Six weeks ago when these two teams played, Seton Hall was a very different club. Two of their best big men were out, as Gene Teague and Aaron Geramipoor missed the game due to injury. That left them without the core of their frontcourt, and it left the task of defending Doug McDermott to mostly inexperienced players. Largely as a result, Creighton outrebounded the Pirates 38-to-27 in the first matchup, enjoyed a 40-to-20 advantage in points in the paint and scored 19 points off second chances to just two for Seton Hall. CU was just 10-27 from three-point range, but dominated the paint and thus, the game.
Teague and Geramipoor are both back, as are guards Sterling Gibbs and Fuquan Edwin and forward Patrik Auda, three players who combined to miss ten games earlier in the season (though the latter three played against the Jays in New Jersey). The Pirates are finally healthy, and though they haven’t seen the results in the win/loss column — they’ve lost three of four, and haven’t won back-to-back games in 2014 — they’re a better team than the one Creighton encountered in South Orange.
CU hit ten three-pointers in that game, and Villanova made 12 in a 83-67 pasting three nights later. Since then, Seton Hall has surrendered more than five 3-pointers in a game just twice, and only Butler connected on at least 40 percent of its attempts (7-of-16, 43.8%). In six conference road games, they’ve held opponents to just 22.7% shooting from downtown, no opponent has made more than five 3’s in a game, and at Xavier, they held the Musketeers to 2-14 shooting from long range. It’s been an impressive turnaround defensively for Seton Hall, because they could (generously) have been described as mediocre defensively on the perimeter in early January.
They’ve been a good offensive team most of the year, averaging 74.2 points per game, good for third in the Big East, while shooting 45.8% from the field, 36.6% from three-point land and 72.5% at the line. They scored 82 points on Thursday against Georgetown, but before that, they hadn’t scored more than 70 points in a game since January 25. They have the ability to score, as their averages indicate, but they’re frequently held back because they don’t share the ball well. In conference games, they’re eighth in assists per game (12.2), recording a helper on less than half of their made baskets.
Teague may not have played in these teams’ first meeting, but Jays fans are familiar with him. The big man played against Creighton three times while he was at Southern Illinois, averaging 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in those three games while matched up against Gregory Echenique, one of the few times the two ginormous centers got to actually bang against another ginormous center in MVC play. He leads the Big East in field goal percentage (.608), is second in offensive rebounds (3.0/game), and is fourth in rebounding (7.7/game). Teague has scored in double figures in three of the last five games, and in road conference games he averages 9.0 points and 5.0 rebounds.
Geramipoor, the other big man that missed the first game, broke into the starting lineup last week and has excelled. The senior big man has been a significant presence for the Pirates in the post dating back to his 4-for-5 shooting effort in a victory over DePaul (1/25). In the last seven games, Geramipoor has hit 82.4% of his field goal attempts (14-17), which includes a career performance versus St. John’s with eight points (4-5 FG) and six rebounds. He contributed six points (3-3 FG) in the Pirates victory Thursday over Georgetown.
Teague and Geramipoor, along with 6’9″ junior Patrik Auda, are coming off an outing where they shot a collective 10-of-15 from the field while pulling down 15 of the team’s 33 rebounds. When their big men play that well, Seton Hall is a formidable opponent, as Georgetown discovered.
Swingman Fuquan Edwin, a 6’6″ 215 pound senior, compliments their big men well and torched Georgetown for the second time this season on Thursday. Edwin delivered 24 points in a 67-57 win in Washington, D.C. in January and followed up by pouring in a game-high 21 on 9-of-13 shooting earlier this week — this despite not playing the final 11 minutes with the game being a blowout. He leads the team in scoring at 14.5 points per game, and also contributes 3.8 rebounds a game. Edwin leads the Big East with 60 steals.
He battled through injuries to his knee and ankle early in conference play, but since returning to the starting lineup at Georgetown on January 18, he’s averaged 18.6 points a game with a 50.0% field goal shooting percentage (62-124), 40.7% 3-point field goal percentage (24-59) and 86.4% free-throw shooting percentage (19-22). He’s also delivered five 20-point performances during that stretch, including a 30 point (11-16 FG) effort in a win over DePaul. Particularly noteworthy: in the Pirates last two road wins at Georgetown and Xavier, Edwin averaged 21.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.0 steals while shooting 50.0% (8-16) from downtown. In other words, since returning from injury, he’s been an all-conference type player.
In the backcourt, Texas transfer Sterling Gibbs leads the way. A flashy player, Gibbs excels at driving to the rim and drawing fouls; in their first meeting, he scored 17 points on 6-10 shooting and 4-8 free throws. On the road, Gibbs leads the team in scoring at 14.2 points a game to go with 4.8 assists. The redshirt sophomore guard has also connected on 46.6% (27-58) of his field goal attempts and 41.2% (7-17) of three-point field goal attempts. He’s scored in double digits in ten of 13 Big East games, including 18 against Georgetown on Thursday, but he’s more than just a scorer — he also has five or more assists in ten conference games. Gibbs is third in the conference at 4.9 assists per game.
Jaren Sina, a 6’2″ freshman, has made an immediate impact, scoring in double-figures in five games so far this year. He’s particularly a threat from three-point range; 28 of his 43 field goals have been three-pointers. Sina and Gibbs were tremendous against Georgetown, where the duo combined for 28 points and 11 assists with just one turnover.
As a team, they lead the league in steals, and their best chance at victory would seem to be to force Creighton to get sloppy with the basketball — in the first meeting, the teams combined for just two fastbreak points as CU turned it over only four times. If CU keeps their turnovers under 10, and shoots anywhere close to their average, the Jays should win by a comfortable margin.
The Hall has been unfazed by hostile environments, and actually appears to play better in those types of games than they do at home. Earlier this year, Seton Hall stopped Georgetown’s home winning streak at 16 and halted Xavier’s run at 13, and has picked up three of its five conference victories away from home. Now that they’re healthy, they’re a dangerous team…just not dangerous enough to win in Omaha on Sunday.
Catching Up with the Pirates: The Pirates own a 4-4 road record this season, including victories at Xavier, Providence, Rutgers and Georgetown, making them one of three Big East teams (Villanova, Creighton) to stand .500 or better in league road games … The Hall’s 41 bench points versus Georgetown were the squad’s most in Big East action and the second highest scoring from reserves this season, only behind a 56 point output in the opener versus Niagara (11/9) … Seton Hall assistant coach Oliver Antigua coached Creighton’s Devin Brooks in high school at St. Raymond’s in the Bronx.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Creighton has shot better than 60% from the field and 50% from three-point land in each of its last two games, wins over defensive-minded teams from Villanova and Marquette, marking the first time the Bluejays have shot over 60% overall and 50% from deep in back-to-back contests in the history of CU basketball … Ethan Wragge scored 22 points on just eight shots Wednesday night, making six shots from three-point range. It was the third 20-point game of the season and sixth of his career, but first time he’s done it on fewer than 10 shots, and perhaps most remarkably, the seventh time in his career that he’s made six or more three-pointers in the same contest … Creighton’s 85-70 win on Wednesday was the largest home conference loss for Marquette in its Big East history, and biggest margin of defeat in a conference home loss since February of 2005 when it fell to UAB. The Golden Eagles had been 23-1 in its previous 24 Big East home games.
The RUN-DMD Show: Doug McDermott was named Big East Player of the Week (for the seventh time, a league record) as well as National Player of the Week last week from NBCSports.com (for the second time), CBSSports.com (for the third time) and the USBWA (for the second time).
He’s now been named Big East Player of the Week seven of the first 14 weeks of the season. Here’s what’s really nuts, though — in the seven weeks he has NOT been named league player of the week, his numbers are better than most players’ best weeks. In those seven weeks, spanning 12 games, he’s averaged 23.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game while shooting 47.1 percent from the field and 92.0 percent at the line. Holy crap.
The RUN-DMD Show, Part Deux: Doug McDermott has had 25 or more points in each of his last six games, an incredible streak even for him. Remember when people thought he couldn’t score against physical defenses and he’d be less effective in the Big East than he was in the Valley? Yeah.
That’s a noteworthy stat because he’s 112 points shy of 3,000 for his career, and in his last four games, he’s scored 115. If he keeps that up, he’ll become the eighth member of that club on Senior Night instead of at the Garden during the Big East tourney.
Out of Context Ron Swanson Quote: “I don’t want to paint with a broad brush here, but every single contractor in the world is a miserable, incompetent thief.”
The Last Time They Played: On January 4, Creighton beat the Pirates 79-66 at the Prudential Center. Doug McDermott had 22 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal in the first half alone, burning the Pirates for opting to defend him one-on-one. Creighton led 45-33 at the break, and coasted to their first road win in the Big East.
The Series: Seton Hall leads the all-time series with Creighton, 6-2, though the teams have met just twice in the last 62 years — this past January, and a 1991 NCAA Tournament contest in Salt Lake City won by the Pirates.
Greg McDermott is 1-0 against both Seton Hall and coach Kevin Willard. Willard is 1-1 all-time against Creighton, leading his 2009-10 Iona team to a 63-55 win over the Bluejays at the Old Spice Classic before losing to them last month.
Gratuitous Linkage: Reid Forgrave continues his solid work for FoxSports.com with this great feature on Kevin Willard’s attempts to turn Seton Hall around. It might be the toughest gig in the Big East, but with a Top 10 recruiting class stepping onto campus next fall, there’s light at the end of the Pirates very dark, very long NCAA-Tournament-less tunnel.
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: On February 23, 2010, Creighton beat Southern Illinois 83-78 in an overtime game in Carbondale for their fifth consecutive win over the Salukis — an unthinkable feat given the Jays’ struggles against them earlier in the decade.
The game went to OT when Antoine Young had a potential game-winner blocked out of bounds with 2.4 seconds to play. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Kenny Lawson caught the ball and had his shot blocked, as well. Young then took over, scoring six of the Jays’ eight points in OT, part of a then-career high 22 points.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day: I heard this song for the first time in forever this morning, now it’s stuck in my head, and now it’s about to be stuck in yours.
The Bottom Line: Doug McDermott has a huge afternoon on his bobblehead day.
Creighton 87, Seton Hall 71