When Creighton joined the Big East, it was the possibility of games like Sunday’s matchup that got people excited. The Bluejays come into the game 13-2, 3-0 in the Big East, and are ranked 23rd in the coaches poll, 7th by KenPom and 26th in the official NCAA RPI. Xavier comes into the game 13-3, 3-0 in the Big East, is ranked 28th by KenPom, 19th in the official NCAA RPI, and is receiving enough votes in the polls to be rated with one more win. It’s not just the biggest game of the weekend in their own conference, it’s one of the biggest games in the country period, pairing two of the top contenders for the title in the nation’s third-best league, both of whom are riding eight-game winning streaks.
The Musketeers built a fairly impressive non-conference resume, with wins over Tennessee (#18 according to KenPom), Cincinnati (#21), Alabama (#65), and Wake Forest (#87). Their only losses came in the Battle 4 Atlantis, where they dropped three straight to Iowa (#13), Tennessee in a rematch of their earlier-season game, and USC. They’re untested on the road, however, with only one true road game under their belts — the win over Alabama — thanks to opening the Big East slate with three consecutive home games.
They’re led by Semaj Christon, a 6’3″ sophomore guard who leads the team in three categories, averaging 15.6 points, 4.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game. He exploded for 28 points in their win over Georgetown on Thursday, and he was positively unstoppable — making 8-10 overall from the field, 3-3 from three-point range, and 9-10 from the free-throw line. What’s really impressive about Christon is that he’s more than just a scorer. Over the last five games, including non-conference wins over Alabama and Wake Forest and Big East wins over St. John’s, Butler and Marquette, he has 27 assists and just 2 turnovers. Those numbers are highlighted by back-to-back 8 assist/0 turnover games in the first two Big East battles, a key factor in Xavier winning those two games.
He’s a good shooter from outside, but the bulk of his points come in the paint and from the line. Christon is 10-22 for the season from the three-point stripe; meanwhile, he’s 73-156 on two-point baskets (46.8%) and 73-115 from the line (63.5%). If there’s one achilles heel to his game, is that latter number — he gets to the line a ton, but his shooting percentage at the line is solidly mediocre.
Western Michigan transfer Matt Stainbrook, a 6’10”, 263 pound behemoth patrols the lane for the Musketeers and leads them in rebounding with 8.4 boards a game. A decent scorer, Stainbrook averages 11.1 points but doesn’t have terrific range and doesn’t draw near the number of fouls you’d expect from a player his size — he’s attempted just 44 free throws. Where he kills opponents is on the glass, as Stainbrook has recorded 10 or more boards in 7 games, or about half the time, and is a big reason they have a +7.1 rebound margin as a team, best in the Big East. That said, he has three double-doubles this year, going for 21 points and 10 rebounds against Wake Forest, 10 and 15 against Evansville, and 13 and 12 against Gardner-Webb, while just missing a fourth with 12 and 9 in the first game against Tennessee.
Justin Martin has steadily improved all year, and the 6’6″ junior is averaging 14.5 points and 7 rebounds in Big East games. Martin had 15 points and six rebounds in the win over St. John’s, followed that up with 13 points and seven rebounds in the win over Butler, and capped it off with 15 points and 8 rebounds against Marquette. He’s the type of player that hustles after every loose ball, contests every shot and sets the tone for them defensively.
Sophomore James Farr comes off the bench to average 7.8 points and 5.7 rebounds a game, part of one of the deepest benches in the league. Seven men log at least 19.9 minutes per game, and nine men average 10+ minutes per contest. Farr, a 6’9″ forward, is a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses because he’s a threat to shoot from anywhere. making 67% from inside the arc and 51% (15-29) outside of it. Joining him off the bench is their primary three-point specialist, Myles Davis, who averages 8.1 points a game and is 28-67 (41%) for the season from long-range, both making and attempting the most threes on the team by a wide margin — he has twice as many makes as anyone else, and nearly 20 more attempts.
This is a team that is capable of making threes, but they derive the bulk of their offense inside the arc, as just 21% of their points come off of threes — they rank 285th in that category, meaning there’s only about 60 teams in D1 who get fewer points on three-pointers than Xavier. They score on drives to the rim, jumpers from 15-feet and in, and on converting at the line. They’re efficient at it, too, averaging 74.1 points a game, meaning this has all the makings of a high-scoring, fast-paced affair.
CU is 13-2 and has won eight straight, all by double-digits, in a ruthless display of dominance. Of course, they’ll be playing Sunday without Grant Gibbs, who’s out for a month with a dislocated knee, and it remains to be seen how that will affect them. This is a huge game — a win puts them at 4-0 in the league, and with two games they’ll be favored in coming up against Butler and Providence, they could be 6-0 heading into Villanova for the next Big Game in this inaugural Big East season.
About the Musketeers: Xavier has recorded an assist on 57.8% of field goals compared to 48.2% in 2012-13 … Xavier had only seven players average 9.0 minutes or more per game last season, but this season XU has 10 players over 10 minutes per game … Xavier senior Isaiah Philmore has averaged 10.3 ppg. and 9.0 rpg. over the last five games … Junior Dee Davis is second on XU in assists (7th in BIG EASt at 4.0 apg.) and is second in steals (14th in BE at 1.3 spg.) … Xavier is one of 14 schools to make at least 7 NCAA tournaments in the last 8 years, and they’ve made two Elite Eight appearances in addition to three NCAA Sweet 16 appearances over the last decade.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Grant Gibbs will miss Sunday’s game with his knee injury, snapping a streak of 86 straight starts for the senior … It’s been a while since the Jays lost a starter to injury — the last time a player started, then missed the next game due to injury, came in January of 2009 when Booker Woodfox had a streak of 16 straight starts snapped when he missed a road win at Bradley due to an ankle injury … Avery Dingman is expected to get the start in Gibbs’ place; the lineup of Austin Chatman, Jahenns Manigat, Doug McDermott, Ethan Wragge and Dingman is the fourth-most used quintet this year, and has outscored opponents 68-25 in 26:09 of gametime … In three Big East contests, the Bluejays have collected 20 more rebounds than the opposition.
The RUN-DMD Show: Doug McDermott is expected to play Sunday after suffering a sprained shoulder against DePaul. That’s really the only note that’s important here. Stats and milestones are awesome. Doug not missing any time due to injury is even more awesome.
Out of Context Ron Swanson Quote: “Fish, for sport only, not for meat. Fish meat is practically a vegetable.”
The Last Time They Played: These two teams last met in Orlando during Creighton’s “Lost Weekend” at the Old Spice Classic. Sandwiched in between a heartbreaking OT loss to Michigan and a game hardly anyone paid attention to against Iona (which they also lost), the Jays lost to Xavier 80-67.
True freshman Ethan Wragge had the best game of his young career up to that point, hitting five 3-pointers as part of a 21-point effort in the loss. He was 5-of-11 on three-point baskets, 7-of-13 from the field and 2-for-2 at the free-throw line to go along with 6 rebounds and a steal, numbers made all the more remarkable by the fact that he played just 17 minutes. At the time, it made Wragge the first Bluejay in 25 years (the last being Vernon Moore in 1984) to score more than 20 points in less than 20 minutes of playing time in one game.
The Series: The Bluejays and Musketeers have played 15 times, with Xavier holding a 9-6 edge. In games played in Omaha, the series is knotted 2-2.
Gratuitous Linkage: Following Xavier’s 86-79 win over Marquette, the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Shannon Russell filed this notebook with thoughts on the win and the upcoming showdown with CU.
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: On January 12, 1984, Creighton had 12 steals in a victory over Southern Illinois, 78-62. Vernon Moore carried the Jays with 24 points, five assists and three steals, while making 9 of 11 field goals and all six of his free throws. He picked a good time for one of the best games of his career, as Benoit Benjamin had one of his worst — contributing just five rebounds while committing a ghastly seven (7!) turnovers. After the game, Benjamin would admit to the media that he “was trying hard out there tonight, but I wasn’t mentally ready to play.” I’d make a snarky comment, but really, it writes itself.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day:
The Bottom Line: Creighton wins in a high-scoring, back-and-forth contest.
Bluejays 82, Xavier 73