Doug McDermott drives to the rim for two of his 25 points. (Photo by Mike Spomer/WBR)
After scoring just four of their 27 points first half points in the paint the Creighton Bluejays made a concerted effort to get more inside touches and get back to their inside-outside game in the second half. The result was 26 points in the paint, an 18-4 rebounding advantage, and 69.2% shooting on 26 shots in a 75-58 come from behind victory over the Bradley Braves in the third annual Pink Out game at the Century Link Center Omaha.
Senior guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards and junior guard Walt Lemon, Jr. combined to score 17 points as Bradley carried a 30-27 lead into halftime. The Braves (13-10, 5-6 MVC) packed their defenders into the paint, and dared Creighton to beat them from beyond the arc. Early on it appeared they might pay for the strategy as Doug McDermott knocked down two long balls, along with Manigat and Wragge hitting one each to give Creighton an early lead. However, the Bluejays soon went cold from downtown and shot themselves out of any offensive rhythm by settling for the first open look they got. “Bradley did a great job of ‘muddying’ things up inside and coming at us with some double teams,” said Creighton head coach Greg McDermott. “Normally, when teams do that to us, we have a way of making them pay with our ability to shoot from the three-point line.” Twenty-one of Creighton’s 27 first half points came on three-pointers, and Bradley held the Jays to just 34.5% from the field overall, while also outrebounding Creighton 20-15.
The junior All-American, McDermott, and sophomore point Austin Chatman led Creighton with eight points apiece in the first half. Chatman who dished out 10 assists in Wednesday night’s 91-77 win over Missouri State had zero in the first twenty minutes.
Creighton (20-3, 9-2 MVC) came out in the second half and immediately looked to establish their presence inside. Their first 10 points of the half came in the paint as they took a 37-32 lead five minutes into the period. “We decided at halftime that we were still going to shoot the outside shot, but that we needed to play inside-out,” said coach McDermott.
Bradley kept the game within a couple of possessions until threes by Chatman and junior forward Ethan Wragge ignited a 15-2 run for Creighton that lasted over five minutes. McDermott, a top contender for every major national player of the year award this season, finished the run with nine of his 17 second half points as Creighton took a 65-48 lead with 5:12 to play and effectively put the game out of reach.
Austin Chatman drives past two Bradley defenders for a basket. (Photo by Mike Spomer/WBR)
In Wednesday night’s win over Missouri State, sophomore point guard Austin Chatman recorded the first double-double of his collegiate career with 14 points and 10 assists. Saturday afternoon against Bradley, the first-year starter from The Colony, Texas, set new career-highs with 16 points and four three-pointers in the victory. “My [defender] was doing a lot of the ‘digging’ so it left me open for a lot of threes. I’ve been in the gym working with coaches – just staying after my shot and it paid off.”
McDermott Continues To Climb Up Scoring List
With his 25-point effort against Bradley, Doug McDermott moved into 18th place all-time on MVC’s scoring list. His 1,933 points passed former Wichita State great, and NBA player, Antoine Carr. McDermott is currently three points behind another former Shocker, Dave Stallworth, for 17th place. The points didn’t always come easy today as Bradley held the Creighton star to eight points on three for eight shooting from the field in the first half. In the second half McDermott found his game, missing just one of his seven shot attempts as scored 17 points grabbed four rebounds, dished out two assists, and didn’t turn the ball over. “They were [double-teaming] with the guards at times and with other bigs, so they did a good job of mixing it up a lot. I haven’t seen a guy quite as physical as [Tyshon] Pickett – he was a presence out there. They did a good job, but we made them pay more in the second half,” said the junior from Ames, Iowa.
Manigat Shares the Rock
Normally an efficient outside shooter along with being a lock down defender, junior guard Jahenns Manigat was missing his shooting stroke in today’s game. Instead of continuing to try to shoot himself into a rhythm he decided to crash the glass and make smart decisions with the basketball. Despite finishing just one for six from the floor, he tied a season-high with six assists, grabbed four rebounds, and had three steals to contribute to the victory. “I was just trying to do a little bit more on the boards. The last couple of games I haven’t been doing a good job of cracking down and getting a defensive rebound, so I really wanted to do that,” said the Ottawa, Ontario-Native. “The assists that I had were just from making the right reads and not trying to force anything. Bradley is a team that gets a lot of steals and that feeds into their transition game, so I really wanted to make a conscious effort not to turn the ball over.”
Gregory Echenique blocked three shots in the win. (Photo by Mike Spomer/WBR)
Echenique Ties Lawson
Senior center Gregory Echenique blocked three shots in the win giving him 153 rejections in his Creighton career, and moving him into a tie with former-Bluejay, Kenny Lawson, Jr. for third-place on the school’s all-time list. When asked about the impact Echenique provides for Creighton on defense, senior guard Grant Gibbs said, “When he is engaged and playing defense we’re so much better defensively, especially with how he can guard one-on-one in the post. We don’t have to double as much which keeps us in our spots. He has continued to get better as a shot-blocker coming from the weakside. We really as a defense when you are guarding a driver that you can ride him out and know that Gregory is going to come from the backside to erase [the shot]. I just wish he’d keep them in bounds – I tell him that every day.”
The Bluejays next game will come next Wednesday, February 6 as they take on the Indiana State Sycamores (14-7, 7-3 MVC) from the Hulman Center in Terra Haute, Indiana. Tip-off for the game is set for 6:05 p.m. Central time, and depending on the results of the Sycamores game against Drake tonight, first-place in the conference could be up for grabs. Creighton defeated Indiana State 79-66 in the first meeting between the two teams back on January 5 at the Century Link Center Omaha.
Game Stats:
Bradley / Creighton
Score: 58 / 75
FG/FGA/FG%: 25-55 (45.5%) / 28-55 (50.9%)
3FG/3FGA/3FG%: 5-14 (35.7%) / 12-31 (38.7%)
FT/FTA/FT%: 3-4 (75.0%) / 7-7 (100.0%)
Rebounding: 24 (Off: 6, Def: 18) / 33 (Off: 9, Def: 24)
Assists: 11 / 20
Turnovers: 9 / 10
Steals: 4 / 5
Blocks: 1 / 5
Scoring Leaders: Simms-Edwards (18) / McDermott (25)
Rebounding Leaders: Simms-Edwards (5) / McDermott (7)
Assists Leaders: Lemon, Jr. (4) / Gibbs, Manigat (6)
Steals Leaders: Lemon, Jr., Eastman, Pickett, Crawford (1) / Manigat (3)
Blocks Leaders: Lemon, Jr. (1) / Echenique (3)