Despite missing the NCAA Tournament, the Bluejays still get to play some basketball this season (Spomer / WBR) $
Creighton finished up a two-hour practice session at the Championship Center on Sunday, then watched 68 other teams celebrate the accomplishment of earning a bid into the 2019 NCAA Tournament. After another two hours of certain disappointment it was time to get back into game mode as the Bluejays were awarded a No. 2 seed in the National Invitation Tournament and a first home date on Tuesday, March 19 at 8:00 p.m. against No. 7 seed Loyola-Chicago.
The Ramblers, who are coached by Creighton alum Porter Moser, will bring a 19-13 overall record to the CHI Health Center Omaha on Tuesday night. They suffered a 53-51 loss to eventual Missouri Valley Conference Tournament champion Bradley in the semifinals of their conference tournament after sharing the regular season title with Drake. Loyola-Chicago replaced the Bluejays in the MVC after CU joined the Big East Conference prior to the 2013-14 season. The Ramblers beat Creighton at home back on December 5, 2015 by a score of 68-65 in a return game from a BracketBuster clash six years prior. Last season, they earned the nation’s attention with a Cinderalla run to the Final Four as a No. 11 seed before falling in San Antonio to eventual national runner-up Michigan.
The Ramblers returned eight players, including three starters, this season from the Final Four team. Senior guard Marques Townes led the Ramblers in scoring at 15.6 points per game and assists at 3.5 per contest this season. Clayton Custer, another senior guard, is second on the team behind Townes at 2.7 assists per game. He also averages 11.2 points per game and leads the team in steals with 37. Sophomore big man Cameron Krutwig, who stands at 6-foot-9 and weighs in 255 pounds, adds 14.7 points per game to go along with team-highs in rebounding (7.3), blocked shots (0.9), and field-goal percentage (63.2%). Sophomore Lucas Williamson and freshman Cooper Kaifes add some sharpshooting prowess that aforementioned trio. Williamson, who missed 18 games this season with a broken hand, is 25-of-61 (41.0%) from behind the 3-point line, while Kaifes comes in at a 46.9% clip — good for second-best among all MVC players this season — on 113 attempts.
Loyola-Chicago leads the all-time series 12-6. The last time the two teams met in Omaha was back on February 20, 2010, a game Creighton won 78-58.
Creighton head coach Greg McDermott on the matchup:
“Obviously we’re disappointed not to be in the NCAA Tournament. That was our ultimate goal. Having said that, we’re excited that our season is going to continue. We look forward to playing Loyola on Tuesday night … obviously they took the country by storm last year with their Final Four run. Porter Moser, their coach, is a Creighton alum and someone I have a great deal of respect for — he’s a tremendous coach. They were co-champions of the Missouri Valley Conference. We left [the league] and they replaced us, so I think it’s going to be a fun game against a very talented basketball team.”
Loyola-Chicago head coach Porter Moser on the matchup:
“Well, someone on the committee got a chuckle scheduling us against my alma mater. Needless to say, I have a ton of respect for Greg (McDermott) and the program he runs. It’s an awesome fan base with a great college basketball atmosphere. They are playing extremely well right now. This is a terrific opportunity for our guys to compete and advance in a prestigious, national tournament. We are excited to play.”
Practice Notes:
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Christian Bishop stood out in practice on Selection Sunday practice (Williams / WBR) $
Fundamentals were the order of the day since the Jays did not yet have a specific opponent to scout. The wings worked on cutting off passes, slipping to the rim, and popping out to the corners and wings for catch and shoot threes. The ball handlers and bigs worked on pace in transition, sealing defenders in the block, and feeding the post on the break.
- Areas off emphasis on defense included communication in rotations, closing off baseline drives with help from the bigs, and blocking out weak side rebounders
- Freshman big man Christian Bishop stood out during the 5-on-5 transition drills. He was active defensively in deflecting entry passes into the post, and scored three times at the rim — two on layups in transition and a lob that he laid in softly off the backboard.
- Freshman point guard Marcus Zegarowski practiced without his shooting hand wrapped up for the first time since breaking it on February 3 against Xavier. Zegarowski started practice with a pad stuck to the top of his hand for protection, but it fell off right before the team started 5-on-5 work, so he picked it up, tossed into a corner of the gym, and didn’t bother with it for the rest of practice.
- The team wrapped up the afternoon with an end-of-game scrimmage. Sophomore guard Damien Jefferson nailed a pair of threes from the corner during the session, including a buzzer-beater off a drive and kick from senior guard Kaleb Joseph to give the gray team an 81-79 win.