The Creighton Bluejays opened the 2014-15 regular season with a team-wide contribution. Eleven different players scored, including six in double figures led by newcomer Rick Kreklow’s career-high 18 points as the Jays handed Central Arkansas a 104-77 defeat in front of 18,160 fans, the 12-largest in Creighton history, at the CenturyLink Center Omaha on Friday night.
“It’s always good to get the season off to a start with a victory,” said coach Greg McDermott. “I thought we did some really good things at times. The game got lopsided early and we couldn’t quite put them away in the first half, but I thought the starters did a good job and the first guys off the bench. The first 15 or 16 possessions in the second half they only scored three times and we were able to create some separation.”
The Bluejays came storming out of the locker room to start the game. They scored the game’s first seven points, the first coming on a 3-pointer by Austin Chatman after Devin Brooks kept the possession alive with two offensive rebounds out-jumping two taller Central Arkansas players. The Bluejays led 11-1 by the first media timeout with 15:33 left in the half.
Will Artino works hard for 2 of his 14 points to go along with his 10 rebounds. (Streur/WBR) $ CLICK TO BUY $
Senior center Will Artino said it was important for the starters to set the tone early for reserves to come in and feed off it.
“We have a few guys that came off the bench last year and played it, and the starters set the tone for us in the past,” Artino said. “We’d feed off their energy that they created when we’d go in the game. I know that it’s important to set the tone as a starter now and that’s something we not necessarily talked about, but something that guys like me and Devin and Avery when he’s back, we know how it is to come off the bench and feed off their energy.”
The early lead only continued to grow after the timeout as, to no one’s surprise, Greg McDermott’s Bluejays let it fly from deep early and often as they built a 31-9 advantage with just over ten minutes gone. By that point Creighton had seven players in the scoring column compared to the Bears’ nine total points. Creighton led by as much as 28 points in the first half, but Central Arkansas finished the half strong closing to within 55-34 at the break.
“I loved the way we started the game defensively and I didn’t like the way we finished the half defensively,” coach McDermott said. “I think they scored 13 points in the first 22 possessions and then 21 points in the last 13 or 14 possessions, and we can’t have stretches like that defensively. We have to be able to put a team away when we get them down.”
Isaiah Zierden led the Bluejays in scoring with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in 13 minutes off the bench in the first half. Rick Kreklow led the Jays’ starters with 11 points, three rebounds, and two assists.
Central Arkansas was led by Boo Milligan’s 15 points and four rebounds coming off the bench in the first half for the Bears.
Will Artino was the tone-setter in the second half. He started things off with a steal and scored four points after grabbing offensive rebounds in the first three minutes of the second half to stretch the Bluejay lead to 63-36 with 16:58 left to play. During that stretch Artino grabbed six rebounds, including four on the offensive glass. He finished the game with 14 points and 10 rebounds, his first double-double since an 11-point, 10-rebound effort in a road win last season at Butler.
“He’s been there and he’s done it,” McDermott said of Artino. “My expectation is that he does it all the time, and that’s where we have to get. I think we’re moving in that direction. We’ll see if we can continue to play all three [centers]. Obviously Will played pretty well so we went with him a little longer tonight because he was productive in his minutes.”
After Artino led the charge to extend the lead, the Bears did not get any closer than the 27-point margin until a 7-0 run in the final 1:51 against the Bluejay reserves.
Isaiah Zierden performed well in his first game back from last year’s knee injury. (Streur/WBR) $ CLICK TO BUY $
It was another strong performance from a four-guard rotation for the Bluejays tonight. Zierden led the group with a career-high 16 points and a career-high three steals in his first game back from a sever knee injury suffered in last year’s road loss at Xavier on March 1st.
“Just being back on the floor there is no better feeling,” Zierden said. “I have to thank God. I was told initially that I would never play again, so being back out there was just a great feeling.”
After the exhibition win the coaches and players singled out rebounding and defense as areas that required some improvement. Tonight they were pleased with the effort in those areas, especially on the defensive end. After allowing Boo Milligan to score 15 points 6-of-7 shooting in the first half, the Bluejays held him to just three points and only two field goal attempts in the second.
“I thought our communication defensively was better,” said Zierden. “I thought we did a better job of not being in the gap as much denying. We kind of settled back in so we couldn’t get beat that way. I thought we did a good team defensive job in the second half.”
Kreklow agreed.
“I think it’s something that as we go forward here that we’re going to continue to really focus is that aspect of team defense. Taking care of your guy while looking after the guy next to you. I think it’s something that can really help us going forward to get to the next level as a team. It’s something we really have to stay focused on in practice and really work on our communication and keep locking teams up and do better than we’re doing right now.”
The games are coming hot and heavy now for Creighton. They’ll practice tomorrow afternoon at the Championship Center to get ready for a Chicago State team that is much better than the Central Arkansas squad the Jays disposed of in the opener.
“Chicago State’s out in Tempe tonight playing Arizona State, I think they were down 12 at half 40-28 they told me as I was walking back here, so we’re going to play a better basketball team on Sunday,” coach McDermott said. “Chicago State has guys that have been together longer and obviously their coaching staff is the same as it was a year ago. They are going to press some, they’re going to trap some. We’ve got a short turnaround, but we worked a little bit on it in practice last week. We have to have a short, spirited workout tomorrow in preparation for Sunday and in less than 40 hours or so we’re going to tee it up again. Guys want to play games, and coaches would like to have more time to prepare for games. But the reality of it is it’s here and for a while here it’s going to be scouting report to scouting report, because we’re not going to have a lot of time to work on ourselves because of all the games we’re going to play in the next couple of weeks.”
The Bluejays and Cougars are set for a 4:31 p.m. tip-off at the CenturyLink Center Omaha on Sunday. The game will be Creighton’s first of the 2014-15 season televised on Fox Sports 1.