Bluejay Beat Podcast:
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Recap & Analysis:
Another game, and another hot start for a Creighton opponent. Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee, Marquette made nine of their first 14 shots. Compounding the poor start: Christian Bishop rolled his ankle seven seconds into the game because the referee didn’t give him anywhere to land after tossing up the jump ball — he just stood in place, in the way, and Bishop landed on his foot.
But to their credit, Marquette never built a lead of more than six points despite that hot shooting. Ryan Kalkbrenner filled in nicely after the sudden departure of Bishop, logging seven points, four rebounds and a block in nine first half minutes. His production provided a needed lift from a Bluejay bench that had been quiet over the last several games, but their reserve wings remained quiet in this one. That puts an awful lot of pressure on the starters to all have big nights every night, and that’s just not going to happen. In fact, it’s not happening.
Damien Jefferson has made just 5-of-25 from 3 in his last eight games. Denzel Mahoney is 11-of-34 over his last six. Mitch Ballock has been hot and cold for an even longer stretch and not just from three; over the last 10 games, he shot 4-of-9 overall against Providence, 4-of-10 against St.John’s, 7-of-12 against Seton Hall and 4-of-8 against Georgetown and 5-of-23 in the other six games combined.
With almost no bench production from the wings, Creighton’s ceiling just isn’t as high as it could be — there’s not enough players shooting consistently well, and no one that can be counted on to pick up the slack when the top guys are off.
Marquette was starting to pull away when they went ahead 31-25 with three minutes to go in the first half. What a moment for the Bluejay bench to rise to the occasion — specifically, Alex O’Connell, who nailed back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game at 31.
But because of the state of college basketball officiating in 2021, he got T’d up after the second one for saying something to the Marquette bench as he ran past. Local media called it like they saw it:
But this one was bad enough to catch the attention of national media, too:
Marquette briefly re-took the lead on the ensuing free throws. It would be their final lead of the day. Bishop made one of two at the line on the next possession, and then Jefferson sunk a hard-fought basket at the rim. Zegarowski followed it up with a jumper, and just like that the Jays had ended the half on a 13-2 run to turn that 31-25 deficit into a 38-33 lead. The only two Marquette points were the free throws after O’Connell’s dubious foul.
They extended their lead to nine in the first moments after halftime, in the half court on plays like this backdoor cut from Bishop to Ballock:
And in transition on plays like this one where they simply out ran the Golden Eagles:
Ahead 45-36, the Jays had ripped off a 20-5 run. As it swelled to a 26-8 run where they led by a game-high 12 points, they were playing loose and confident. They got dunks from guys you expect them from, like Bishop:
And guys you don’t like Mitch Ballock.
But they just couldn’t seem to deliver the knock-out blow. Marquette slowly began chipping away at that lead. But each time, Creighton had an answer.
After D.J. Carton made a free throw to cut it to six, Jefferson made two free throws to push it back out to eight 64-56. Zegarowski hit a jumper to make it 66-57. And after a three-pointer by Dawson Garcia, Kalkbrenner came up with a huge offensive rebound off a missed layup by Zegarowski to make it 68-60.
A Carton three pulled Marquette to within three, 68-65. Denzel Mahoney hit a pair of free throws, and then Carton made another three. And with Zegarowski only able to hit one of two free throws, the Jays had left the door open a crack.
Subbing in Shereef Mitchell to provide some extra pressure on the ball paid off. He spent 15 seconds in Carton’s grill, forcing the guy with the hot hand, the guy who Marquette wanted taking the game-tying shot, to instead give up the ball because he simply wasn’t going to be able to get one off against Mitchell. Koby McEwen wound up taking that shot instead, and with Zegarowski defending him he put up a desperation heave at the buzzer. It was offline and the Jays escaped.
Jays fans have known Mitchell is a pest defensively, his on-ball defense among the best in the league because of extremely quick reactions and instincts honed by years of practice. After that final possession, perhaps he’ll start to earn that recognition outside of Omaha.
Key Stats:
Creighton had a season-best 19 second-chance points against a Marquette team who outrebounded the Jays by 15 in Omaha. And while “rebound margin” is a stat maligned by advanced metrics and their disciples, the things a team does to get that margin are often the same things that win you ball games. The Bluejay bigs fought for position to secure offensive rebounds — 11 in total, giving them 11 additional shot attempts. Their guards dove to the floor for 50/50 loose balls.
The Jays only attempted four 3-pointers in the second half, with Marquette’s length taking away those looks. They compensated by shooting 13-of-23 everywhere else (56%), thanks to eight assists on 13 made baskets. 42 of their 71 points were recorded in the paint.