What once seemed like the special season so many CU fans have craved since 2002-2003 has come to a crossroads.
Forget the national rankings. Stop the incessant refreshing of various RPI websites. Try not to tweet about how the bracketologists have the Bluejays too low. During the last three and a half weeks, Creighton has followed a 6-0 start to Missouri Valley Conference play with a 3-4 mark. Following the nationally televised home loss to Illinois State, the Bluejays are in a three-way tie for first place in the MVC with Wichita State and Indiana State.
At the season’s start, Saturday’s matchup between the Bluejays and Redbirds looked like a marquee event during the Valley slate. Illinois State hasn’t lived up to the billing of the preseason #2 team in the league, starting league play 0-6 before righting the ship a bit. Creighton entered the weekend in sole possession of first place in the league, but had gone 3-3 in the previous 6 games, bringing some positive momentum to a screeching halt.
Saturday against the Redbirds, Creighton’s potent offense disappeared. The Bluejays lead the country in field goal shooting percentage (51%) and three-point shooting percentage (43.2%). But against Illinois State, the Jays shot just 38% from the floor and 17% from behind the arc — both season lows.
Doug McDermott scored a team-high 24 points, 10 of which came from the free throw line, and the junior standout added a game-high 13 rebounds. But McDermott missed all five of his shots from behind the arc. And teammates Jahenns Manigat (1-6 from three-point range) and Ethan Wragge (1-5) had similarly poor shooting nights from deep. Wragge went 6-9 from three-point range earlier this season in a win against ISU.
Meanwhile, the Redbirds rode a lineup of seven guys to an impressive road win. Tyler Brown (27 points) led the way. All told, the ISU backcourt outscored CU’s guards 57-38. The Redbirds’ lengthy frontcourt neutralized Gregory Echenique (4 points, 6 rebounds, and no blocks in 23 minutes). And in a night that featured 9 ties and 12 lead changes, the Bluejays just couldn’t get closer than one point down during the final 15 minutes of the game.
The Bluejays surrendered yet another outstanding scoring performance by an opposing guard. Brown, a 6-4 senior guard who can score in bunches, put up 23 of his game-high 27 points in the second half. He proved a difficult matchup for the Jays, to say the least. And Brown’s scoring outburst conjured memories of other opposing guards torching the CU defense for near career nights.
His 27 points were his second highest single-game total in Brown’s one-plus seasons at Illinois State. Boise State’s Derrick Marks scored a career-high 35 points in a win against the Jays in November. Drake’s Richard Carter dropped a career-high 20 against the Jays in Des Moines a few weeks ago, in a Bulldogs win. And earlier in the week Jake Odum had his way with the CU defense, scoring 22 points (3 points off his season-high 25).
And those are just the standout performances by guards in games that Creighton lost. Arizona State’s Jahii Carson, Northern Iowa’s Anthony James, and Evansville’s Colt Ryan all put up huge point totals in their teams’ losses to CU earlier this season. James and Ryan will see the Bluejays on their home floors this week, though, and they have to be looking forward to trying to take advantage of a Bluejays defense that is reeling right now.
And now the race for the regular season championship is officially anyone’s to win. With five conference games remaining, CU, Wichita State, and Indiana State sit atop the league standings at 9-4.
Creighton lost its only matchup against Wichita State so far and split two meetings with Indiana State. The Sycamores beat the Shockers in the two teams’ first meeting; they’ll play a week from Tuesday.
All three teams have three road games remaining. WSU travels to Illinois State (6-7 in league play), Indiana State (9-4), and Creighton (9-4); the Shockers have home games against Drake (5-8) and Evansville (7-6). The Sycamores play roadies at Missouri State (5-8), Bradley (6-7), and Evansville (7-6); the Trees have home games against WSU (9-4) and Drake (5-8). The Bluejays have away games at Northern Iowa (7-6), Evansville (7-6), and Bradley (6-7); CU is at home against Southern Illinois (2-11) and Wichita State (9-4).