Bluejay Beat Podcast:
Recap:
Sunday afternoon, Creighton’s lineup got a jolt of electricity when Marcus Zegarowski returned despite a heavily-padded and bandaged wrap protecting his broken shooting hand. The Bluejays are a different team — a better team — with him on the floor. The ball moves better. His teammates get easier shots. He’s a playmaker, the sort that an offense like Creighton’s has to have to thrive.
For most of the game, the difference was unmistakable. After falling behind 12-2 in the first four minutes, they outscored Seton Hall 31-18 the rest of the half with Zegarowski piloting the offense. He scored with his off-hand on a drive:
Drew the defense in and dumped it off to Christian Bishop for an easy bucket:
and created space for Mitch Ballock to drain a three at the buzzer:
In the second half, Zegarowski created (arguably) the best look Ty-Shon Alexander has had on a three-pointer in two weeks — he drove into the paint, collapsed the defense, and sprayed it out to an open Alexander who ended a long shooting slump with a three. He threw his arms up in the air as if to say “It’s about damn time!” and every one with a rooting interest in Bluejay hoops felt the same way.
That was all he needed to get his confidence back — Alexander proceeded to make five straight threes over an eight-possession span:
“Marcus showed a lot of guts just playing,” Greg McDermott said after the game on his postgame radio show. “I mean, he shouldn’t be playing at all. You see the effects of that. He missed a layup twice that are shots he’s simply not going to miss otherwise. He (took a three late) where the ball slipped off of the tape on the pad. But we’re better with him on the floor.”
Davion Mintz agreed wholeheartedly, saying that “it definitely helps having someone out there to control the ball. He also sets up plays off the ball. Everything’s easier with him out there. His presence helps so much.”
Mintz had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists, looking like a completely different player off the ball than he was the last three games when he was asked to be the primary ball handler.
Unfortunately, Creighton’s defense was not up to par once their offense finally got rolling. They made six of their first eight 3-pointers in the second half, while Seton Hall made six of their first nine — and 12-19 overall. The Pirates scored 21 points on their first 12 possessions of the half. And so despite Alexander doing his best Ethan Wragge impression, CU couldn’t create the separation you’d expect from that sort of shooting display.
“I thought those first 12 minutes (of the second half) were as close to getting back to how we want to play offensively as we’ve seen in a while,” McDermott said. “Unfortunately, we kind of settled into trading baskets during that time period.”
Mintz had done a great job on Myles Powell all afternoon, but when he checked out for a quick breather at the 11:51 mark it was a turning point — Powell took advantage by draining two 3-pointers in three possessions, sandwiched around a three by Quincy McKnight, and by the time Mintz checked back in Powell was hot, unstoppable, and the Jays were in trouble.
They led 73-67 with 4:33 to go, and there was an uneasiness in the arena because even after Alexander’s red-hot shooting, they only led by six and now the Pirates’ star was heating up.
The fateful final four minutes began with a layup from Sandro Mamukelashvili off of a blown defensive assignment. Then Mitch Ballock missed a three badly, and turned it over on the next possession with a terrible pass that was intercepted by Quincy McKnight. His dunk cut the lead to 73-71, and the groans inside the arena were audible.
Here we go again.
Two possessions later, still clinging to a 73-71 lead, McKnight stole the ball a second time, this time picking Mintz’ pocket. He fed Myles Cale for a layup in transition to tie the game. On the next Bluejay possession, Ballock turned it over again — with McKnight again the player coming up with the steal — and though McKnight’s dunk attempt was blocked, the Pirates secured the offensive board, and Powell sank a three to give Seton Hall the lead.
McKnight wasn’t done. A fourth straight steal, this time with Zegarowski losing the ball, led to a pair of free throws that essentially clinched the come-from-behind win.
“Quincy McKnight with those steals — I can’t wait to go back to the film and show the team what an effort that was,” Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard said after the game in his press conference. “His defense the last five minutes was the difference.”
For the Bluejays, it’s a fourth consecutive loss after leading in the final four minutes. Their offense has stalled out in the final four minutes in each game — they’ve combined to make an astoundingly bad 4 of 22 shots (18.2%), turned the ball over six times, and managed 16 total points on 31 possessions. It’s staggering.
“They’re not in a good place right now,” McDermott said on his postgame show. “The crowd was awesome today, and we appreciate that so many people came out when the weather’s not great. Our guys need the fans now more than ever. They’re in a bad, bad spot.”
“Our guys are beating themselves up,” he continued. “We have to make sure they learn from this, but at the same time it’s going to take everything our staff has to try and get them through it. We have to get their chins back up before we can prepare for the next game.”
“I’m just speechless right now,” CU junior Davion Mintz said. “It’s tough, but what can you do? You’ve just got to go to the practice floor and try to figure it out.”
Key Stats:
Creighton led by six with four minutes left at Seton Hall, and by four in the rematch in Omaha. They were outscored 27-6 — TWENTY SEVEN to SIX!! — in those eight combined minutes and ended both games with a loss.
What does that horror show look like on a stat sheet? WBR’s Matt DeMarinis compiled it for a post on Twitter and, well, this is what it looks like:
- 1-13 overall shooting
- 0-6 on 3pt shots
- 0-4 on layups
- 4-5 on free throws
- 5 turnovers
All of that adds up to a ghastly 0.300 points per possession.
He then went for a deep dive and charted “clutch” stats both individually and team-wide using the NBA’s definition for “clutch stats” — which is anything that happens in the final five minutes of a game where five points or fewer separate the teams. Creighton’s played 10 such games this year, and owns a 4-6 record. Those games are:
- East Tennessee State (W, 75-69)
- Ohio State (L, 66-60)
- Clemson (W, 87-82)
- Marquette (L, 106-104 OT)
- at Georgetown (W, 91-87)
- Butler (W, 75-61)
- at Villanova (L, 66-59 OT)
- at Seton Hall (L, 63-58)
- at Xavier (L, 64-61 OT)
- Seton Hall (L, 81-75)
You’ll notice that before this four-game swoon, the Jays actually had a 4-2 mark in “clutch” games for the season which is interesting given the narrative about not being able to finish. That mark would be 5-1 if not for the Marquette disaster, which would be even more interesting. What changed between the team that won close games earlier in the season, and the team that is blowing those games now?
In the first six, where they went 4-2, the Bluejays had:
- 70 points, seven assists, three turnovers
- 19-34 FG (55.9%)
- 8-16 3FG (50.0%)
- 26-30 FT (86.7%)
In the last four, all losses:
- 26 points, three assists, seven turnovers
- 7-28 FG (25.0%)
- 6-19 3FG (31.6%)
- 6-8 FT (75.0%)
There’s some definite, obvious trend lines there. And those trends continue to be exposed when you look individually:
Martin Krampelj
- First six games
- 9 points, 2-2 FG, 5-7 FT
- Last four games
- 5 points, 1-2 FG, 1-2 3FG, 2-3 FT
Mitch Ballock
- First six games
- 12 points, 4 assists, 1 turnover
- 2-4 FG, 2-3 3FG, 6-6 FT
- Last four games
- 0 points, 1 assist, 3 turnovers
- 0-3 FG, 0-3 3FG
Ty-Shon Alexander
- First six games
- 23 points, 1 assist, 0 turnovers
- 7-13 FG, 3-4 3FG, 6-6 FT
- Last four games
- 8 points, 1 turnover, 0 assists
- 2-8 FG, 2-4 3FG, 2-2 FT
Davion Mintz
- First six games
- 26 points, 2 turnovers
- 8-11 FG, 3-5 3FG, 7-9 FT
- Last four games
- 13 points, 2 assists, 2 turnovers
- 4-13 FG, 3-9 3FG, 2-3 FT
Marcus Zegarowski
- First six games
- 0 points, 2 assists
- 0-4 FG, 0-4 3FG, 2-2 FT
- Last four games
- 0 points, 1 turnover
- 0-2 FG, 0-1 3FG
