Prior to Saturday’s charity exhibition against #14 Purdue, Greg McDermott mentioned that he pursued this game instead of the usual Division II opponent because he felt it would shorten the learning curve for his newcomers. The hope was that a high-caliber opponent would be more likely to put them in uncomfortable positions and push them in ways an overmatched team wouldn’t. And with Texas Tech transfer Pop Isaacs and Arizona State transfer Jamaya Neal being asked to fill huge shoes immediately, rather than taking on a supporting role, getting that learning curve as short as possible is paramount.
To that end, Saturday’s 93-87 win was a huge success. Creighton executed at a high level offensively, got a full game of film to breakdown their defensive miscues, and had to answer after blowing a double-digit lead.
The Jays came out hot, getting five quick points from Isaacs to take an early lead. And midway through the half, when Neal found Isaac Traudt for a corner three in transition, CU had built a double-digit lead at 25-15. They took their largest lead of 12 a couple of possessions later after two straight buckets from Fred King including this one-handed dunk.
While most DII teams would have been unable to hang around after that, the veteran Boilermakers, featuring three starters from their national runner-up team a year ago including the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year, kept chipping away. And so despite leading for 17:38 of the first half, Creighton found themselves behind early in the second.
That player, Braden Smith, hit back-to-back threes in the first two minutes of the second half that both gave Purdue the lead — sandwiched around a three from Ryan Kalkbrenner that briefly put CU back ahead.
Newcomer Pop Isaacs answered the second three-pointer from Smith with a jumper that put CU ahead for good, and moments later Isaacs threw a lob to Kalkbrenner for a dunk in transition to put the Jays back up by three.
Then Purdue kept pushing them, with the teams trading runs — freshman Jackson McAndrew buried a three-pointer with 11:15 left to put CU up 68-60, and then after Purdue cut the lead to four, the Jays answered with a 13-4 run capped off by a dunk from Isaac Traudt to take an 81-69 lead.
“It felt like a real game. I think we learned a lot about our team,” Greg McDermott said on his postgame radio show. “This film is so valuable, much like the Iowa State game. But this is in front of the fans, and let’s face it, those five guys on the floor at the end of the game, the last four or five minutes, were playing against three guys that played in the National Championship game last year. They figured out a way to hold on and win the game, and the confidence they get from something like that will really motivate them for practice as we move forward now.”
Indeed, the lineup that closed out the win included true freshman Ty Davis, redshirt freshmen Sterling Knox and Shane Thomas, plus sophomore Jasen Green. Meanwhile, most of Purdue’s top rotation was still on the floor.
“I just felt when we were up 10 or 11 that I’d seen what I needed to see from Pop and Steven and Kalk and I wasn’t going to take any risk of injury,” McDermott said. “I didn’t really care at that point how the game ended. I was proud of the fact that we figured out a way to win. But you know the only real thing I predetermined was Isaac was going to be first off the bench at the four in the first half and Jackson (McAndrew) the second. Ty was going to be first with the guard court, Shane was coming in the second half and I communicated that to them so they understood it, and then I wanted to figure out a way to get them all 14 to 16 minutes. I think we accomplished that.”
Inside the Box:
In his unofficial Bluejay debut, Pop Isaacs scored 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. He had six assists against three steals, and did it all in just 29 minutes. It would be hard to find much fault in his performance, at least offensively.
“I didn’t hunt any shots tonight,” Isaacs said in the press conference afterward. “Everything just came within the flow of the offense and happened naturally. It actually felt good to play like that.”
“In the recruiting process, we had a vision of him as a more efficient scorer,” McDermott said. “The sooner that he sees that it can be a become a reality, the better off we are moving forward. To have this happen tonight is really good for him.”
Isaacs shot just 29% from three-point range a year ago at Texas Tech, but there was hope that in Creighton’s offense he could get more open looks — Tech’s offense tends to be less structured and relies more on players creating their own shots, for better or worse.
“Pop’s always been a good shooter. I recruited him in high school and shot 40 percent as a freshman so it’s always been there,” McDermott commented. “But he just needed to learn to take the right shots. I think he learned relatively quickly in practice that this Ashworth guy might have an open shot, but he’s gonna make the extra pass to me if I have a better shot — So I can do the same to him because I know it’s coming back. Those two have played great off each other. The speed that they play with, the shiftiness that they play with, is gonna be really valuable for us.”
In 26 minutes, Ryan Kalkbrenner did a lot of familiar things: he was hyper-efficient shooting (6-of-7 and a perfect 5-of-5 at the line), he drew seven foul calls, grabbed six rebounds, and blocked three shots en route to 18 points. But if it’s possible, he also looked more confident and more assertive offensively, going up strong to the rim repeatedly.
Steven Ashworth added 16, making 6-of-9 overall and 4-of-6 from three with eight assists. Fred King had eight points and three boards in eight minutes, going a perfect 4-of-4 from the field. And Jackson McAndrew showed why he’s likely the freshman who will be hardest to keep off the floor, showing off a confident shot and a quick release. He had eight points, making a pair of threes, and had five rebounds.
And though it was an exhibition that technically doesn’t count, it’s worth noting that the last time Purdue allowed 93 points or more in regulation of a regular-season game was a 94-63 loss to #21 Notre Dame in 2014. And the only team to shoot 60% or better against Purdue in the regular-season since then has been Michigan on January 25, 2018.
“I’ve been pleased with what we’ve done offensively,” McDermott said. “Even at Iowa State, after we settled in after the first six or seven minutes we were really efficient the rest of the game. So offensively there’s some good stuff happening… We’re sharing the basketball. We’re making the extra pass. And I thought our pace for the most part was good.”
With that said, their defense has a long ways to go.
At Iowa State, All-Big 12 guard Keshon Gilbert lit them up for 35 points. In this one, Braden Smith had 31. CU’s perimeter defenders had no answer for either one.
“I think like most teams, and Purdue’s probably included in this, we have to get better defensively,” McDermott said. “But you don’t want their best players to have career games. We’re going to have to figure that out.”
That was perhaps the biggest question mark coming into the season after Trey Alexander’s departure — who’s their defensive stopper on the perimeter? When an opposing shooter gets hot, who can shut them down?
McDermott noted correctly that he doesn’t have the answer yet. Ashworth is great at chasing screens, at being there on the catch, and using the scouting report to anticipate actions — but he doesn’t have NBA length. Neal has the length and athleticism, but hasn’t been at CU long enough to have grasped their defensive system and scheme.
“Also, Jamiya hasn’t ever played that role,” McDermott said. “After three years of college basketball now I’m trying to convince him that he’s a defensive stopper.”
He said until they get there, the Jays might have to be more aggressive in terms of double-teams and gimmick defenses to mask their deficiencies — and live with the potential downside in leaving another player open.
“Jamiya is trying to find his way in our offense a little bit, and it’ll come over time, I think, but I think our fans probably saw his athletic ability and some of the things he can bring to the table. He went and got some rebounds in traffic, he got some deflections, and blocked a couple shots. He’s doing some good things defensively, and the offense will come.”
If there was a surprise, it was the news that highly-touted recruit Larry Johnson was likely headed for a redshirt. McDermott noted that he tweaked his ankle in practice, and that was the reason he didn’t play in this one. Johnson was facing a bit of a logjam ahead of him in the rotation, but it was assumed that his raw talent would prove too impossible to keep off the floor. With him sitting this one out, Jays fans will have to wait until next fall to see him in a Bluejay uniform.
Highlights:
Press Conference: