Recap:
Ugly? You bet it was. Creighton and Georgetown combined to miss 79 shots on Wednesday night, with the Hoyas taking their typical buffoonish shots and the Bluejays too often falling into that trap themselves. No one was more emblematic of that than the Hoyas’ leading scorer, Primo Spears, who took an array of ill-advised midrange jumpers with his body contorted in various ways — off one foot, off spin moves, off the dribble with a hand in face. Those clownish shots are his bread-and-butter, but he made them at a much lower clip than usual because of the defense of Trey Alexander.
On the postgame radio show, Alexander said that he’d picked up on Spears’ tendencies on film, and that allowed him to anticipate when those wild shots were going to go up. And when they did, he was in his pocket making the looks difficult. Of course, it’s easier to be that aggressive when you don’t have to worry about getting beat off the dribble — having an elite rim protector backing you up enables you to take chances.
“I knew that if he wasn’t able to take the shot and he got around me, he’d have to take a shot over Kalkbrenner,” Alexander said. “Watching a lot of film and putting a good game plan together was the key. Obviously we prepare more on the defensive end than the offensive end because we know we can score. Shots weren’t falling tonight, but our MO is defense, and obviously we’re a great defensive team. In my opinion, we’re the best defensive team in the Big East.”
Georgetown’s overly aggressive helpside defense initially confused the Bluejays, as they struggled to figure out how to probe and move the ball. The Hoyas even led 18-17 midway through the first half. But they weren’t able to build on it thanks to three straight possessions where they took horrible shots, and then CU ripped off nine unanswered points in 110 seconds of game time to re-exert control. Ryan Kalkbrenner had a pair of lay-ups, Trey Alexander scored on a drive and Ryan Nembhard drained a three-pointer to give CU a 26-18 lead and force a Hoya timeout with 4:26 left in the first half.
But the timeout did little to stop the run. Kalkbrenner dropped in an alley-oop from Alexander right away to push the Bluejay lead into double digits at 28-18. And after a Baylor Scheierman three in transition, another Kalkbrenner lay-up and a score by Alexander it was a half-ending 18-3 run as the Jays took a 35-21 lead into the locker room. All totaled, Georgetown missed 14 of their last 15 shots in the half, giving Creighton the breathing room it needed to open up a big lead.
And they needed every bit of it. Georgetown outscored them 20-11 to open the second half, drawing within five points with 9:43 to go. Alexander slammed the door shut by scoring seven consecutive points with a steal and a transition layup, and then a three-pointer and a dribble-drive to the rim for a layup. Just like that, it was 53-43 Creighton and they coasted home with an ugly win. But a win nonetheless.
“You have to be able to win different ways, especially down the stretch,” Baylor Scheierman said, “so finding a way to win this one when we weren’t shooting it great was good for us.”
“This was a gritty, gutty win,” McDermott added. “Thank God we brought our defense because when that travels it at least gives you a chance. Over the course of the season you’ve gotta have some of these. We’ll take it and we’ll get on the plane with a smile on our faces.”
Inside the Box:
This was just the ninth time in the Greg McDermott Era that the Jays have won a road game while shooting 28% or worse from three-point range. Of those nine — ugly ducklings, all — last night featured the most three-point shot attempts, and the second-lowest point total and second-worst shooting percentage on two-point shots. (Hat tip to Voice of the Bluejays John Bishop for this!)
It was also the third-fewest points in a road win during the McDermott Era regardless of shooting percentage. Any way you slice it, this was an offensive disaster.
But it’s the third straight game they’ve won where they shot worse than 35% from three-point range (vs Providence at home, on the road at Butler and Georgetown). In the first five games this season where they were sub-35% from the perimeter, they went 1-4 with the lone win coming against St. Thomas. So while it’s convenient to say the Jays have no Plan B when outside shots aren’t falling, that might have been true in November and December. It’s not true at this point in the season.
The reason people might believe there’s no Plan B is because they’re looking in the wrong place. Creighton’s Plan B is not on the offensive end of the floor. It’s their defense.
Georgetown’s two best scorers, Primo Spears and Brandon Murray, entered the game averaging 32 points. They combined to make 9-of-32 from the floor and score 21 points, and were held scoreless in the first half.
Creighton now has the 17th best adjusted defensive efficiency in the country, after finishing 19th a year ago and 32nd two years ago. Remember when the 2011-12 team ranked 222nd, and reported for fall camp in 2012 with that number emblazoned on the back of their practice jerseys as a scarlet letter, a constant reminder that they had to be better?
These Bluejays are not those Bluejays. But old reputations are hard to break free from if the online chatter is any indication. Saying “Greg McDermott teams historically have not been lock-down defensively” is like saying in 2012 that McDermott teams historically had been slow-tempo offensively challenged groups who grinded out wins — that was how he won at UNI, how he tried to at Iowa State, and how his first CU team played. But coaches and programs change. This is now the third consecutive season where the Jays, with different personnel, have a top-30 defense. It’s time the perception around CU hoops changes too.