybody else as well.
“We’ve got another short prep, so we’ll get to work tonight and see if we can’t put our best foot forward on Sunday.”