Things started well for Creighton Wednesday, and only got better as the night wore on. Grant Gibbs reached deep into his bag of playground hoops tricks, threw the ball of a defender’s turned back on an inbounds play, and laid the loose ball up for Creighton’s second hoop of the night. The evening ended with Ross Ferrarini hitting back-to-back triples to hit the century mark and fellow Bench Mob member Matt Dorwart knocking down two free throws to push CU’s total to 102 points. In between, the Bluejays treated fans to arguably the best offensive performance in recent program history.
Hyperbole? Hardly. It wasn’t just shooting 56% from the field, 52% from three-point range, and 84% from the free throw line. It was passing up good shots for great ones. It was the effectiveness of almost every lineup combination Greg McDermott put on the court. It was his son, Doug, having a monster game (again), while guards Gibbs and Antoine Young (7 assists apiece) facilitated an efficient offensive machine.
The Bluejays assisted on 22 of 31 made baskets, while committing just 9 turnovers. Led by McDermott’s 25 points (on 9-11 shooting, including a perfect 3-3 from three-point range), six CU players hit double-figures in points. Gibbs added 12 points to his 7 assists and 4 rebounds. Gregory Echenique played only 17 minutes put scored 10 points and grabbed 6 boards. Jahenns Manigat shook off some tenderness in his knee and knocked down 3 of his 4 three-pointers en route to 11 points. Josh Jones scored 10 points off the bench, and Will Artino scored 11 points without missing a shot from the field (3-3) or the charity stripe (5-5).
Creighton hit 10 of its first 11 shots from the field, all of which were within 10 feet of the hoop. McDermott was lethal from everywhere on the court. He hit on a bevy of frontcourt moves, stepped back and drilled from long range, and knocked down a few free throws while he was at it. The program’s fifth sellout crowd of the season cheered louder with every McDermott make, fully realizing early in the game that the sophomore sniper and his teammates had a chance to do something special against Illinois State. The Redbirds burned through two timeouts early in the game, with head coach Tim Jankovich scrambling to find answers to Creighton’s offense and his team’s inability to score.
Doug McDermott scored 25 points on 9-11 shooting against Illinois State (Adam Streur/WBR)
Illinois State, down 17-2 to start the game, finally got things on track offensively. The Redbirds shot 50% in the second half and made 6 of 13 three-pointers in the final 20 minutes, making the game look a bit closer than it really was. While ISU pulled to within 14 points, the Jays used a 13-2 run midway through the second half to crush any hopes the Birds had of making a historic comeback.
The Jays now face a two-game road trip in conference play. They head first to Cedar Falls, where a ticked off Northern Iowa Panthers squad awaits the return of the McDermott family. Then CU cruises to Evansville, where Colt Ryan and the Purple Aces will welcome Creighton into its new building. Putting the Redbirds away early Wednesday allowed for the Bluejays’ starters to catch a breather toward the end of the game, something that hopefully will help during the upcoming venture out into the Valley. Gibbs hit the bench with 11 minutes to play, and a few minutes later Young, McDermott, and Echenique joined him. Manigat, resting his knee, didn’t play the last 14 minutes of the game.
Once Creighton’s starters vacated the floor, the Bench Mob took over. Ferrarini hit a triple to pull Creighton to within 3 points of 100. On the next defensive possession Matthew Dorwart blocked a Redbird shot, and in transition Austin Chatman found Ross again. His second three-pointer gave CU a 100-71 lead and brought the CenturyLink Center down.
It was that kind of night for the Creighton Bluejays (11-1 in MVC), who kept a one-game lead over Wichita State (10-2) in the race for the Valley championship.
A few more thoughts while wondering when the Bluejays will leave Omaha to avoid the Winter Wonderland apparently aiming for Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa this weekend.
Creighton’s the most efficient offensive team in the country. It really isn’t close. Statistically, the Bluejays lead the nation in field goal percentage (51.6%), three-point percentage (45.3%), effective field goal shooting (59.6%), and true shooting percentage (62.3%).
They are tops in the country in assists per game (19.3) and second in the nation in points per possession (1.19). That’s a telling stat, considering that Creighton’s only 48th in the nation in possessions and 102nd in possessions per game (68.8). That’s a scary thought for CU opponents. If they stopped turning the ball over (12.8 turnovers per game, 254th in the country), they would up those possession numbers and build even bigger margins of victory.
Everyone talks about Doug McDermott, and for good reason. But the ability of Creighton’s outside shooters to make teams pay for paying McDermott extra attention often deals opponents a frustrating death knell. CU’s made the 6th most triples in the country, while attempting only the 84th most long range shots.
The next three games will cement Creighton’s status for March. It is a great argument to be able to engage in during the first week of February. What seed will Creighton earn in the NCAA Tournament? The Bluejays’ next three games will likely be the difference between possibly earning a top-five seed and seeing a higher number next to their name on Selection Sunday.
Somehow, despite their 15-9 record, the Northern Iowa Panthers are still a top 100 RPI team. A road win at UNI would put CU 6-2 against the RPI top 100 according to the latest Nitty-Gritty Sheets supplied by the NCAA. It would also put Creighton’s road record at 9-1, putting them alongside Murray State (8-0 to start this week), Harvard (9-2 to start the week), and Middle Tennessee State (9-0 to start the week) as the best road warriors among the RPI top 50.
Evansville is not nearly as impressive an opponent as UNI, judging by numbers. But there’s something about that game that just doesn’t feel right to me. Maybe it is the flashback I have thinking about January 2003, when the Bluejays took a top 10 national ranking into Roberts Stadium and left with their first MVC loss of the season. An eerily similar situation could happen Tuesday at the Ford Center; on the heels of a 102-74 blowout of Illinois State, if CU can find a way to win at Northern Iowa you would have to think the Jays would move up from #12 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. They’d take their best ranking in school history since that #10 in 2003 back to Evansville, where Colt Ryan and the Aces would be licking their chops for a chance to take down the Bluejays. I get sick just picturing it.
Then comes the biggest home game of the season, when Wichita State comes to Omaha a week from Saturday. CU and WSU are clearly the cream of the crop in the Valley, and the Shockers will need another statement win to further cement their status as a “lock” for an NCAA Tournament bid.
Go 3-0 or even 2-1 (with the loss either at UNI or vs. WSU), and the Bluejays are well positioned to earn a #4 or #5 seed. Lose at Evansville, or — gulp — drop two of the three, and it is likely the Jays wouldn’t be able to overcome a strength of schedule in the 100s, regardless of their final win total, and earn a #5 or even a #6. (I support these statements with the proven fact that the NCAA Selection Committee hates me, and takes their collective loathing for me into account when seeding teams for the tournament.)
Who wants to avoid Thursday night at Arch Madness? No one, it seems, aside from Creighton and Wichita State. Four teams in the Valley (Illinois State, Drake, Missouri State, and Evansville) enter the weekend tied for third place in the league standings, be it at 6-6. Northern Iowa and Indiana State, two of the better MVC teams in the non-conference, sit at 5-7. At 408, Southern Illinois is second to last in the Valley right now — but just 2 games out of third place! Bradley seems destined for the first round of games in St. Louis, but any assortment of teams could join the Braves at this point.
The league might as well move the Thursday night games to a high school gym. Creighton and Wichita State have far outsold the other Valley schools in all-session tickets to the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. With the Bluejays and Shockers only a monumental slide away from not securing the top two seeds in the tourney, expect the blue, black, and gold to dominate the Scottrade Center.
But operating on the premise of “if it is too good to be true, than it probably is,” does anyone expect chalk at Arch Madness? I certainly don’t, although I hope it has nothing to do with Creighton bowing out before Sunday’s championship game.