Back in August when the non-conference slate was announced, Campbell looked to be the best of the three teams visiting Omaha as part of the Dale Howard Classic, at least in terms of their RPI a year ago and returning talent. That wasn’t saying much, considering their 2010-11 RPI was a lofty 286. But still.
As we sit on the day of the game, it appears that Campbell is better than we figured — given that they beat Iowa by 16 points in Iowa City, leading almost the entire game, at this point in time they’re the best of the four opponents Creighton will face in the Dale Howard Classic. And before any Iowa fans or apologists jump on me for saying that, by March the Hawks may very well be better than Campbell. Right now, the Camels have scoreboard on them, and a 16-point win is not the sort of fluky win that can easily be dismissed.
The Fighting Camels are 5-0, with victories over three common opponents with the Jays. They beat North Carolina A&T 94-66, Chicago State 75-69, and Iowa 77-61, and also own wins over Houston Baptist (82-68) and East Carolina (76-74). It’s the first time since they joined D1 in the 1977-78 season that they’ve started 5-0, which is a nice surprise for a team picked by the media to finish 9th out of 11 teams in the Big South Conference.
It’s the classic trap game for a Creighton team that moved in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll this week at #25. The game comes the day after Thanksgiving when the students are on break, and comes before two huge games next week in San Diego State and Nebraska. And the Camels feature the type of dynamic, game-changing player that can lead to upsets — 6’8″ senior Eric Griffin, who averages 19.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.4 blocks a game. Those numbers are slightly skewed by his ridiculous line against Iowa, when he made 10-11 shots en route to 23 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and had SIX blocks. But only slightly. He also had a huge game against North Carolina A&T, making 9-12 shots en route to 24 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking five shots. And another against Chicago State, when he had 17 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks. And also against Houston Baptist, when he had 21 points and 9 rebounds. On second thought, his stats aren’t skewed at all, he’s just having a fabulous senior season so far. Holy crap.
At just 190 pounds, the 6’8″ Griffin figures to have a tougher battle ahead of him against Creighton’s bigger forwards. His numbers may be inflated by the huge number of minutes he plays — 37 in both the Iowa and Chicago State games — as the Camels bench is extremely short, with just seven players getting significant minutes.
Their second leading scorer is 6’4″ Darren White, who averages 19.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks. He’s their best three-point shooter, making 10-20 so far on the season. Freshman Trey Freeman, a 6’1″ guard, is third on the team with 16.4 points a game and has made 30-31 free throws so far in his collegiate career.
They’re a team that scores a lot (80.8 points a game), blocks a ton of shots (36 in five games, an average of 7.2), and outrebounds opponents by over six boards a game. But their toughest opponent so far has been Iowa, a team Creighton destroyed, so it’s not entirely clear whether the Camels are really a vastly improved — and dangerous — team, or whether they’re merely a team that’s taken advantage of a weak schedule.
Meet Campbell: A Baptist university in Buies Creek, North Carolina, Campbell has 6,982 students on its’ main campus … Their mascot is “Gaylord the Camel“, who may or may not be named for Gaylord Perry, the Hall of Fame baseball pitcher who attended the school in the late ’50s. I hope he’s named for the pitcher. Otherwise, what an unfortunately olde-fashioned name for a mascot … The Camels have played in one NCAA Tournament, in 1992 when they were seeded 16th and dispatched by Duke 82-56 … This will be the Camels first season competing in the Big South Conference, after playing in the Atlantic Sun since 1983.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: When Creighton led 74-41 with 6:16 to play on Sunday against Iowa, it was the largest lead the Jays have had in a game away from Omaha since March 10, 2003, when Creighton led Southern Illinois 59-26 with 13:16 remaining in the 2003 MVC Tournament final, a game the Jays won 80-56 … This is the first time the Jays have been ranked in the top-25 of the coaches poll since March 12, 2007, when it was 24th. CU is the first MVC team in the coaches top-25 since Northern Iowa was 13th in the year-end poll for 2009-10 … Doug McDermott was named MVC Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Monday after averaging 25.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in two wins last week. He shot 63.6 percent from the field (21-33), including 5-of-7 from downtown (71.4 percent) and also sank 5-of-6 free throws (83.3 percent) … Grant Gibbs has consecutive games with at least six assists and six rebounds, making him the first Bluejay since Rod Mason on Feb. 11 and Feb. 13, 1988 to do so.
The Last Time They Played: Campbell and Creighton have never met, and Greg McDermott has never faced the Camels nor their coach, Robbie Laing.
Creighton has won every Friday home game it’s played since Dec. 2, 1989 by double-digits. The last time Creighton lost a Friday home game came on Dec. 12, 1975, when Greg McDermott was 11 years old!
Gratuitous Linkage: WBR is proud to announce the launch of a T-Shirt Marketplace, with some great Jays shirts designed by yours truly (and a couple of ideas borrowed from WBR correspondant Pat Dangerous). The “RUN DMD” shirt is my personal favorite, though that 1919 National Champions one is also pretty awesome.
If you have any shirt ideas you’d like to see us design and offer for sale, pass them along either in the comments or on the Bluejay Underground!
Out Of Context Seinfeld Quote: “So I started to walk into the water. I won’t lie to you boys, I was terrified. But I pressed on, and as I made my way past the breakers a strange calm came over me. I don’t know if it was divine intervention or the kinship of all living things, but I tell you Jerry, at that moment I was a marine biologist.” – George Costanza
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: On November 25, 1998, Creighton defeated Iowa in Iowa City, 75-73. Rodney Buford led the Jays with 24 points and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes, along with 7 assists.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day: In honor of the RUN DMD shirt, I gotta go with a little Run DMC. “It’s Tricky”, the video with Penn & Teller, would be a solid choice, but I’m more in the mood for this one today.
The Bottom Line: Campbell has played well so far, but as long as the Jays don’t take them for granted and show up focused, this one should be another blowout win.
Creighton 82, Campbell 65