Both Creighton basketball teams hit the court for the final stretch of practices before the regular season starts. Here is what they have been up to this week.
Men’s Basketball
Mitch Ballock hooping it up at the Championship Center this week (Spomer / WBR) CLICK TO BUY
After taking Monday off, the Jays returned to the scene of their 101-point performance against Winona State. Before practice, the players were fitted with performance trackers to wear under their jerseys to monitor fatigue and determine their peak activity level throughout the afternoon session. The team worked on some areas on the defensive side of the floor, most notably digging at the ball in the post, tracing the ball to make entry passes more difficult, and fronting the post. At the Championship Center on Tuesday, they drilled their press break and spacing in transition.
- Jacob Epperson continued a run of strong practices on Tuesday. Among his impressive moments were a blocked shot of Sam Froling and a back door bounce pass to Damien Jefferson for a layup.
- Mitch Ballock was hoopin’ at the CHI Center on Tuesday as well. He nailed a deep three over Connor Cashaw, a floater off a curl on a baseline out of bounds play, found Froling for an easy layup on a drive and drop-off, then hit Marcus Zegarowski for an open three in the corner on a baseline cut, catch, and kick. One of his more all-around practices of the season on the offensive end.
Need more? Check out the Scriptown Brewing Bluejays Bytes Podcast from Monday night
Women’s Basketball
Jaylyn Agnew getting set for the regular season (Williams / WBR)
Fresh off their closed scrimmage at Iowa, Jim Flanery’s team hit the practice floor on Tuesday night at the Championship Center. Timing on screens, actions in their transition offense, and ball screen defense were areas of emphasis in the early portion of the session. Some drills specific to South Dakota, their first opponent of the regular season, were coached up throughout to let the players know they need to lock on some of these principles as they’ll apply in the short term.
- Jaylyn Agnew’s first day of practice looked more like her 10th. Her full arsenal was on display. She showed off the athleticism to finish on slips to the basket, her lights out precision from beyond the arc, and even threw in a new wrinkle with a few face-up, jab step jumpers inside the arc.
- Rachael Saunders had one of her best practices of the season. She’s just a Johnny Hustle type of kid. Even if she doesn’t grab every rebound, she at least gets into the fight. That kind of play is going to steal some point for Creighton in close games this season. She also hit fellow freshman Payton Brotzki with a nasty step-back three on the right wing that had her coaches reenacting their moves from the Fergie Remix Challenge video they blessed the world with last weekend.