Trey Alexander had a quiet night, but that was okay (Spomer / WBR)
Would you rather have a 6-foot point guard commit no turnovers or a 7-foot center make every shot he takes, including from beyond the arc? Creighton can spend the next few days pondering the answer to that question getting an up-close look at both scenarios in their 94-65 win over Holy Cross on Monday night at CHI Health Center Omaha.
Sophomore point guard Ryan Nembhard needed only 19 minutes to become the fourth player in Bluejay history with 12 assists and no turnovers in a game. Half of his career-high dozen dimes went to junior center Ryan Kalkbrenner, who scored a game-high 22 points. Kalkbrenner was 9-for-9 inside the arc, 1-for-1 beyond it, and knocked down his only free throw attempt of the night as well. Going back over his last 19 minutes in the game against North Dakota, the third-year center is now 19 for his last 19 from the field and a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line as well.
“My teammates have done a good job of putting me in good position to take good shots,” Kalkbrenner said. “I don’t think any of the shots I’ve taken have been too hard, and that’s a credit to the guys I play with. They are really good at creating opportunities for other people and I get the benefit from that. I mean, Nembhard is probably one of the best passing point guards in the country, so I’m lucky to playing with a bunch of guys like that.”
Nembhard scored just five points of his own on 2-for-5 shooting from the floor, but with his assists added in, he produced a total of 34 points for Creighton’s offense.
“He scores five points and he controls the game,” Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said. “He’s playing with pace, but he’s got the ability to play fast but slow himself down and make the right reads. Some of those look-offs that he had on those passes to Kalkbrenner, I’d like to tell you I taught him that, but that’s something that’s inherit to him. It’s pretty fun to watch and a lot of fun to coach.”
Ryan Kalkbrenner posterized the Holy Cross defense (Spomer / WBR)
The Jays came roaring out of the blocks with buckets at the rim on six of their first seven offensive possessions. Sophomore forward Arthur Kaluma started it with a tough finish through contact off the dribble. Then it went dunk, dunk, dunk, layup, dunk by Kalkbrenner for a 12-5 lead going into the under-16 media timeout. To pour cold water on Creighton’s interior offense, Holy Cross came out of the break in a matchup zone. It threw off CU for about 20 or so seconds, then Nembhard and senior guard Baylor Scheierman buried back-to-back 3-pointers against it and the rout was on from there. The Jays led 52-27 at halftime and extended that lead to much as 34 in the second half.
With the game well in hand, Greg McDermott was able to get his starters off the floor for the majority of the final 20 minutes. Creighton’s bench outscored Holy Cross’ 41-17. Freshman combo guard Ben Shtolzberg put up 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting in 14 minutes. Backup rookie big man Fredrick King added nine points and five boards in 16 minutes. Senior off guard Francisco Farabello played a team-high 23 minutes and finished with eight points, three assists, and no turnovers. And redshirt freshman wing Mason Miller flirted with a double-double with his eight points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes. Altogether, Creighton’s reserves accounted for 52% of the team’s rebounds, 50% of the steals, 44% of the points, and 39% of the assists. No starter played more than 22 minutes, while Nembhard, Kaluma, and Scheierman didn’t even crack 20.
“My challenge to the team was we had two really good days of practice and I wanted to see us carry over some of those things from the practice floor to the game floor, and make some progress from last week’s game,” Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said. “I think we did that. Obviously, we used the bench a bunch tonight. With this stretch of five games in nine days any rest I can get some of these guys will hopefully pay off for us down the stretch. We did what we had to do, the bench got some valuable minutes that will provide some good teaching moments for those guys, and now we have a quick turnaround to get ready for Riverside, which I think will maybe be our toughest challenge to date.”
UC Riverside is off to a 1-1 start to the season with both games coming on the road. They lost their opener, 82-66, to a Colorado team that just beat No. 11 Tennessee by double digits on the road. Then they rallied from a 20-point, second-half deficit to beat Loyola Marymount last Thursday. Tip-off in Omaha between the unbeaten and nationally-ranked Bluejays and the 1-1 Highlanders is set for 7:30 p.m. (CST) on FS1.