The Mountain West/Missouri Valley Challenge has been very good to the Jays, even though they’ve lost two of the three games. Each of the past three seasons, they’ve been paired up with a team that eventually made the NCAA Tournament: #19 New Mexico in 2009 (a 66-61 loss), #21 BYU in 2010 (a 77-65 loss) and barely unranked San Diego State last year (a 85-83 win). It’s a series that saw Dana Altman take on his old nemesis Steve Alford again, brought national sensation Jimmer Fredette to Omaha, and gave them a signature victory on the road that propelled one of their finest seasons.
So you can excuse Jays fans for being disappointed at drawing Boise State, a school known more for football than hoops, this year. In fact, when the matchup was announced, it was met with a mixture of nonchalance and vitriol on message boards. A 13-17 team with an RPI of 169 a year ago, the Broncos are a far cry from the opponents of years past.
That’s not to say they’re incapable of giving the Jays a game on Wednesday night. On the contrary. A week ago, the Broncos went into East Lansing and nearly upset Michigan State — they led by five with just over eight minutes to play, but couldn’t hold on and lost 74-70. Since that eye-opening result, the debate in Omaha has been whether it was indicative of a vastly improved Boise State squad, an overrated Spartan team, or simply a fluke. Michigan State has a win over Kansas already this year, and their only loss is a four-point defeat to UCONN in Germany, so if they’re overrated at #13, it’s not by much. And regardless of whether Michigan State is really a top 15 team or merely a top 30 team, nearly beating them at the Breslin Center should give opponents pause.
According to a report in the Omaha World-Herald, Greg McDermott gave every player on the team a DVD of that game with instructions to watch it Tuesday night, a smart move just in case the message didn’t sink in that this is a good team capable of beating Creighton if the Jays show up with a subpar effort. That move is doubly smart given where this game falls on the schedule: smack dab in the middle of two exhausting wins in Las Vegas and the marquee home game of the non-conference schedule on Saturday against St. Joseph’s. It’s the classic scenario for a trap game. A good-but-overlooked team taking on a team three days removed from emotional wins who might be looking ahead to the next game.
Boise State has started the same five players in every game so far this season: three guards, a guard/forward combo player, and a forward. Derrick Marks, a 6’3″ sophomore guard, leads them in scoring (16.4 points per game), assists (4.0 per game) and steals (1.6 per game) and has an excellent 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. In the game at Michigan State, he scored 24 points in large part due to his ability to penetrate and draw fouls — he was 11-12 from the free throw line. If there’s one flaw in his game, it’s his outside shooting. He attempted just 19 of them a year ago, making seven (36%) and this year, he’s 1-8 (12%).
Anthony Drmic, a 6’6″ sophomore from Endeavor Hills, Australia, is their second leading scorer (13.8 points per game) and leads the team in rebounding (6.0 per game). He led all MWC freshmen in scoring last season (12.0 PPG), and in games played through Nov. 27, Marks and Drmic combined to be the highest-scoring sophomores in the league. In addition to ranking in the Mountain West’s top 15 in scoring, Derrick Marks (4.00) and Anthony Drmic (3.20) are also in the league’s top 10 in assists – two of only four players in the league with those credentials (Kendall Williams and Tony Snell from New Mexico are the others). Surprisingly, Drmic is one of their best three-point shooters, too, connecting at a 40% clip (10-25) so far this year.
Another Aussie joins him in the starting lineup: 6’4″ Igor Hadziomerovic from Melbourne, Australia. Hadziomerovic averages 7.8 points in 25 minutes a game, and is a versatile player capable of making the three (5-16 this year) as well as scoring in the paint. His primary backup is redshirt freshman Mikey Thompson, who scored 10 points in his Boise State debut against Texas Southern (Nov. 11), and has 10-plus in three of his first four games as a Bronco. He also scored 13 against Louisiana, and 14 against Michigan State. He averages 8.2 points and four rebounds off the bench, while making 40% from long range.
Jeff Elorriaga, a 6’2″ junior from Portland, is their sharpshooter and is third on the team in scoring at 9.8 per game. He’s connected on 13-32 from three-point range (40%) this year, and is a career 38% shooter from deep. Elorriaga is tied for first in the league in minutes played, averaging 34 a game, and also ranks second in the league in both three-point field goals made (2.60 per game) and three-point field goal percentage.
Rounding out the starting five is 6’9″ junior Ryan Watkins, who averages 8.4 points and 5 rebounds a game in 23 minutes. Splitting time with him is the team’s lone senior, 6’7″ 250-pound Kenny Buckner. He averages 7.2 points and 4.6 rebounds a game in 19 minutes; combined, the two players give them solid if unspectacular numbers in the post.
That sums up the Broncos, too — they’re a solid, if unspectacular, team that will probably be a CBI/CIT participant come March. My guess is they’ll give Creighton fits for 20-25 minutes tonight before the Jays pull away for a 10-15 point win.
About the Broncos: Boise State’s rebounding margin of plus-7.2 ranks third in the MWC … Boise State averages 74.8 points per game while allowing 66.0 a game … The Broncos shoot 44.3% from the field, 34.3% from downtown and 76.7% at the line … After playing the first three games of the season at home, the Broncos’ game against UC Santa Barbara (Nov. 24) was the only game at Taco Bell Arena in a three-week stretch that sees the Broncos play at Creighton (Nov. 28), at Seattle (Dec. 2) and at Utah (Dec. 5) … Creighton is the highest-ranked team the Broncos have faced since falling to No. 9 Washington State, Nov. 13, 2007 (86-74), and the highest-ranked team the Broncos have faced on the road since falling to No. 4 Kansas, Nov. 20, 2000 (101-61) … The Broncos’ free throw percentage (76.7%) through Nov. 25 ranked 26th-nationally, as Boise State boasts two of the best free throw shooters in the conference with two in the league’s top 10: Derrick Marks (fifth; 90.6%) and Anthony Drmic (10th; 82.6%).
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Creighton owns a stellar 106/70 assist/turnover ratio (1.51) as a team, led by Grant Gibbs’ unreal 34/6 ratio (5.67). Last year Creighton ranked sixth nationally with a 1.48 assist/turnover ratio … Creighton has scored 71 points or more in all six games, including four straight games of 80 points or more, the first time since 1998-99 that Creighton’s opened a season with six straight games of 71 points or more. Should the Jays score 71+ on Wednesday, it’ll mark the first time since 1970-71 that the team scored 71 or more in seven straight games to start a season … Creighton has won 42 straight regular-season November home games, with CU’s last home loss in November coming clear back in 1989, when it fell to Coppin State on Nov. 27. Overall, Creighton is 53-11 in regular-season November games at all sites since the start of the 1998-99 campaign.
The RUN-DMD Show: Doug McDermott was named MVC Player of the Week last week after averaging 25.3 points and 7.3 rebounds while earning MVP honors of the Las Vegas Invitational. McDermott now owns seven career MVC Player of the Week honors, something only Hersey Hawkins (14), and Bob Harstad (8) can top. How he’s only won seven of these things in his career is a mystery to me.
Special Section to Gloat About Rankings, Because I’m a Fan and I Can Do That: Creighton is ranked in three sports this week, as the Bluejays are ranked eighth in men’s soccer, 11th in men’s basketball and 21st in volleyball. Since October 1st, those three teams are a combined 32-0-1, with the only tie coming last Sunday when the soccer team played to a 1-1 draw at top-ranked Akron. Though officially booked as a tie, Creighton won in penalty kicks to advance to the Elite 8.
The Last Time They Played, and the Series: Creighton and Boise State have never met. Greg McDermott has also never met Bronco coach Leon Rice.
In the MWC-MVC Challenge, the MW holds a 17-10 lead in the series. The conferences split the series last year (4-4), while the MW won the 2010 Challenge (8-1) and the MVC took the 2009 Challenge (5-4). Boise State is 3-2 against current members of the Missouri Valley Conference, including wins in both games against the league last season: Drake on Nov. 30, 2011 (108-64); and Indiana State on Dec. 3, 2011 (74-65).
Gratuitous Linkage: If you believe the Mayan End of the World stories, then you’re in luck: Eight-Bit Dikembe Mutombo is here to save the day! It’s a shameless promotion for Old Spice, but when it comes in the form of a hilariously awesome video game called “Dikembe Mutombo’s 4-1/2 Weeks to Save the World” I’ll overlook that.
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: On November 28, 1983, Benoit Benjamin returned to his home state of Louisiana and led the Jays to a 57-55 victory over Southern. He scored 23 points, had three blocked shots, two dunks, grabbed 10 rebounds and made two vital free throws in his first collegiate appearance in his home state. With the score tied at 53 in the final minute, Benjamin — never known as a great free throw shooter — sank two shots from the charity stripe to give the Jays a lead. After Southern tied it on a shot from the top of the key, Vernon Moore took the inbounds pass, drove the length of the court and made an eight-footer with just seven seconds to play for the win.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day: In honor of Boise State’s two Australian starters, it’s AC/DC’s “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll)”. Because in addition to being big fans of awesome rock n’roll, the Polyfro Primer is nothing if not hospitable to our neighbors from the Southern Hemisphere.
The Bottom Line: Boise State keeps it close through the first half, but Creighton pulls away for a double-digit win and free pizza.
Jays 82, Boise State 68