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Creighton looked emotionally and mentally drained in the first half Wednesday in Philadelphia. Can you blame them? After spending 72 hours in deep discussions about the future of the basketball program following Greg McDermott comparing that program to a plantation of all things, the players simply didn’t have much left in the tank to play a game, much less one against this caliber of opponent.
They missed eight straight shots, scored a season-low for points in a half with 23, and faced their largest deficit of the season at 19 points as they headed to the locker room. It was quite a turn of events for a team that entered the game with a chance to win the Big East championship. But however much they insisted that they were moving forward, and that they’d practiced Monday and Tuesday to prepare for Villanova, their focus was elsewhere.
Villanova took advantage with clinical precision. They made six 3-pointers and five dunks in the first half, scored on 18 of 33 possessions, shot 54.5% overall, and their ball movement against a CU defense already a half-step slow was threatening to turn the game into a laugher.
“They came out and played harder than us. They were tougher than us,” a dejected Damien Jefferson said on the postgame radio show. “We didn’t come out wanting to win tonight, man. They were the tougher team and that’s how it went down.
“Their matchup zone was tough. Our spacing wasn’t good enough to beat it. We couldn’t get to the rim so all we could rely on was jump shots, and when you have a night like tonight where we don’t shoot the ball well…”
While their offense was reduced to taking jump shots they weren’t making because of Villanova’s matchup zone, their defense was a mess. Their ball screen coverage had all the tell-tale signs of a team that wasn’t communicating with one another. Their second line at the rim was practically invisible, with both Christian Bishop and Ryan Kalkbrenner playing their worst combined games of the year.
Three minutes into the second half, Villanova took their largest lead of the game at 22 after a blown defensive assignment opened a lane for Jeremiah Robinson-Earl to throw down a dunk. Jefferson had seen enough.
“I was telling (my teammates), this is not the way we gonna finish,” Jefferson said. “I was just trying to keep the guys positive. I wanted us to go out and still try to win. I knew the guys didn’t want to finish like that. We knew we’re a way better team than we showed in the first half.”
Villanova led 57-35 with 14:17 to play in the game. The Wildcats didn’t score another point for almost ten minutes, as the Bluejays ripped off a 17-0 run sparked by a pretty unusual lineup. Denzel Mahoney went to the bench and never returned. Alex O’Connell and Antwann Jones divided up his minutes and shined defensively. So did Shereef Mitchell, but that’s nothing new for Mitchell. Scoring is, and Mitchell made some key baskets in that run. This three turned it into a 10-0 burst:
And his energy lifted the entire team. Soon Jefferson was making plays like this, dribbling into the teeth of the defense and dumping it off to Kalkbrenner for an easy slam:
And Ballock was making long threes (no surprise there):
And following up a missed shot by intercepting a pass under his own basket, then scoring through contact at the rim (which might be the first time we’ve written those words):
“Our bench did a great job,” Greg McDermott said on his postgame radio show. “I thought Antwann Jones really played hard and competed. Shereef really changed the complexion of the game in the second half when he came in with his defensive energy. DJ was really leading. Marcus and Mitch and CB fed off of that.”
But the Jays could never get closer than five. Mitchell had made a reverse layup to cut the deficit to 57-52; after Villanova ended a ten minute drought with a layup by Robinson-Earl, Ballock made his steal-and-layup to make it 59-54. But Villanova closed the show with nine straight points, including threes by Cole Swider and Brandon Slater, while the Jays went cold — Mitchell missed a pair of threes, Zegarowski missed a three and a layup, and that was that.
“It’s been an emotional, draining week for these young guys,” McDermott said. “You could see it on their faces in the first half. They were able to dig deep and find a way to get us back in the game. Our guys competed, they fought, and I’m really proud of that effort.
“Our number one goal before Saturday is to continue to heal. These guys are hurting. They’re dealing with a lot emotionally that young people their age should not have to deal with. I’ve got to try to do my best to help them through it and grow from a mistake made by me.”
That’s the question now that their goal of a second consecutive Big East title is off the table. Can the Bluejays play for each other, in spite of the hurtful words their coach injured them with, and rally to salvage some momentum before postseason play begins? The 17-0 run in the second half, when a lesser team — or a team with less resolve, less sense of purpose — would have found it tempting to pack it in? That’s encouraging. It seems like something that can be built off of. But that’s the basketball side of things. Can the off-court trust be rebuilt with McDermott? Will he be given the chance to try, or have we crossed the rubicon at this point?
There’s more questions than answers, honestly. That’s not where you want to be on March 4.