Four of the most amazing years in Creighton’s storied basketball history come to a (regular season) close tonight, as Ethan Wragge, Jahenns Manigat, Grant Gibbs and Doug McDermott take their curtain calls before the home crowd. It’s a bittersweet moment, as we celebrate all the wins, all the memories, all the accomplishments that this senior class has authored while mourning the fact that we’ll never get to watch them play together on their home floor again after tonight.
The opponent walking into this hornets nest, this glass phone booth of emotion where the visiting team hasn’t won all year and is being given no chance of winning tonight? Perhaps the one team in the Big East capable of shoving aside all of the emotion of the night and spoiling the party, the Providence Friars. Sure, Vegas pegs the Bluejays as 12 point favorites, because there’s no way Doug, Grant, Ethan and Jahenns — but mostly Doug — loses on Senior Night. Right? Not so fast.
Of the five teams to have defeated Creighton this year, Providence is the only one that made them look frustrated, the only one to make them look pedestrian. They play a rotation of six players, with their best player, Bryce Cotton, playing nearly every second of every game. No, really. Cotton averages 40.2 minutes a game, and has played every second of action in 13 of the last 15 games. In league play, Cotton is averaging an even more absurd 42.2 minutes per game. Overall, Cotton has played 1,207 minutes out of a possible 1,250 minutes this season, and is on pace to destroy the Providence record for most minutes played in a season, 1,234, which was established by Billy Donovan in 1987 and was tied last season by Cotton. He ranks second in the Big East in scoring (21.7), leads the way in assists per contest (5.9), and is sixth in assist/turnover ratio (2.47), while leading his team in all three categories. The phrase “he does everything” is cliche, but if it was ever appropriate, it is for Cotton.
Because of injuries and defections, their six-man rotation forces them to they play a grind-it-out, deliberate, methodical style of basketball that is the very antithesis of everything Creighton wants to do — the Friars routinely hold the ball for 25 seconds before looking for a shot, they’re adept at securing offensive rebounds and then running another 25 seconds off the clock, and they’re very good at securing defensive rebounds to keep their opponent from quick second-chance baskets. The slower the game, the better, and they’ve been very successful this year in imposing that style on their opponent.
That’s never been more true than in the first meeting between these two. In the first half, they grabbed seven offensive rebounds to Creighton’s zero, and outrebounded them 19-9 overall. In the final stats, it looked like Creighton closed the gap on rebounds in the second half (and indeed, the Jays outrebounded PC 18-14 in the second half, including a 6-4 edge on offensive boards), but that’s deceiving: at the seven-minute mark, they were losing the battle of the boards 29-17. And though it ended 15-8 in favor of Providence, at the under-12 timeout in the second half, PC had outscored Creighton on second-chance points 15-zip. Make no mistake, when it mattered in this game, CU got out-muscled, out-hustled and flat-out beaten.
Of course, Creighton was also 4-19 from three-point range in the game, by far their worst outing of the year. They’ve struggled over the past couple of weeks offensively, as well, but you have to think that with the emotion of the night, they’ll feed off the crowd and shoot better than that. If that happens, then this game comes down to defense and rebounds. They have to box out and prevent offensive rebounds — Providence is going to milk the shot clock, and there’s no viable way for the Jays, given their personnel, to prevent that. What the Jays can do, though, is stop them from doing it twice or even three times in a possession by not allowing them to get an offensive board when they miss shots. That’s something they are capable of doing, as they’ve done it against other opponents. They must do it tonight.
Defensively, they need to remain disciplined so that when Providence gets ready to shoot late in the shot clock, they’re in position to contest that shot. Too often in the first meeting, they’d play good defense for 20 seconds, then get lax and lose the ballhandler late in the shot clock leading to either an easy basket or a foul.
The real key to the game, though, is getting off to a fast start. It’s tough to come from behind on the Friars because they make 78.7% of their free throws (best in all of Division 1) and because they shorten the game by using the entire shot clock as often as they can. In the first meeting, PC jumped out to a 9-3 lead early and Creighton chased them the rest of the night. If Creighton can start quickly and get a lead, they’ll have more chances to be aggressive and push the tempo to where they want it.
Providence’s style of play is perhaps the one best suited to short-circuiting the energy in the CenturyLink Center — nothing kills a crowd faster than an opponent that milks the clock routinely or an opponent that gets offensive rebounds time after time. That will be Creighton’s challenge tonight, and it’s not just on the players. As fans, we have to remain loud, imposing, and energetic throughout, making the CLink into the Thunderdome.
These seniors deserve nothing less.
Catching Up with the Friars: Ten of the Friars’ 30 games this season have been decided by four points or less, and the Friars have posted a 6-4 mark in those 10 games … Six of those 10 games have gone into overtime (including four double overtime games) … Sophomore guard Josh Fortune has scored 10 or more points in six of the last eight games and averaged 12.1 points and 4.8 rebounds in those eight games. He also shot 45.8% from the field (33-72), including 46.9% (23-49) from three-point territory … Junior LaDontae Henton registered his third double-double of the season and the 23rd of his career when he scored 20 points and grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds in the Friars’ 81-80 win over Marquette earlier this week … The Friars have posted a 12-4 mark when having at least three days between games, a 7-3 mark with four or more days between games, and an 8-6 record when they have less than three days between games. Their last game was Tuesday night, giving them three days off.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: With a win on Saturday, Creighton can clinch its first unbeaten home season since it went 17-0 in 2002-03 at the Omaha Civic Auditorium … Creighton is 17-1 in the last 18 years in its final home game of the regular-season, including last year’s 91-79 win over a Final Four-bound Wichita State team, and the Jays have won 17 straight Senior Day’s when they have at least one senior dating to a 1994-95 setback vs. Southern Illinois … In the last four years the team is 63-7 at home, including a 30-5 mark in league play … Creighton’s four seniors have combined for 5658 points, 2162 rebounds and 1019 assists while shooting a combined 824-1900 (43.4%) from three-point range … Creighton owns 299 three-pointers this season, second-most in school history. Last year’s club set the school standard with 307 in 36 games.
The RUN-DMD Show: Doug McDermott has 2,966 career points, making him eight points shy of passing Oscar Robertson (2,973) for eighth place all-time, and 34 points shy of 3,000 in his career, thus becoming the eighth man in the history of college basketball to reach that milestone.
Anyone want to bet on him NOT scoring 34 or more tonight to get to 3,000?
It’s worth noting there have only been three players to score 40 or more points in a game at CenturyLink Center Omaha. The three? Cavel Witter (42 points vs. Bradley on 3/1/08), Evansville’s Colt Ryan (43 points at CU on 2/21/12) and McDermott (41 points vs. Wichita State on 3/2/13).
Why is this relevant? All three 40-plus point outings came on a Creighton Senior Night.
Out of Context Ron Swanson Quote: “There’s never been a sadness that can’t be cured by breakfast food.”
The Last Time They Played: I was visited by a Man in Black at about 9pm on January 18, and he used a memory eraser on me. As far as I’m concerned, rumors of a first meeting between these two teams are just that — rumors. It never happened. NEVER HAPPENED I TELL YOU.
The Series: Providence holds a 7-4 edge in the overall series, but the series is tied 2-2 in four games played in Omaha. In the Bluejays most recent win over the Friars, Creighton defeated the Friars, 63-51, in Kansas City on November 25, 2000.
Greg McDermott is 0-1 against Providence and Ed Cooley. Cooley is 1-1 against the Bluejays, as his Fairfield team fell on March 22, 2010 in a CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament game contested at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
Gratuitous Linkage: Bryce Cotton is the first player since 2005 to average 40 minutes or more a game, which is a remarkable feat especially because he’s no worse for wear — he’s second in the league in scoring, and would be the MVP in any other year. Sports Illustrated ran this lengthy profile of him last week, and it’s a great look at the ironman of the Big East.
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: On March 8, 2003, 19th ranked Creighton narrowly escaped an upset bid in the quarterfinals of Arch Madness, holding off Indiana State 57-56. CU jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the first four minutes, but an 11-0 Sycamore run erased it and the Trees led 34-29 at the half.
An 11-2 Creighton rally out of the break gave them a 40-36 lead, and then the teams battled back-and-forth with Indiana State taking a lead, 52-51, with 6:59 to play. The Bluejay defense stiffened, and the Sycamores wouldn’t make another field goal, though they’d draw enough fouls — and make enough free throws — to make things VERY interesting.
Leading 57-56 following a timeout, CU’s Nate Funk missed a jumper with 32 seconds left. Indiana State secured the rebound, but CU forced a jump ball to give themselves possession of the ball, only to have ISU’s Marcus Howard steal the inbounds pass with 26 seconds to play. Without a timeout and trailing by one, Indiana State created an open look for Catrel Green from about 15 feet on the left wing, which bounced off the rim. Mike Grimes grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 3.3 seconds left, but he missed both free throws. Somehow, miraculously, House was able to tip the second miss to Tyler McKinney near half-court as time ran out.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day: Playing this classic from the early days of CenturyLink Center (back when it was called Qwest Center) seemed to work pretty well before last year’s home finale. Why mess with a good thing?
The Bottom Line: Does anyone outside of Rhode Island think Doug McDermott is going to allow his team to lose his final home game? Vegas says the Jays win by 12. I think it’s closer than that.
Creighton 75, Providence 68