The Creighton Bluejays officially enter the home stretch of the Missouri Valley Conference season tonight in Wichita. And with it, freshman Doug McDermott has a few games left to make his case for all-conference honors, while passing a few Creighton legends in some statistically categories.
McDermott enters his next three games (at Wichita State, vs. Northern Iowa, one guaranteed game at Arch Madness) just 2 points shy of Rodney Buford’s CU freshman scoring record. So, barring any unforeseen development tonight against the Shockers, McDermott will hold that mark before the Bluejays host Senior Day on Saturday.
But Buford scored his 421 points in just 29 games, good for a 14.52 ppg average. To eclipse that point production, McDermott needs to score 46 points or more during his next three games. That’s asking for almost a full point-per-game jump from his season average (14.4), to 15.33 ppg.
On the glass, McDermott doesn’t just lead the Bluejays in rebounding — he’s atop the conference list. He’s looking to be one of only two Creighton players to ever lead the Valley in rebounding for a season (Harstad did it in 1988-89).
Speaking of Harstad, McDermott needs 41 more rebounds to tie the number of caroms the freshman from Colorado collected during his first season at CU (also in 32 games). That equates to a 13.66 rpg average in these next three games.
Even if he doesn’t meet or exceed that average, McDermott will likely grab the dozen rebounds needed for him to post the best single-season rebounding total at CU since Nate King racked up 242 boards in 1993-94.
McDermott has already become the first MVC freshman with 400 or more points and 200 or more rebounds since Cliff Levingston did that for Wichita State in 1979-80.
These statistical tidbits beg the question: is McDermott’s exceptional freshman season good enough for him to earn first-team all-MVC accolades? Can he be the exception to the rule?
Per the fantastic Rob Anderson and his illuminating game notes, no MVC freshman has earned first-team all-conference honors since Wichita State’s Cleo Littleton did so in 1952.
McDermott enters Wednesday 4th in the league in scoring and 1st in rebounding. Despite solid seasons from Drake’s Rayvonte Rice and Indiana State’s Jake Odum, he’s a lock for the Valley’s Freshman of the Year award. But will that be good enough to earn inclusion on the top all-MVC team? The FOY award has been in existence since 1986, and no winner has ever made the All-Valley first team.
But there’s a first time for everything, right?