Late in the 2006-2007 season, with the Creighton Bluejays on the wrong side of the bubble for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Jays went to Normal and lost by 10 points to an Illinois State team that wouldn’t even make it out of its play-in game a few weeks later at Arch Madness.
The Jays swept through the MVC tournament and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament. But that loss to ISU started a bleak streak against the Redbirds: Creighton went 1-7 against Illinois State in a stretch of 8 games. That dark period included routine assaults by Osiris Eldridge; aside from a win against the O-Hawk in Omaha his freshman year and a Senior Day victory in 2009, the Jays were on the wrong end of the scoreboard against Eldridge and his Redbirds.
But since Eldridge left ISU and the McDermotts showed up in Omaha, the Bluejays haven’t lost to Illinois State. Wednesday’s win in Normal was CU’s sixth straight in the series. It was just the ninth win for the Jays in 33 meetings all-time in Normal. After pulling out a 64-53 win at Redbird Arena in the Valley road opener in the 2010-2011 season to start the current win streak, CU has scored 75 or more points in each of the last five wins.
Viewed by the media and SIDs as Creighton’s chief challenger to a Missouri Valley Conference title before the season, Illinois State is now 0-2 in league play. Things don’t get easier for the Redbirds, since the usually stout Northern Iowa Panthers come to Normal this weekend. One of the two teams will drop to 0-3 in MVC play.
Meanwhile, the Bluejays host upstart Indiana State Saturday afternoon in a matchup of 2-0 teams. Here are a few thoughts about the Illinois State win while pondering how the CU backcourt will protect the ball against standout guard Jake Odum (1.8 steals per game).
Wragge Bombs! A few weeks ago, I wrote about the unlikely slump Ethan Wragge seemed mired in with respect to his outstanding three-point shooting ability. After going 3-5 from three-point range against Nebraska, Wragge made just 3-21 shots from deep entering the game at Illinois State. With the Redbirds intent on limiting offensive production from Doug McDermott and Gregory Echenique, Greg McDermott inserted Wragge into the 5 spot and allowed him to sharp-shoot his way around the perimeter.
Wragge went 6-9 from deep against ISU, making as many three-pointers in 21 minutes against the Redbirds as he made in 87 minutes of action during his previous 5 games.
Wragge and Avery Dingman constitute the main threat off the Bluejay bench now that Josh Jones is no longer playing due to health reasons. Coach Mac is going with his experienced veterans, picking the (limited) spots for newcomers such as Andre Yates and Nevin Johnson to see minutes. Wragge doesn’t need to hit 6 threes a night (we’ll take it, though!), but regaining his shooting stroke relieves a bit of the pressure placed on the rest of the offense game in and game out.
Double G for Three! Wragge benefited from the Redbird game plan that focused on stopping McDermott and Echenique. So did Grant Gibbs, whom Illinois State defenders practically begged to shoot. Gibbs obliged, living up to his Twitter handle (@DoubleGfor3) by knocking down a few three-pointers en route to scoring 16 points.
Obviously hurting, Gibbs picked his spots offensively and scored using an array of moves including drives to the hoop and pull-up jumpers. And as Coach Mac said in the postgame radio interview, with a defense sagging as much as it did against Gibbs, not only does it give a shooter open looks but it makes a great passer even more dangerous.
When he wasn’t scoring, Gibbs was busy assisting on his teammates’ hoops. His 7 dimes pushed his season total to 83, tops in the league (and 19 more than the next closest MVC competitor, ISU freshman Kaza Keane). He committed only one turnover, and now has just 15 miscues in 14 games. His 5.5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio leads the nation.
Come March, this team will only go where Gibbs can lead it. Keeping him as healthy as possible is a necessity to Creighton’s future fortunes. He played 25 minutes against Evansville and 27 against Illinois State, after six straight games of 31 minutes or more. Again, he looked banged up in both games; here’s hoping Gibbs can stay on the court as long as possible.
There’s no substitute for experience, and a special season is on the line. So Coach Mac and his staff are counting on guys who have been there before to keep Creighton’s outstanding season on track.
With Jones out, the Bluejays are essentially playing a 7-man rotation. Starters McDermott (30.7 minutes per game), Austin Chatman (30.3 mpg), Gibbs (29.5 mpg), Echenique (22.6 mpg), and Jahenns Manigat (25.1 mpg) carry the bulk of the minutes, with Wragge (17.6 mpg) and Dingman (14.5 mpg) the only other players to see time in all 14 games.
Wednesday’s win at Illinois State was the only game that Will Artino didn’t get into this year; he’s averaging 6.6 mpg in 13 showings. Andre Yates saw a few minutes against the Redbirds, but has played just 5.3 mpg in 12 games. Nevin Johnson got a few ticks of the clock in Normal, too, but the redshirt freshman has seen time in only 7 games (2.6 mpg). Fellow redshirt freshman Geoffrey Groselle has played sparingly in 8 games (3.3 mpg).
Those smaller averages have led to consternation among some message board members. Some want the younger, less experienced Bluejays to see more time. For the record, I’m fine with how things are split right now. Would it be great to get Artino more minutes? Sure. Would it be beneficial for Yates to have him run the offense? Of course. But don’t those guys get opportunities in practice to prove they need more time? Frankly, this season is shaping up to be a potential breakthrough season for a program looking for a Gonzaga-type run, oh, I don’t know, forever.
Play your best guys. Play them the most.