Flying back from San Diego Thursday, the thought crossed my mind that the Creighton Bluejays might be due for a letdown. Nationally ranked through six games and coming off an emotional comeback from 17 points down on the road to a good San Diego State Aztecs team, there was a decent chance the team might experience a reality check. That’s because, as an avid yet often pessimistic sports fan, my motto remains: If it is too good to be true, that probably means it is.
But could the Bluejays fail to get up for in-state rival Nebraska? The fans would surely be ready to welcome the Huskers to Omaha, where Big Red has beat the Bluejays only once (2004 NIT) since the 1996-1997 season. Doc Sadler’s teams consistently turn in a focused effort defensively, so after playing a decent defensive team in the Aztecs Creighton’s coaches surely welcomed another opportunity to test their up-tempo offense against a challenging defense. But ultimately the Bluejays have more to lose this season playing Nebraska than the Huskers do facing Creighton, at least through early December.
Creighton's Gregory Echenique rocks the rim against Nebraska (Mike Spomer/WBR)
So I wasn’t surprised to see the Jays and Huskers locked in a close game midway through the second half. The last three meetings between the two teams ended in an average winning margin of about 4 points. Following close losses to Wake Forest and Oregon, the Creighton game was a chance for Sadler’s Huskers to change their momentum and pick up a quality win. For the Bluejays, the game was yet another opportunity to keep building toward the team’s ultimate goal of playing in the NCAA Tournament. Losing to Nebraska at home this season could be construed as a bad loss.
Led by Bo Spencer, the Huskers answered a 9-point CU lead with 3 minutes left in the first half and flipped that deficit to a 5-point lead of their own with 14 minutes to play in the game. The teams traded hoops for a bit, with Caleb Walker’s three-point play giving Nebraska a 2-point lead that was quickly erased by Grant Gibbs’ own three-point play. Following a Husker miss, Creighton’s Antoine Young also missed but Gibbs was under the hoop for an offensive rebound. Nebraska’s Christopher Niemann fouled Gibbs as he attempted the offensive put-back, and then the game turned.
Nebraska’s Toney McCray picked up a technical foul. Sadler picked up a technical foul. You can watch it here, or read Polyfro’s take here. The outcome? Gibbs made his two free throws and Doug McDermott made three of his four shots from the technicals, giving Creighton a 6-point lead with 9 minutes to play.
You can argue all you want about whether the technical fouls cost Nebraska the game. Sure, they were hanging with the Jays, but the Huskers looked gassed. Meanwhile Creighton looked crisp as the second half wore on, even as Greg McDermott shortened the bench a bit and really only played 7 guys in the second half (Austin Chatman played 2 minutes and Will Artino 1 minute). Of their 8 second-half assists, 6 came in the 9 minutes between the technical fouls and the final buzzer. Nebraska would never get closer than 6 points the rest of the way, and the Bluejays would hit free throws down the stretch en route to the 10-point win (highlight reel here).
Sadler’s behavior was ridiculous, and before he earned the technical foul he received at least two warnings for his actions. But it only shadowed what amounted to Creighton not playing its best but still beating a team that might win a few games in the Big Ten. Voters in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls took notice, though, with the Jays now ranked inside the top 20 in both. But the Bluejays avoiding losing a trap game after their best win of the season eclipses the importance of receiving votes in December, because it keeps Creighton on track to position itself in the best way possible for a potential at-large bid for the Big Dance should they need one.
A few more thoughts, while still shaking my head thinking about Sadler’s situation.
Despite an improvement in opposing defenses, the Bluejays offense continues to cruise.
It will be awhile before Creighton plays two defenses in one week as physical as San Diego State and Nebraska. Both teams frequently doubled Doug McDermott and Gregory Echenique when the two frontcourt players received the ball in the post. Both teams pressured Creighton’s guards with hands-on defense. And both teams tried in vain to rotate on the Jays’ venerable stable of perimeter shooters.
The result? The Jays shot 49% from the field, 47% from three-point range, and 77% from the free throw line for the week. They averaged 80.5 points per game. And perhaps most important, they dictated the pace of play for the majority of both games.
Sure, there were hiccups during stretches against the Aztecs and Huskers. But it seems difficult right now to comprehend Creighton slowing down much on offense if the Jays continue to pass well out of double-teams and make the extra play for their teammates.
Through Sunday, the Jays are third nationally in points per possession (1.24), second in assists per game (21.3) and three-point shooting (45.4%), third in field-goal shooting (52.6%), and fifth in points per game (87).
Limiting mistakes and making plays for others is a winning formula.
Speaking of national statistics, the Jays are also fourth in assist-to-turnover margin (1.71:1). Primary guards Young (3:1), Gibbs (3.27:1), and Jahenns Manigat (3.5:1) each average three or more assists for every time they cough it up. They benefit from Doug McDermott’s ability to finish anywhere on the floor, and from hot shooting by Ethan Wragge and others on the perimeter. But you can’t listen to Greg McDermott or Gibbs or Young talk about the team’s successes and strategies without hearing constant references to passing up good shots for great shots.
It doesn’t show up in the stat sheets, but one critical development is the quicker passes out of the post from frontcourt guys McDermott and Echenique. This is especially true out of the double-team. In recent years it took Kenny Lawson Jr. longer to pass out of the post, partially because of Dana Altman’s system and partially because of Lawson’s playing style. McDermott especially pulls a quicker trigger on passes from the post — that is, of course, when he isn’t shooting through or over post defenders en route to a ridiculous 62.6% field goal percentage — enabling the ball to rotate across the perimeter and find an open shooter or clear passing lane.
The fact McDermott is averaging 23.7 points per game isn’t as amazing to me as is the fact he is getting those points in the flow of the offense, without sacrificing the efficiency of the team’s offense overall.
Creighton can go undefeated against the Big Ten this season.
If the Jays beat Northwestern in Omaha a few days before Christmas, will Jim Delany cut Creighton a check once the Big Ten divvies up its post-season purse? Double-digit wins against teams that figure to finish in the bottom half of the league (Iowa, Nebraska) guarantee Creighton will end the regular season with a winning record against the three teams it plays from the power conference in the regular season. Maybe it would take upsetting Ohio State in a #1-#9 game in the second round of the NCAA Tournament…