Key Stats: Creighton outrebounds Missouri State 34-21, including a 23-18 edge on the defensive boards. The Jays hold MSU’s leading scorer Anthony Downing to nine points on 2-9 shooting, snapping his streak of scoring in double figures at 10 straight games. Austin Chatman has a double-double with 14 points and 10 assists, while Doug McDermott also has a double-double with 29 points and 10 rebounds.
Favorite Moment: With about nine minutes to play in the second half, Austin Chatman missed a jumper, and a scrum above the rim ensued. For what seemed like 10 seconds, the ball was tipped around like a volleyball by Will Artino and various Bears defenders, as they fought for the rebound. Artino eventually won, and got the ball out to Doug McDermott who drained a three.
Second Favorite Moment: During a second half timeout, the “Gangnam Style” video that had superimposed Dancing Grandma’s head over Psy in the original video came on screen…except this time, it was Josh Jones’ head superimposed. The crowd went absolutely berserk, and a long standing ovation for Jones followed.
500-ish Word Recap: Three weeks ago in Springfield, Doug McDermott scored 28 points in the second half, including 14 straight buckets. On Wednesday night, he only scored 18 after the break, making 5-8 from the floor and 3-4 from behind the arc in the second half. He had a lot of help, though, and when the starters left for good with six minutes remaining, the Jays had built a 22-point lead.
Particularly in the first half, the scoring load was as balanced as it’s been all year. Ethan Wragge went 3-4 from downtown for nine points. Jahenns Manigat went 2-3 from behind the arc for six points. Gregory Echenique had six, Doug McDermott had 11, and thanks to a three at the horn from Avery Dingman, the Jays had a 45-32 advantage at the break. Eight players scored in the opening stanza for Creighton.
Defensively, they weren’t perfect. Leading scorer Anthony Downing was contained (1-6 from the floor on mostly contested shots), but freshman phenom Gavin Thurman went 6-7 from the floor for 14 points before halftime. He’d go just 2-6 for five points in the second half as the Jays adjusted, but fellow freshman Dorrian Williams took advantage, going 5-7 from the field in the second half, including 4-5 from downtown, for 14 points in the closing period. Missouri State shot 55% from the field in the first half, and 54.5% for the game.
They were able to use last year’s formula of overwhelming offensive firepower to succeed in spite of the defensive lapses, though, making 15-28 from three-point range, and had five different players record at least one triple. Creighton had 24 assists on 30 made baskets, and Austin Chatman recorded his first career double-double thanks to 14 points and 10 assists. The sophomore point guard went 4-7 from the field, 2-4 from three-point range, made all four of his free throws, grabbed four rebounds, and had just one turnover in 28 minutes.
Quotables:
“We’ve started extending our bench a bit. Nevin (Johnson) has played in several games in a row, and we’ve used Andre (Yates) the last two to try to give Austin (Chatman) a little bit of a break. I’m trying my best to play Gregory Echenique in three-to-three-and-a-half minute spurts, so that fatigue doesn’t become a problem and he doesn’t get fouls because of fatigue. Unfortunately, he got that third foul early on so we had to take him out a little earlier than we wanted to in the second half. But Ethan and Doug were 10 of 13 from three point range, so it’s hard to keep them off the floor when they’re playing like that.” -Greg McDermott
(On Austin Chatman) “I thought Austin’s pace in transition and his decisions in transition were as good as they’ve been. He got our team running, and Missouri State is a tough team to run on. To score 91 on Missouri State, you’ve done something, you’re pretty efficient because they’re a good defensive team. They control tempo, and I was surprised that we were able to get as much in transition as we were able to.” -Greg McDermott
(On the Jays’ defense) “There were certainly some breakdowns. Gavin Thurman got off to a great start, I think he was 6 of 7 at halftime, we did a little bit better job on him in the second half but then Dorrian Williams knocked down some threes. I think he was 3-11 in conference play and he made four tonight. I’m a guy that plays the odds a little bit, and wanted to take away some other people and he made us pay for it. Our defense has to be a little bit better, but fortunately tonight our offense was unbelievably efficient.” -Greg McDermott
“I want us to go in and think we’re going to hit 15 threes every night. That’s the way shooters have to think.” – Greg McDermott
“It felt great to be home. We were getting sick of traveling, and yesterday was our first practice here in a while so it felt good to be back. The fans were great, we have to thank them for coming out.” -Doug McDermott
“At their place, they didn’t double-team me as much. Tonight, they brought an extra guy almost every time I touched it in the post, so I knew I had to be able to find teammates out of that. It felt good, because everyone was scoring. It makes me and Greg’s life so much easier when guys are hitting shots like that.” -Doug McDermott
And now, here’s what you had to say on Twitter:
Sorry but that stupid elbow rule needs revisited.@echenique00 basically gets tackled but gets a junk elbow call instead.Ridiculous
— Patrick Marshall (@wildjays) January 31, 2013
Ray Charles is the head of MVC officials. #gojays #Jays #reviewplease
— Jimmy Motz (@JimmyMotz) January 31, 2013
#Creighton HC Greg McDermott about to lose it after the #Jays have had a handful of bad calls from refs. #Creighton still leads 35-24
— Chase Williams (@chasepwilliams) January 31, 2013
The flagrant 1 elbow is just a bad rule. The fact that it can be reviewed is even worse. #Creighton
— Mark Joekel (@MJoekel) January 31, 2013
Not fair: Big Gregory Echnique (6-9, 270, senior) v. MSU frosh Bruce Marshall (6-10, 210) — Lyndal Scranton (@LscrantonNL) January 31, 2013
@ericolson64 Maybe CU will post it on youtube so out of towners can see it? — Bleeds Blue (@CUAlum81) January 31, 2013
And there is your play of the game as Will Artino wins a jump-fight for the ball, finally tapping it out to a wide open McDermott for 3. — Matthew DeMarinis (@mjdemarinis) January 31, 2013
Congrats @austin_chatman 1st dbl/dbl – I’m guessing there are few more to come! — Bleeds Blue (@CUAlum81) January 31, 2013
Creighton’s Doug McDermott has 68 pts in 2 games vs Missouri State this season; only had 75 in 1st 5 games of career vs Bears. — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 31, 2013