The Creighton men’s basketball team improved to 3-0 on the season Sunday afternoon with an 87-58 victory over the visiting Blue Hose of Presbyterian College at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha. The game was the opening round of the Las Vegas Invitational, and the first of a five-game, 10-day stretch for Creighton.
The Blue Hose (0-3) controlled the tempo for the first 10 minutes. They ran the shot clock down each possession, and tried to keep the Jays within reach by limiting possessions. They were only down 10-9 with 11:44 left in the first half after sophomore guard Jordan Downing’s jumper. Downing, a transfer from Davidson, led Presbyterian with 25 points. After his bucket that cut the lead to one, it was all about the Creighton Bluejays.
CU sophomore point guard Austin Chatman dished a career-high 11 assists (WBR/Adam Streur)
The Jays got big time performances from first-year starting point guard Austin Chatman and junior forwards Ethan Wragge and Doug McDermott. McDermott bounced back from a subpar game last Wednesday against UAB to lead the Jays with 24 points. He also pulled down 7 rebounds while hitting 7 of his 9 shots from the field, and going a perfect 8 for 8 at the free throw line in just 22 minutes of action.
“I got into a rhythm early. My teammates did a good job of finding me in transition and that got me going right off the bat,” McDermott said.
Chatman, the sophomore from The Colony, Texas, had a career-high 11 assists to go along with 9 points and just 2 turnovers in 24 minutes. Chatman attributed his performance to a more patient approach.
“The first couple games I was using a lot of energy,” said the sophomore point guard. “Tonight I was a little more calm, and patient with things, and making the right reads.”
The first-year starter got the Jays offense going midway through the first half, engineering a 33-8 run over the final 11:44 of the first half to help the Jays take a 43-17 lead into the locker room. During that stretch, Chatman assisted on 7 of Creighton’s 9 fields goals, and converted a three-point play of his own. Senior guard Grant Gibbs agreed with the young point guard’s self-evaluation.
“He looked a lot more comfortable and patient. I think he’s continuing to get better every game, and every possession. He’s learning from his mistakes, and that is encouraging to see,” Gibbs said.
Junior guard Jahenns Manigat’s three-pointer at 10:59 of the first half was the only field goal over the final 12 minutes where Chatman wasn’t directly involved.
“[Austin] did a really good job of hitting guys when they were ready for the ball, especially in transition. He had some great throw backs to me and Doug,” said Wragge after the game.
Wragge continued his hot shooting from outside, scoring 18 points and tying his career-high with 6 three-pointers in the game. He now leads the Jays 11 three-pointers, on just 19 attempts, through the first three games. With the production that All-American forward McDermott and senior center Gregory Echinique provide down low, that outside shooting makes the Jays an almost unstoppable offense according to Presbyterian College head coach Gregg Nibert.
“This is the best-coached and best offensive team that we’ve ever played against since we’ve been playing in Division-1, and we’ve played against a lot of big schools, top ten schools. The have great players, great passers, great drivers. In April you’ll be seeing them in Atlanta,” Nibert said.
The Jays will have one day to prepare for their second round opponent as the Longwood Lancers (0-3) come to town Tuesday night. The Lancers dropped their first round game 112-63 against the Arkansas Razorbacks this afternoon. Tip-off for the game against Longwood is set for 7:05 p.m. at the CenturyLink Center Omaha.
Game Notes: Chatman was one point shy of his first career double-double. He did set a new career high with 11 assists… As a team, Creighton had 24 assists on 32 made field goals… McDermott is now just six points away from passing Eddie Cole for 13th place on the Creighton men’s basketball all-time scoring list… The final attendance was 16,801.
Game Stats:
Presbyterian / Creighton
Score: 58 / 87
FG/FGA/FG%: 21-52 (40.4%) / 32-52 (61.5%)
3FG/3FGA/3FG%: 7-21 (33.3%) / 12-24 (50%)
FT/FTA/FT%: 9-16 (56.3%) / 11-15 (73.3%)
Rebounding: 22 (Off: 8, Def: 14) / 35 (Off: 8, Def: 27)
Assists: 7 / 24
Turnovers: 10 / 11
Steals: 6 / 4
Blocks: 0 / 0
Scoring Leaders: Downing (25) / McDermott (24)
Rebounding Leaders: McTavish (6) / Echinique (8)
Assists Leaders: Downing, Mutakabbir (2) / Chatman (11)
Steals Leaders: Anderson (2) / Echenique, Manigat, Jones, Artino (1)
Blocks Leaders: None