After three games, the defining trait of the 2026-27 Creighton Bluejays is their inability to string 40 consistent minutes together. Through two exhibitions and two regular season games, they found ways to survive. Tuesday in Manhattan, they did not as the defensive miscues were too numerous to count in an 89-82 loss.
Kansas State was 14-of-30 from three-point range (46.7%) and 13-of-18 at the rim (72.2%). At one point in the second half KSU was 13-of-23 (56.5%) from deep before making just 1-of-7 to end the game. Meanwhile, the Bluejays shot just 5-of-15 on non-rim two-pointers in the paint — close range shots that a good team should make north of 70% on.
It’s a little bit remarkable that Creighton only lost by seven, given how poorly they did in those areas. Part of it is that they forced 22 turnovers and converted them into 30 points; 11 of the turnovers were steals and contributed to a 19-5 edge in fast-break points.
But a defense that either forces a turnover or gives up an open look is scarcely a defense at all.
“Our defense was just completely feast or famine tonight,” Alan Huss said afterward. “We turned them over or they got the shot they wanted. That can’t be the way we’re built.”
And over a ten-minute span of the second half when the defensive miscues were no longer covered up by points-off-turnovers, what remained was a defense that offered very little resistance. Mental breakdowns led them to lose the Wildcats’ best shooters repeatedly. And when they did manage to deny shooters on the perimeter, K-State picked them apart with backdoor cuts that led to layups and dunks.
Whether it was successful back-cuts because CU played too aggressively on the top side or didn’t navigate off-ball exchanges correctly, poor rotations where they were late to pick up a driving player — or sometimes, didn’t pick them up at all — it was train wreck.
“You make a choice, ultimately, whether you’re going to protect the rim or protect the 3-point line,” Huss said. “At some level, fundamentally, you have to make that choice. We really want to protect the rim first, and we didn’t protect the rim tonight. The answer is double down, protect the rim, and when they bang us with a few 3s early, not lose our minds, not go crazy, stay poised, stay below them, not give up the back-cuts, don’t let them score at the rim.”
“You’ve got to defend the rim, and our inability to defend the rim early in that second half was the difference in the game,” Huss added on his postgame radio interview. “Then we compounded it by having a couple of really poorly timed turnovers and poor shots, and all of a sudden a two or four point game turns into an eight or a 10 point game. It’s that deviation from process that just keeps biting us.”
With 15:25 to play in the game, BJ Davis had made three-pointers on consecutive possessions. He had also committed two fouls in 1:38 of game time, and his third foul sent him to the bench. By the time he returned a couple of minutes later the momentum had flipped irreversibly.
In six minutes, K-State ripped off a 20-5 run to turn a 55-55 tie into a 75-60 blowout. That’s bad enough, certainly, but look at how they did it — every single player on the floor for the Bluejays made a defensive mistake that led to a basket.
- 13:35 – Abraham layup, wide-open slip cut past Wes Enis (57-55)
- 13:19 – Lindsay steals the ball from Enis at midcourt; fast break dunk (59-55)
- 12:17 – Rechsteiner three-pointer; Hudson Greer loses track of him when the ball is in the post and lets him sneak into the corner all alone (62-55)
- 11:28 – Rechsteiner three-pointer; BJ Davis is the main defender and gets screened, no one backs him up (65-57)
- 10:52 – Gilhool three-pointer in transition; Jays get caught in a rotation when Austin Swartz’ man breaks to the rim, Jasen Green picks him up and Swartz can’t close out on Gilhool fast enough. This is also just a really smart long pass from Rechsteiner to see the breakdown from 30 feet away. (68-57)
- 10:13 – Brock Vice three-pointer; Erhunmwunse stays home in the paint and lets Vice run to the perimeter on an inbounds pass, basically daring him to shoot it. Not a terrible idea but it was that kind of night. (71-57)
- 9:42 – Gilhool layup; a classic case where ball movement gets the defense scrambling. Three passes in transition, ball ends up under the rim, Erhunmwunse bites on a shot fake and leaves his feet, Gilhool is patient and takes an open layup after Erhunmwunse lands away from the play. (73-60)
- 9:05 – Rechsteiner layup. He beats Davis and drives past him straight to the rim, Greer and Brody Robinson stay home on the perimeter to guard against a kick-out and Rechsteiner scores uncontested. (75-60)
What do you do with that as a coach when every single player is making the wrong play?
You pull the break-glass-in-case-of-emergency lever, if you have one. In this case, Huss subbed in Brody Robinson, who had been granted a temporary restraining order allowing him to play just a couple of hours before tip-off. Robinson is hoping to be granted a fifth year of eligibility, something they will find out more about next week. Though the TRO meant he could play, there’s risk — he hasn’t scrimmaged with the top unit, and giving minutes to a player who might soon be ineligible at the expense of another player could rob them of valuable development.
“He was going in for emergencies only tonight, and we were in an emergency situation,” Huss said. “I just thought we needed a spark. Even though he hasn’t really been a part of what we do from an offensive standpoint with our top lineup, it’s pretty clear he’s one of our better players. He’s definitely one of our more seasoned players. He’s been in these environments. He was unfazed by it. And I just thought he gave us the spark that we needed at that time.”
Shortly after checking in, Robinson showed off his pure point guard ability by assisting on a pair of threes. First, he delivered a pass to Enis for a three, then drove into the paint and kicked it out to Greer for a three. He scored himself, too, driving to the rim and scoring in traffic, then knocking down a three. After Enis and Robinson both made a pair of free throws, the 15-point deficit was cut to three.
But they’d get no closer, as K-State made just enough plays the rest of the way to hold off a full comeback.
“It’s truly been the same as always for me,” Robinson said when asked how he prepared knowing he might not play. “The same preparation, staying on top of my craft and, you know, controlling what I can control. I’ve been trying to be the best teammate I can be, whether that’s being on the scout team, being the loudest person, or being the best teammate on the bench, I’ve just been trying to do that.”
Robinson had 10 points, two assists and two steals, and was 2-of-5 from the field, 1-of-3 from 3 and 5-of-6 from the line while playing the last 11 minutes of the game.
If there was a bright spot, it was the continued excellence of BJ Davis. He scored 25 points on 9-of-20 shooting and 6-of-14 from three. He had three assists and three steals. Five of his nine baskets were unassisted, as he started to show off a different facet to his offensive game — he’s capable of creating his own shot off the dribble, something not many of his teammates can claim.
Highlights:
Press Conference: