Wednesday night’s game against Illinois State was not one of the Jays best performances of the year, yet they still won by 16. That says something, I think — yes, Illinois State is not terribly good, and yes, they were playing without leading scorer Jackie Carmichael who had the flu — but in games versus teams of Illinois State’s ilk earlier in the season, the Jays most certainly would not have won by 16. In that sense, its Exhibit A in arguing with those who believe the team is either not improving or is regressing as the season winds down. I believe they’re better than they were a month ago, and being able to build and then sustain a lead against a team they were supposed to beat handily shows that.
Their two big men were both roughed up by Redbird players, with Kenny Lawson taking a shot to the head while drawing a charge late in the first half, and Gregory Echenique crumpling to the court after a collision early in the second half. The former got “his bell rung” according to coach Greg McDermott in the World-Herald and played just four minutes in the second half. His injury opened the way for Echenique to take center stage on a night when the Creighton marketing folks had dubbed “Ga Ga for Gregory Night”, and had handed out blue goggles to the first 800 students in attendance. As the photo above shows, some of those goggles found their way into the hands and onto the faces of alumni, too.
Unfortunately, just two and a half minutes into the second half, Echenique fell to the court where he laid face down and motionless for a couple of frightening moments. Austin Hill, the beneficiary (victim?) of the dive which resulted in the particularly violent collision, scored the next 16 points for the Redbirds, as he drove the lane time after maddening time against the Jays undersized interior defense sans Lawson and Echenique. He had 20 points in the second half, and a career-high 27 for the game. More astonishing than Hill scoring 16 straight points was the fact that while he was crazy-go-nuts, the Jays managed to increase their lead; It was 37-27 Creighton when his streak started, and it was 59-43 when it ended. Strange, but true. How did this happen?
In the Jays win on Sunday night, it was apparent how good the Jays can be when they get offensive production from the wings. In the win Wednesday night, they would not have won without offensive production from those same players, given that Lawson and Echenique played limited minutes after their respective wrestling matches left them shook up, and with both players being mostly ineffective in the minutes they did play. That meant Wayne Runnels had to resume a role he played valiantly, if not always successfully, a year ago — patrolling the paint, if only briefly. Doug McDermott also played some in the absence of Lawson and Echenique, and while his defense was not stellar (that 16-point personal run by Austin Hill came almost exclusively on his watch), but offensively and on the glass, he was his usual steady self. In 28 minutes, he was 7-11 from the floor, 1-3 from behind the arc, 3-4 from the line, grabbed six rebounds, dished out one assist, and had 18 points.
Josh Jones was a perfect 6-6 from the floor en route to a career-high 15 points, which included three bombs from behind the arc. Jahenns Manigat was 2-3 from behind the arc, as well, and Kaleb Korver made 2-4 in carrying the offensive load. More than just their shooting, their willingness to make the extra pass and find the open man was impressive, especially against a zone defense, something they’ve previously struggled with. Jones in particular has kind of quietly strung together several quality games in a row, and combined with Manigat, may finally be giving the Jays the consistent wing play they’ve so desperately needed all year. That kind of offensive production is how the Jays not only weathered an unprecedented offensive outburst from Austin Hill, but managed to come out ahead.
But back to those sweet goggles for a second. Like ZZ Top, I love cheap sunglasses, and the kitchier the better. There’s an entire box of fashionable cheap eyewear on my shelf — giant aviator shades, mirrored sheriff’s flip-ups, all sorts of wildness really — and so when WBR’s Patrick Marshall sent me a text message at halftime to ask if I’d like a pair of Gregory Goggles if he could score me a pair, I immediately replied in the affirmative. He ran them over to me, and I proceeded to wear them the rest of the game to my great amusement. I’ve been accused of viewing the Jays fortunes through blue-tinted glasses before, but this was ridiculous. Did the glasses remain perched on my face for a post game victory lap at the Underwood? You bet. Snide looks from fellow patrons, as if their visual disapproval of my fashion sense somehow was supposed to shame me into removing them, followed.
Illinois State is a play-in round team, and deservedly so. As such, it wasn’t enough to merely beat them on Wednesday, Creighton needed to beat them bigger than expected. They needed to build a lead, show a killer instinct, and put them away. For 26 games against all manner of opponents, they consistently built leads, and consistently blew them — sometimes surviving to win, sometimes not. In both of the last two games, they built big leads, sustained them, and then were able to clear the bench and get court time for the walk ons. That’s progress to me. Anytime you can beat a team by more than you’re expected to and a walk-on can drain a three-pointer to send the fans home with free pizza, that’s a successful night in my book.
Next up is a completely inconsequential trip to Akron for the BracketBusters (shades of UT-Chattanooga in 2005, anyone?), followed by a real test — a trip to Wichita. I think this team is better than it was a month ago. We’ll find out for sure next week.