Recap:
From the opening tip, the story of Wednesday’s game was Creighton’s ability to get paint touches — and St. John’s complete lack of ability (or will) to stop them. In the first four minutes alone, Arthur Kaluma drew a foul on a drive to the rim, and sunk a pair of free throws; Baylor Scheierman hit a three that was the result of dribble penetration by Ryan Nembhard; and Ryan Kalkbrenner made a pair of layups at the rim thanks to crisp, on time passes.
Meanwhile, they had zero live-ball turnovers in the game’s first 10 minutes, which forced St. John’s to defend in a set quarter-court defense — and without their defensive leader, Posh Alexander, they looked disorganized and at times maybe even disinterested in doing it.
“I thought our defense was the worst we’ve played all year. They got anything they wanted and we have to be much better than that,” St. John’s coach Mike Anderson said. “We lacked the physicality, toughness and grit that you have to play with and we let them coax their way into the lane, which led to more opportunities. We were indecisive.”
The Red Storm did have an early lead at 15-12, thanks to a pair of three pointers from AJ Storr, but it was short-lived. The Jays tied it on this offensive rebound and putback by Kalkbrenner, and then his block on the other end seconds later changed the tone of the game defensively.
A St. John’s team known for it’s scoring ability in the paint started settling for contested 18-foot jumpers. And then the Jays went to work. They ripped off a 15-4 run to go ahead 27-19, featuring more work in the paint, and then things went from bad to worse for the Red Storm when leading scorer Joel Soriano picked up his second foul with seven minutes left in the half.
“We wanted to go inside so Soriano had to defend every single possession,” McDermott said on his postgame radio show. “And Ryan’s really efficient when he catches it down there.”
But it wasn’t just Kalkbrenner. Trey Alexander put the ball on the deck and got to the rim. Baylor Scheierman dribbled into the paint and created opportunities for himself and others when the defense collapsed. The flashiest plays came from Arthur Kaluma, who consistently sliced up the Red Storm defense off the dribble and crashed the offensive glass, and when that’s the case, good things generally happen. His improved play over the last month is the result of hard work in the gym, but also because of diligent work in the film room, according to his coach.
“He and Coach Huss had a long sit-down where they watched a lot of film and looked at some analytical stuff. We talked to him about where he was, and where we thought he could be,” McDermott said. “To Art’s credit, he made some changes. You can get easy baskets and you can get to the free throw line with some effort in getting to the offensive glass. Often times, you get an easy putback and draw a foul.”
That’s precisely what happened in drawing Soriano’s second foul. After making a pair of free throws, the Jays led 29-23 and with Soriano on the bench they began to put the game out of reach. Kaluma’s putback dunk made it 38-30, and moments later a dunk by Kalkbrenner gave them their first double-digit lead. By halftime, it was 52-39.
And when St. John’s offensive burst out of the locker room failed to make a dent in the lead — they scored 13 points in the first few minutes of the second half, but gave up 14 — they appeared deflated. Over the next four minutes Creighton got to the rim nearly uncontested time after time, with a couple of layups from Nembhard and Alexander where they strolled to the rim with no resistence. The Red Storm’s only chance was for Creighton to miss open shots at the rim, and, well, they didn’t.
After Scheierman’s short jumper made it 86-59 Bluejays with just over six minutes left, McDermott pulled his starters. Anderson did not, and against the end of the Jays’ bench Soriano finally found success. Seven of his 18 points, and four of his nine rebounds (three offensive), came in the final six minutes of garbage time. If it was an attempt to get him another double-double (he had one in 17 of 20 games coming in), it did not work, as Soriano finished with nine boards.
“We did a good job on the glass,” McDermott said on the postgame radio show. “Soriano did kinda beat up on our bench there late (chuckles), but if you can take that part of their game away you can have success.” Indeed, CU was even on the offensive glass 8-8 before Soriano’s late barrage, and in the portion of the game where CU’s rotation players were on the floor St. John’s most important player was almost a non-factor with 11 points and five boards.
Leaving those guys in took away any guilt Creighton may have felt about continuing to pour on the offensive fireworks. If anything, it made Zander Yates’ three 3-pointers all that more sweet because they were defended by opposing starters instead of fellow freshmen and walk-ons. The Jays’ walk-on big man drained three consecutive threes in a minute and a half, pushing the Jays past the century mark in points. And it earned him the honors of doing the postgame victory dance in the locker room.
“It’s amazing that a night like tonight happens for a guy who gives of himself, and works for the team, and is all about everybody else,” McDermott said. “He can really shoot the basketball. I’m so happy that he got his moment in the sun because he certainly deserves it.”
On the postgame radio show, Yates downplayed the moment.
“It felt good, man,” he told John Bishop and Ravi Lulla. “I don’t know what else to say.”
Zander Yates spots up for one of his three 3-pointers against St. John’s. (Brad Williams / WBR)
It was perfect that Yates’ offensive explosion came in a game where the scout team deserved so much credit for the way they helped prepare the Jays for their opponent. And even moreso because Yates played the role of Soriano on the scout team — crashing the glass, pushing and shoving and doing all the physical things that make Soriano such an effective big man.
“Our scout team did an unbelievable job the last two days. It’s one thing to run the other team’s offense. It’s another thing entirely to try and simulate St. John’s defense,” McDermott said. “They were raking and digging and going after basketballs, and it really opened our guys’ eyes that this was the kind of play we were going to see. We turned it over far more in practice on Monday and Tuesday than we did tonight. Credit to that group, because they don’t get enough credit — it’s kind of a thankless job, but it’s a very important job. It’s a different role than our rotational guys, but it’s equally important — their work and their preparation really had an impact on this game.”
Inside the Box Score:
While Soriano missed out on his nation-leading 18th double-double, Baylor Scheierman added another one to his list with 17 points, 10 boards and six assists. As the season has gone on, he’s become more than just the three-point shooter he was in the first month — he’s put the ball on the deck more often, using his size to drive into the teeth of the defense and forcing them to collapse on him. Then he’s often able to showcase his point-guard-like vision to kick the ball out to open shooters. It’s made him a more valuable player, and made the Jays that much more difficult to defend.
“We need (Baylor) to be more aggressive getting into the paint, and he has,” McDermott said. “Baylor’s gotten better at it as the season has gone on. And his confidence to get in there and make plays for others and himself has grown.”
Baylor Scheierman drives into the paint against St. John’s. (Brad Williams / WBR)
Creighton finished the game with seven turnovers, the first time all season a St. John’s opponent has had fewer than 10. And while they outscored St. John’s 14-11 on second-chance points for the game, the Jays had a 12-2 edge before the sheer amount of garbage time polluted the overall stats.
It’s the first time St. John’s has allowed 100+ points in a game since the 2017 Big East Tournament. They’ve come into Omaha four times under Mike Anderson and tried to run with the Jays in their building each time. Here’s how it’s gone for them:
2023: Creighton 104, St. John’s 76
2022: Creighton 87, St. John’s 64
2021: Creighton 97, St. John’s 79
2020: Creighton 94, St. John’s 82