The phone calls from would-be meteorologists started just after lunch. Friends and family members, each of whom was watching a different television broadcast or reading a random weather Web site, wanted to know the status of Tuesday evening’s Creighton-Houston Baptist game. The skies were graying and starting to spit, and people were looking for an excuse to leave work early, leave town early, and finish the non-conference portion of the schedule early.
Call it the calm before the storm.
With the impending blizzard hovering over the middle of the country like a grown man above a holiday buffet, you couldn’t blame Bluejays fans for wanting to head out to their holiday destinations a bit earlier than planned. That didn’t stop more than 16,000 people (Wink*, Wink*) from making it to the Qwest Center to watch the hard-luck Creighton Bluejays bash on the hapless Houston Baptist Huskies.
(Aside: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I was not prepared for the Houston Baptist mascot to be a Husky. I imagine a husky in Houston as often as an Ostrich in Omaha. Preposterous, I say! All apologies to the Cougars (University of Houston; whose real mascot might be Tom Penders’ pseudo-mullet), the Owls (Rice University; whose real mascot to Omahans might be Wayne Graham, the school’s baseball manager), and the Huskies, but the city’s pro teams’ mascots take the cake in Houston town (Astros and Rockets, good; the Texans, too literal.)
Let’s be honest. There were barely 10,000 people in the building when Kenny Lawson started the scoring for the Bluejays. Everyone in the Phone Booth knew the game could get as ugly as the future weather patterns, but that Dana Altman would be able to empty his bench early and often and the crowd would see some interesting combinations on the floor throughout the night. But even the P.A. announcer sounded quieter than normal … the night’s only buzz in the crowd came from those fans parked in front of Bud Bar.
But it wasn’t for lack of having something to cheer about. Thanks to 8 first-half 3-pointers (3 from Darryl Ashford, who is hitting from outside at a 40% clip, and 2 from Ethan Wragge, who makes 48% of his 3-pointers) and some solid defense, the Jays jumped out to a 44-21 lead at halftime. The lead was as large as 27 points (42-15 with 2:30 to play) … what, were we playing the Huskers or something?! But the biggest cheers came during the break, when a group of young men from Georgia took to the courts with trampolines, face paint, some late 90s hip-hop, and a full menu of ferocious dunks. They simply set the bar for halftime entertainment … step your game up, Spin-tacular and Human Slinky!
The second half was hard to watch. Even with the Bluejays shooting 57% from the field, 42% from 3-point range, and a perfect 2-2 from the charity stripe, everyone was biding their time until the holiday break began — players and fans included, it seemed. Rarely do I feel sorry for opponents, but HBU couldn’t hit a shot for long stretches of time, and if they hadn’t amassed 21 offensive rebounds for the game, the Jays could have easily hit the century mark … and beyond.
Other highlights included five Jays hitting double-figures in the scoring column (Cavel Witter, 18; Wayne Runnels, 13; Ashford, 12; Lawson, 11; Wragge, 10), the Jays assisting 28 times on 32 field goals while turning the ball over just a dozen times, and getting 15 Jays into the game (save for Casey Harriman, out with a thigh bruise).
Witter hit a 3-pointer to give the crowd Free Pizza with 8 minutes left in the game … yet another high point for the crowd that probably registered as one of the few options for the postgame award for the loudest time of the night, measured by some fake decibel meter on the QCO scoreboard. And once the Bluejays passed 75 points, the race for the front door was on. Lackluster matchup + blizzard barreling toward the Midwest / holiday plans = mass exodus to the parking lots.
And with that, the non-conference portion of Creighton’s schedule (save for the late February BracketBusters contest) came to a close. This weekend, under a blanket of white snow and vicious winds, Altman and the Bluejays will prepare for another forceful storm: Missouri Valley Conference play. Consider the time between the Huskies leaving Omaha and Ben Jacobsen bringing his Northern Iowa Panthers to town the true calm before the storm, one the Bluejays will find as difficult as their early season struggles.
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A quick look at Creighton’s conference schedule leaves me both optimistic but frightened. Eighteen games in 9 weeks. A holiday weekend in Indiana (1/1 @ Indiana State; 1/3 @ Evansville). An interesting Peoria-Des Moines road trip (1/27 and 1/30). And visits to Cedar Falls (2/16) and Carbondale (2/23) with a home BracketBuster game sandwiched between. Challenging? Sure. Insurmountable? Not in the least.
Creighton fans can lament a non-conference slate that hasn’t gone the way Altman, the Jays, or anyone who cheers for the White and the Blue envisioned. The Jays “scheduled up,” with all of their tough games coming on the road or on a neutral court. Regardless of playing well for 10 or 20 or 30 minutes at a time, Creighton couldn’t put together a full 40 minutes of effort, energy, smart play, timely shooting, and the “little things” it takes to win. Hence, close losses to good teams Dayton, Michigan, George Mason, and New Mexico; a blowout against a solid Xavier squad, and an inexcusable loss to Iona.
I could take the “half empty” route in describing all of the things wrong with this team. But if a few shots go the Jays’ way in some of those games, or if they get a stop here and there, the vibe around this team would be vastly different … definitely “half full,” so to speak.
Recent history offers a window into what the second half might look like for the Bluejays. Since we’ll start to see the “Blind Resumes” on ESPN in the coming months before March Madness, I’ll start us off with two MVC teams from last season.
Team A “scheduled up” last year and went 6-6 in early season non-conference play; 6-7 overall with a BracketBuster loss. This team beat some creampuffs at home in the non-conference, but lost road/neutral court games against Illinois-Chicago, Marquette, Iowa State, Iowa, and Wyoming. This team’s first conference game was a barnburner; a 1-point home loss to a team many thought was one of the worst in the conference last season. Then what happened? 11 straight MVC wins. 14-4 in the conference overall. And 3 straight wins in St. Louis at Arch Madness. Ladies and gentlemen, the 2008-2009 Northern Iowa Panthers!
Team B “scheduled up” last year and went 5-6 in early season non-conference play; 5-7 overall with a BracketBuster loss. After starting 2-0 with two home games, this team lost three straight games to Duke, UCLA, and Western Kentucky. A 3-3 record during the next 6-game stretch, with losses against Charlotte, Nevada, and Saint Mary’s, left this team limping into MVC play … literally. This team lost its first three MVC games, two of which were at home, and later lost 5 of 6 conference games from 1/31 through 2/18. They rallied for wins in their final two regular season games, but lost in the quarterfinals of Arch Madness. Ladies and gentlemen, the 2008-2009 Southern Illinois Salukis!
Northern Iowa began last season picked to finish 6th in the preseason MVC poll. Voters selected Southern Illinois to finish 2nd, just behind Creighton. The Jays and Panthers went on to share the regular season title; the Salukis limped through Valley play and suffered their worst record in recent history.
Both teams scheduled tough. SIU played 16 games against teams in last season’s Top 100 according to the RPI; the Salukis went 2-14. UNI played 15 games against Top 100 teams; the Panthers went 10-5. SIU’s strength of schedule ranked 70th; UNI’s ranked 84th.
If you don’t think the other MVC teams can smell blood in the water in Omaha, you’re mistaken. There are plenty of conference teams (one dressed in black and gold, especially) I’m sure want to do to Creighton what happened to the proud Salukis last year. The 2008-2009 season was one of many firsts for SIU, including the school’s first season without postseason play after 7 straight years of NCAA and NIT appearances. Here’s a quote from SIU head coach Lowery after his team’s season ended in St. Louis:
“The other guys in our league really punched us this year and all our young guys really got a taste of what it’s all about.”
He added:
“We don’t want to have a losing season,” Lowery said. “But what we can take from that is we got everybody’s best shot and still finished fifth. That’s something to build on.”
SIU Arena is one of the most difficult places for Valley opponents to win. Yet last season, Northern Iowa, Drake, Illinois State, Creighton, and Indiana State each treated themselves to victories in front of the Dawg Pound. Conversely, after that MVC season-opening loss at home to the Sycamores, UNI dropped just two more games at home all season: against the Bluejays, and a 1-point loss to Drake 10 days later.
Sure, a lot of variables collided to leave the Panthers and Salukis with the results they achieved. Health played a major role: SIU was banged up off and on all season, with Bryan Mullins missing the last 9 games of the season with an injury; UNI stayed relatively healthy all year. Experience also benefited the Panthers a bit more than the Salukis. And confidence played a major role, as well: during the course of their 11-game win streak, UNI won every which way, often coming from behind or winning close games.
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The point of all this Christmas Day blabbing? I’m stranded at my parent’s house, without my wife, without my siblings, and without extended cable TV. Oh, OK. That’s not really the point, but it helps clear my mind. I don’t want to tackle the foot-high snow drifts in my parents’ driveway just yet, so I’ll stay cozy and warm while philosophizing about what it will take for the Jays to finish the season the way UNI did last year, instead of the way of the Salukis.
Creighton can compete with anybody. The talent is there. The experience is there. The home court advantage is there. And these players, especially the junior class, have won some MVC road games the past few seasons. Consistent effort, clear communication, and cohesion of energy can lead the way for Altman’s Bluejays. But don’t be fooled: a large part of the equation centers on Creighton’s confidence; something that doesn’t show up in the stat sheet.
Northern Iowa will come to Omaha Tuesday with plenty of swagger; they deserve to, seeing as they are defending league and tournament champions and the flag bearer for the Valley at this point in the 2009-2010 season. But the Bluejays must not forget what this program represents, who they are as individual players, and what they can be as a team. Frost wrote a little poem about a fork the road; I’ve heard it enough times at graduations to feel I can recite it by heart. But clichéd or not, the Bluejays would do well to head the advice of the author. Too many teams have started seasons poorly and failed to rally around each other to turn course toward a championship. I have confidence this team can turn things around, even in the blinding storm that is the MVC regular season.