Heading into the backstretch of practice before the season, a lot of information from both Creighton basketball teams as a result of their scrimmages. The latest on both:
Women’s Basketball Notes:
Freshman Dee Dee Pryor is making strides in practice (Juszyk / WBR)
- Since our last update, Jim Flanery’s team has scrimmaged twice. One was a straight intrasquad, the other mixed in reps against their boys’ practice team. One specific area of improvement over the last few weeks has been the 3-point shooting. After going 9-for-31 in their first team scrimmage of the season back on October 5, the Bluejays combined to shoot 40.9% as a team on 88 attempts from beyond the arc over the last two Saturdays.
- Freshman point guard Dee Dee Pryor appears to have turned the corner after struggling at times both over the summer and to start preseason camp. The last two times out she’s averaging 14.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 3.0 steals, and has gone 4-of-9 from 3-point territory. She’s also displaying some advanced instincts defensively with her communication and ability to see the floor and stay ball aware when defending on the weak side of the floor.
- Junior guard Temi Carda found her shooting stroke on Saturday. After going 2-for-10 from long range in the first two scrimmages, she went off for 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting from beyond the arc yesterday. With Jaylyn Agnew drawing increased attention from opposing defenses this season, Carda is going to have her fair share of catch and shoot opportunities playing alongside the preseason All-Big East forward.
- Speaking of the senior from Andover, Kansas, Agnew has played with the mindset of a go-to player throughout the preseason. In the team’s scrimmage on October 12, she hit five of her first six shots, missed six of her next seven, then ended the day with five straight makes. On Saturday, she started out 3-for-4, missed five in a row, then finished by knocking down five of her final six. That ability to remain confident enough to shoot her way out of a cold spell is not only a new development, but something she’ll need to be able to do as the marked woman this season. She’s averaged 24.5 points and has hit 13-of-23 from three over the last two scrimmages.
- On the defensive end of the floor, the team has 28 straight steals that have turned into transition offense the last two weekends. With Jays hoping to manufacture easy offense with their defense this season, their ability to create live-ball turnovers will be the key to their improvement in that area.
Men’s Basketball Notes:
Davion Mintz has been out with an injury. (Juszyk / WBR)
- Senior guard Davion Mintz has missed the last week of practice since suffering a high ankle sprain at the tail end of practice on Friday, October 11. He was a spectator for Saturday afternoon’s organized scrimmage.
- The team played two 20-minute sessions, and wiped the score after each one on Saturday. The blue team, which consisted of Marcus Zegarowski, Mitch Ballock, Ty-Shon Alexander, Damien Jefferson, Jacob Epperson, Shereef Mitchell, and Christian Bishop got off to a fast start in the first 20-minute session. They built a 32-15 lead before head coach Greg McDermott moved Bishop over to the white team to even things up. That roster adjustment, combined with a 17-point outburst by Memphis transfer Antwann Jones, evened things up a bit, but the blue squad still prevailed, 46-43. Ballock and Zegarowski were separated for the second 20-minute game, and that produced an impressive individual battle down the stretch of a tightly contested session. Zegarowski had 11 points, five assists, and a pair of steals. Ballock finished with 15 points and buried three of his four attempts from 3-point territory, including a deep one as he was fading away to his right side to beat the shot clock late in the period that helped the white team edge out a 44-41 win. For the entire day, Ballock had 25 points (tying Antwann Jones for the team-high), five assists, four rebounds, while going 5-for-7 from beyond the arc. Zegarowski ended up with 20 points, six assists, and four steals as he continues to punch his way out of a sluggish start to the preseason.
- Ty-Shon Alexander didn’t light up the scoreboard on Saturday, but it was a solid afternoon nonetheless. He got to the free throw line on four occasions, made plays for his teammates either with dribble penetration or an extra pass on the perimeter, and finished with five steals — continuing a fall camp in which he has produced more takeaways than giveaways.
- At times on Saturday, particularly in the first 20-minute period, Antwann Jones looked like the toughest player to defend. The sit one/play three transfer was aggressive in looking for scoring opportunities at all three levels, finishing with 25 points overall on 9-of-13 shooting. He went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc and 4-for-6 from the free throw line.
- Bluejay sophomore big men Jacob Epperson and Christian Bishop had strong showings — whether it was head-to-head or side-by-side — on Saturday. They combined for 27 points on 10-of-14 shooting, 16 rebounds, and three blocked shots. They also went 7-of-8 from the charity stripe with Bishop’s 5-for-6 performance doing the heavy lifting in that department. It’s only practice, but so far he looks like a much improved version of the player who shot just 43.2 percent from the line as a freshman.
Antwann Jones continues to stand out in practice. He will be a great asset this season during his transfer redshirt (Juszyk / WBR)