[dropcap]The[/dropcap] first half of the Big East schedule wraps up on Saturday night when Creighton hosts Seton Hall in the annual “Creighton vs Cancer” Pink-Out. Regardless of what happens, the Jays will have a winning record in the league after nine games, and have already exceeded their win total of a year ago. That’s the good news. Five of the nine games in the backstretch of the season are on the road, including trips to the top-ten ranked trio of Villanova, Xavier, and Providence, along with Butler and Marquette. That’s the bad news.
With the backloaded nature of Creighton’s schedule, Saturday’s game is one they need to get, particularly after the way they lost in such frustrating fashion on Tuesday night. For 37 minutes they dominated Georgetown on their home floor, and then melted down in the final three to lose after giving up a 15-3 run to end the game. It woke up echoes of last year, when the Bluejays lost seven games in Big East play after being tied or ahead in the final minute of regulation, and had people — including players and coaches — asking why they can’t seem to close.
“I know I’m going to learn from it,” Coach Greg McDermott said on the 1620AM postgame show Tuesday night. “I know I’m going to comb through that last three minutes and become a better coach on things I should have done differently. I feel in that situation I’ve got to bring the team home. I don’t care what the hell happens — I don’t care about the whistles, what else goes on, what the other team tries to do — as their head coach I’ve got to bring that game home for them, and I didn’t do that tonight. I will make sure that I’m better on Thursday (when we resume practice). It’s only devastating if we don’t learn from it and become better.”
This year, 13 of their 14 wins have come by double-digits, while the lone exception — last Saturday night’s win over Butler — was an eight-point victory. On the other side of the coin, they’ve now gone 0-4 this year and 3-14 over the last two seasons in games decided by five points or less, and haven’t won a game that close since last January when they defeated St. John’s 77-74 in Omaha. 17 games is a pretty good sample size — that’s more than half a seasons’ worth of games — so it’s fair to conclude that at this point, the post-Doug McDermott Bluejays are not very good at closing the deal in tight games.
That’s not a good thing with Seton Hall coming to town. Three of the last four games with the Pirates have been decided by one point, with the Jays losing two of the three. The pair of one-point losses to Seton Hall last year marked just the second time EVER that Creighton played multiple one-point games against the same team in the same season, joining the 2004-05 Northern Iowa series (CU won 67-66 and 83-82). That’s ironic because the Panthers’ head coach that year was none other than Greg McDermott.
Seton Hall comes to town with a 4-4 record in the league, but three of those losses came to top 10 opponents Villanova (twice) and Xavier by a combined 18 points. The 15-point loss to the Jays earlier this month seems to have been the low point of the season for them, and if the talk coming out of South Orange is to be believed, they’ve turned a corner. Coach Kevin Willard gushed about the maturity of his team on the Big East coaches’ conference call this week, and lauded their business-like approach to practice before the St. John’s game on Wednesday. He noted that a year ago they had trouble focusing for some teams, but that was not an issue this week as prepared for the last-place Johnnies.
According to an article in the Asbury Park Press, that was apparently still true three weeks ago, though. Center Angel Delgado admitted they didn’t take the Bluejays seriously enough, telling the paper, “We just weren’t mentally prepared. They didn’t get our best shot. We’re going to their house now, and we don’t care.”
If it’s true that the Pirates have become a more mature team since then, Willard benching three of his star players for most of the second half against the Jays — a move widely ridiculed, here and elsewhere — will turn out to be a stroke of genius.
Isaiah Whitehead leads the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game, and has scored 15 or more in four straight games, including 19 on Wednesday against St. John’s. He played just seven minutes in the second half of the first game against CU, and had one of his most ineffective games of the year, scoring 10 points on 4-11 shooting, including 0-3 from three-point range.
Fellow guard Khadeen Carrington is the second-leading scorer on the team at 14.9 points per game, and had 17 points against the Bluejays earlier this month thanks in large part to going 6-8 from the line. He’s been especially effective for them in the second half of games, scoring a team-best 8.5 points in the second period and logging 10 or more 10 different times.
The third starting guard, Desi Rodriguez, also averages in double-figures at 12.1 points per game. He scored eight in the game against CU, playing just 21 minutes before joining Whitehead on the bench.
Forward Ismael Sanogo averages 7.5 boards per game, and had 9 — including three offensive — against the Jays. He’s not much of a force offensively, scoring three or fewer points in five of their eight Big East games, but is an effective defender and rebounder. Joining him inside is Angel Delgado, who ranks second in the league in rebounds (9.8 boards per game) after a monster 14-point, 17-rebound game against St. John’s. He’s struggled against the Jays in his career, and had just eight points and four boards against them in the first meeting this year while getting burned defensively by Geoff Groselle time after time.
Senior Derrick Gordon, who’s come off the bench for the Pirates all year, was the biggest beneficiary of SHU benching three starters against the Jays, as he scored 14 points in 31 minutes. Though he averages 8.5 points per game, the game against CU was his best.
Seton Hall’s best chance in this game is to keep it close and force Creighton to face their late-game demons head on. If they do that, there’s an excellent chance the Pirates sneak out of Omaha with a win. For CU, the keys are duplicating what they did in Newark — getting a big game out their centers to neutralize Delgado, keeping Maurice Watson out of foul trouble so that he can use his speed to defeat their defense as he did in that game with his 14 assists, and building a big enough lead so there’s no chance of another late-game meltdown.
Quick Notes on the Pirates:
- The Pirates score 74.2 points per game and shoot 44.4 percent from the field, 33.0 percent from three-point range and 65.0 percent at the line. SHU yields 66.8 points per game, allowing opponents to shoot 39.8 percent
- Seton Hall ranks 43rd in the KenPom rankings and 55th in the RPI, fourth in the Big East in both rankings.
Bluejay Bytes:
- Creighton went 0-4 last season in one-point games and with the loss to Georgetown on Tuesday, has a current streak of five straight losses in one-point games, which is tied for the program’s longest streak ever, matching a stretch of five straight losses in one-point games between 1947-52.
- Isaiah Zierden has made at least two three-pointers in each of Creighton’s last nine games. With two trifectas on Saturday, Zierden can become the first Bluejay with 10 straight games of multiple triples since Ethan Wragge did it in 16 straight games from Nov. 28, 2013 – January 25, 2014. Prior to Wragge’s marksmanship, no one had done it since Kyle Korver’s streak of 13 straight from February 4 – March 20, 2003.
- Saturday will be Greg McDermott’s 200th game as Creighton head coach. His 135-64 mark thus far is good for the program’s best winning percentage (.678) in the last 80 years.
- Saturday is the annual “Creighton vs. Cancer” pink-out, and this year’s jersey auction raised $16,527.90, bringing the five-year total to $126,203.04. The jersey with the highest bid this year? Maurice Watson’s #10, which had a bid of $1397. Isaiah Zierden’s #21 was close behind at $1280, and Geoff Groselle’s #41 raised $1275.
The Series:
Seton Hall leads the all-time series with Creighton 8-4, including a 1-1 mark in Omaha, with both previous meetings in Omaha being decided by a single point. Three of the last four meetings overall have been one-point contests, with the meeting in New Jersey earlier this month the lone exception.
Greg McDermott is 3-2 against Seton Hall and coach Kevin Willard, while Willard is 3-3 all-time against Creighton, picking up a 2009 win over the Jays while he was the coach at Iona.
The Last Time They Played:
Earlier this month, Creighton dominated Seton Hall, 82-67. How dominant? They had more points in the paint (42-30), more points off turnovers (12-7), more second chance points (8-7), and more fast break points (8-4). In more traditional numbers, they did what they needed to, also: the Jays had 17 assists on 29 made baskets, kept the rebound battle even (SHU had just two more offensive boards than the Jays, 12-10, and just one more rebound overall, 40-39), got the ball inside (21 of their 29 made baskets came inside the arc) and made enough three-pointers to keep the defense honest (8-19 from downtown, including 5-11 in the first half).
Mo Watson’s 14 assists were three shy of the school record, the most by any Bluejay since 1974, and the most ever by any Bluejay not named Ralph Bobik. The early-70s great had 17 assists in a game twice (February 23, 1973 against St. Francis of PA, and January 22, 1974 against Bradley) and 16 against BYU on December 17, 1973. Next in the Bluejay record book is now Maurice Watson’s 14 in the first win over Seton Hall this year.
Gratuitous Linkage:
Earlier this week, Seton Hall blew out St. John’s 79-60 in a game not nearly as close as the score indicates. In this column from the NY Post, coach Kevin Willard and his players credited their focus and preparation for the win.
Gratuitous Linkage, Part II:
The website PickinSplinters.com ran a feature article on Geoff Groselle earlier this week chronicling his amazing transformation from freshman to senior years. Jays fans are well aware of his massive improvement, but it’s nice to see a website from the east coast publicize Groselle for everyone else.
What the Other Side is Saying:
Jerry Carino, the excellent Seton Hall reporter for the Asbury Park Press, lists his three keys to the game for SHU as keeping Maurice Watson out of the lane, getting physical inside, and staying poised. (I agree, obviously, as my keys above were pretty similar). It’s a good, quick read on the game.
This Date in Creighton Hoops History:
On January 30, 1984, Creighton had two players log double-doubles in a 92-74 win over Indiana State. Benoit Benjamin led the way with 21 points and 16 rebounds, and was joined by Gregory Brandon, who scored 21 with 12 boards. The two combined to shoot 20-31 from the field, and their 28 combined rebounds were more than the Sycamores as a team (26).
The Jays led 30-23 at halftime, and then scored 62 in the second, as Vernon Moore scored 14 of his 16 points in the half to help them pull away.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day:
It’s good to be back home.
The Bottom Line:
Saturday is going to tell us a lot about how the back-half of the schedule will go. If the Jays bounce back and play well, successfully shake off an immensely frustrating loss, and pick up their sixth win in league play, the Georgetown game will just be a bump in the road. If they let it linger, come out flat, and lose, the Georgetown game will prove to be a roadblock.
Creighton’s going to get a better version of Seton Hall than they got in Newark, but even with that, I don’t think they have an answer for Maurice Watson’s speed or ability to create. If he stays out of foul trouble and thus, stays on the court, the Jays win this one. If not? Well, let’s not think about that.
Bluejays 80, Pirates 72