ED NOTE: Check out all the WBR coverage of Creighton’s games against Providence (here) & and Villanova (here)
Honestly, I don’t know what to say about Monday. I know that might be shocking, considering the fluent hyperbole I spit in this blog all the time. But, really, what could I muster to describe Creighton’s 96-68 road win at #4 Villanova? A game that, for what it’s worth, wasn’t even as close as the 28-point margin would indicate.
My colleagues at WBR did a fine job of recapping arguably the most impressive win in Bluejays basketball history. The highlight reel Max put together is beautiful enough to make a grown man weep (IS IT DUSTY IN HERE RIGHT NOW?!). But thanks to the ridiculous offensive outburst the Bluejays unleashed on the Wildcats, you don’t have to take my word for it. Coverage of Creighton’s epic win was all over the place, including:
- Leading ESPN’s SportsCenter
- Trending on Twitter
- Presenting the case for the “craziest, deadliest offensive in the country”
- Earning the praise of ESPN.com’s best basketball blogger
- Helping one east coast pundit come around on his prospects for CU
- Providing outlet after outlet after outlet with highlights that left basketball fans shaking their heads
The game brought massive attention to Creighton’s highly efficient offense, thanks to the Bluejays making a school- and Big East-record 21 three-pointers (in 35 tries). The night helped Ethan Wragge go viral, thanks to the senior sharpshooter connecting on his first 7 threes en route to tying Kyle Korver’s single-game CU record with 9 triples. Understandably, people focused on a blowout win that had the Bluejays up over Villanova by as many as 41 points. But the Jays were close to exceptional in many other aspects at Wells Fargo Center.
So, Jays fans: Was the win at #4 Villanova the greatest Creighton basketball game you’ve ever witnessed? Sitting next to my dad during the game, a guy who’s watched Creighton games for 40-plus years, I could sense he wanted to answer “yes.” He couldn’t muster a definitive answer; we were too busy laughing out loud every time Wragge or Doug McDermott or Jahenns Manigat would connect on another jump shot. But a few days later, when the dust had settled and the shock had worn off a bit, he confirmed that he’d never seen anything like it.
Aside from the absurd shooting percentages and scoring outburst, Creighton’s win over Villanova was notable because of the Wildcats’ national ranking, the difficulty of winning on the road, and the poor effort just 48 hours earlier against Providence on the same road trip. Add that Villanova is a top-30 team defensively (#22 in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted defensive efficiency ranking), and the merits are evident for considering the win as Creighton’s finest in recent memory.
But the stakes mean something, too. The win put CU at 6-1 in the Big East, certainly a great position to hold as we near the midway point of the conference schedule. But the win didn’t clinch a championship. It didn’t happen under the bright lights of March Madness. Had CU’s showing occurred in the same building last year, against Duke, and sent the 2012-2013 Jays to the Sweet Sixteen, my world might have imploded.
That said, if they weren’t before, Creighton surely has the full attention of the college basketball landscape regarding its capabilities to ride its offense to victories over top opponents. Bluejays fans have seen a semblance of the type of offensive execution CU showed Monday night repeatedly during the past few years, albeit not to the degree with which the Jays carpet-bombed Villanova on its home court. But the hoops world definitely took notice this week in a way they hadn’t talked about the Jays in my memory.
Before the season started, I penciled in the recent road trip as a 1-1 proposition for Creighton. Granted, I had the results flipped; a close win at Providence, a close loss in Philadelphia. But thanks to the bounce-back victory over Villanova, the Jays are 6-1 and licking their chops for a three-game homestand — vs. Georgetown, St. John’s, and DePaul — that starts Saturday.
The importance of the next three games in Omaha can’t be overstated. With 5 of their final 8 games on the road to end the regular season, followed by a trip to NYC and MSG, the Jays must seize the opportunity to hold court on their home floor. Remember: the last CU team to go undefeated at home during a season was the 2002-2003 squad.
Those three teams pose interesting matchups for the Bluejays, starting with the exceptional backcourt John Thompson III will put on the CLink court Saturday. D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera (team-high 17.5 ppg, 42 three-pointers, 23 steals) and Markel Starks (15.9 ppg, team-high 70 assists) will test Austin Chatman, Jahenns Manigat, and Avery Dingman from the opening tip.