I spent Saturday supporting Creighton sports. I took in a little brunch with the Bluejays, watching Jim Flanery’s women’s hoopsters pull away from Evansville late in the second half. I travelled a few blocks east to watch the men’s team also play their counterparts from Evansville. Then, after the Bluejays managed not to completely blow a 17-point second half lead, Panon and I stopped by Slowdown to receive an introduction to the 2011 Creighton baseball team at its annual Steak Fry.
That’s right; the men’s team let another double-digit lead slip away in the last 10 minutes of the game. Trailing 32-31 with 2:30 to play in the first half, the Bluejays went on a 32-14 run during the last few minutes of the first half and the first 12 minutes of the second stanza. Leading 63-46 with 8 minutes remaining, it looked as though stalwarts Antoine Young and Doug McDermott might get to spend the final part of the game on the bench, relishing some well deserved time off. But a 19-8 Evansville push during the last few minutes left Jays fans wondering why CU can’t seem to completely close out a middle of the pack Valley team at home.
Young and McDermott led the way, receiving some help from post players Gregory Echenique and Kenny Lawson and sixth man Josh Jones. McDermott posted yet another double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds. He has 15 or more points in his last seven games; no CU player has done that since Booker Woodfox completely tore apart Creighton’s opponents during the month of December in 2008 (8 straight 15+ point games). McDermott, just a freshman, also led Creighton in rebounding for the ninth consecutive contest.
Young turned in arguably his best all-around effort of the season. He scored 21 points, just two off his career high, but dished 7 assists to just 1 turnover and he added 3 steals. Most importantly, his team won: entering Saturday, Young had 7 games of 18 or more points, and his team only won 3 of those games. Four of his 7 assists came on shots by either Echenique or Lawson, highlighting a focus to get the big guys (and McDermott, too) touches in the paint — CU’s 36 points in the paint were the team’s highest total since November. One of his steals ended in a transition basket by Jones, and another one ended with what would have been an amazing one-handed flush by Young for a breakaway jam. He was in control for most of the game.
Echenique (11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks) and Lawson (11 points, 8 rebounds) combined for 22 points and 13 rebounds in 41 minutes of play, marking their best combined production since an 81-68 win against Bradley a few weeks ago. Jones joined Lawson off the bench and chipped in 12 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals. After playing just 9 minutes and not scoring in the midweek loss at Bradley, Jones played 21 minutes and gave a spark to the off-guard position. Jahenns Manigat started in his place again and played 22 minutes, but Jones outscored Manigat’s 2 points and brought some defensive hustle.
Still, Creighton’s defense wasn’t good enough. Evansville shot 64% in the first half, 52% in the second half, and 57% for the game. The Bluejays, led by McDermott, won the battle for the boards. And CU’s 8 steals surely had an impact on what the Aces wanted to do offensively. But the Jays couldn’t keep up a consistent effort on the defensive end, and Colt Ryan (20 points) and Denver Holmes (15 points) made CU pay. Evansville’s 57% shooting was a season high for a Creighton opponent. In fact, the Bluejays have allowed opponents to shoot better than 47% six times this season, going 2-4 in those games. The two wins? Both against the Purple Aces, who shot 47% in a loss at the beginning of Valley play.
With three weeks left in the regular season, Creighton’s tied for 4th place with a team it swept (UE) and a team it split with (Indiana State). Northern Iowa is all alone in 3rd place, but the Panthers are reeling after losing Lucas O’Rear to a broken ankle last week and then dropping a game to Drake. UNI comes to Omaha the last Saturday of the season, for a 1 p.m. tip to be televised on Fox Sports as part of the Valley’s Wild Card Weekend. Just a few days after CU became the first team to lose to Bradley in conference play this season, the Bluejays still have a shot at finishing in 3rd place.
To do so, the Jays likely have to sweep Drake. CU travels to Des Moines for a Tuesday night game against the Bulldogs, the top 3-point shooting team in the Valley during league play (41%). Greg McDermott’s team leads the league in 3-point field goal percentage defense, though (32%), and they’ll need it against a Bulldog team that made 16 of 24 3-point attempts in a road win at Southern Illinois last week.
Games this week against Drake (5-8, 7th in the MVC) and Southern Illinois (4-9, 8th) give Creighton an opportunity to sweep both opponents and set themselves far apart from the bottom four seeds for the Valley tournament one month from now. Nothing is certain with this season’s CU squad, aside from playing close games in conference play. If McDermott’s team can find a way to win on the road Tuesday and then hand Chris Lowery another loss Sunday night, they could find themselves tied with UNI (at Evansville, vs. Wichita State) in the standings.
Seems like a lot of ifs, right?