DePaul comes into Saturday afternoon’s game in Omaha off a rousing win over #10 Providence. It was the highest-ranked victory for the Blue Demons since a 64-57 win over #5 Kansas on December 2, 2006, and their second win of the season over a ranked opponent as they knocked off #20 George Washington, 82-61, on December 22.
Most concerning for the Bluejays is that DePaul was +24 on the glass against the Friars — out-rebounding them 48-24, including 18 offensive rebounds that led to 22 second-chance points. To do that against a good rebounding team like Providence is impressive, and thinking about how Creighton has struggled immensely on the boards the last two games, it gives me a headache. Doubly so when you consider that DePaul has outrebounded its opponent in 15 of 22 games this season.
To that end, the Jays’ coaches tried to force the team to be more aggressive by running some old-fashioned drills in practice, including the ol’ “Scramble for the Ball” drill:
Team doing a scramble-for-the-ball drill. pic.twitter.com/foWX0WJQvC
— Ralph Bistline (@RalphBistline) February 4, 2016
They’ll need to be more aggressive and energetic from the moment the ball is tipped on Saturday. The Blue Demons have raced to 11-2 leads in each of their last two games, which came against nationally-ranked Xavier and Providence. On January 17th when Creighton visited DePaul, the Blue Demons scored the game’s first 11 points. And last season in Omaha, DePaul surged to a 15-2 lead and led wire-to-wire in a 70-60 triumph at Creighton. Given the Jays’ confidence issues of late and inability to respond well to adversity, a fast start — especially against DePaul — is essential.
The Blue Demons haven’t been without talent in recent years, but Dave Leitao appears to be doing a better job of coaching it up than his predecessor did. They’re better prepared with better gameplans than they were in the past, and though their record doesn’t show it, they’re a much improved club.
Myke Henry leads the team in scoring at 14.6 points per game, and is also their top rebounder with 6.3 boards. He’s scored in double-figures in 19 of their 22 games, and has three double-doubles this season — all three over last eight games — and four games this season with double-figure scoring and nine rebounds. His 27-point, 11-rebound double-double against Providence earlier this week marked just the ninth time since the start of the 2002-03 season (427 games) that a DePaul player totaled at least 25 points and 10 rebounds in a game. In the first game vs Creighton, he scored 21 points with five boards.
Billy Garrett, Jr. is their second-leading scorer with 13.8 points per game, and adds 3.3 boards and 3.8 assists a game. Against Providence earlier this week, he had 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and a block. He scores off the dribble and from the line as well as anyone in the league, and he’s 96-115 from the line this year — a 83.5% shooting percentage.
Other weapons include Tommy Hamilton IV, who’s third on the team in scoring (9.1 ppg.), and is second on the team with 6.0 rebounds per outing. Hamilton’s three-point shooting has been a good barometer on DePaul’s success as a team; in the six games where he makes multiple threes, they’re 3-3, and in the nine where he hasn’t made any, they’re 1-8. One of those losses came in the game in Rosemont last month, as he scored 13 points on 2-4 shooting from long range with eight boards and two assists, but the Blue Demons lost the game to the Jays.
Eli Cain, a true freshman guard, has emerged as one of the best rookies in the league. He had seven points, six boards, and four assists in the upset win over Providence, and had 21 points on 6-8 shooting and 7-9 from the free throw line against the Jays last month. That stands as his career high, though he averages a very solid 8.5 points and 3.2 boards a game for the season.
Creighton opened as 12.5 point favorite in Vegas, which is probably taking into account the records of the two teams and the home-court advantage the Jays generally enjoy, and not the recent fortunes of those two teams. DePaul is as confident as they’ve been in a long time, and the Jays are reeling; if CU comes out with the same effort they had the last two games, they could get decked again. A loss to DePaul would be devastating in a great many ways and could really send the season down the drain.
However, the Blue Demons have committed more turnovers than the opponent in 17 of 22 games, and I have a feeling that will ultimately be their undoing on Saturday. I think the Jays will win, but not by the double-digit margins they’re favored by.
One thing to keep an eye on: Isaiah Zierden tweaked his knee in practice on Thursday and rode a stationary bike in practice Friday instead of running with the team, but should play on Saturday. If he’s unable to play, or if he does but he’s ineffective, that changes a lot of things schematically on both ends of the court. Still, the Jays should get this one.
Quick Notes on the Blue Demons:
- Over the last 18 games, DePaul is shooting .367 (114-311) from three-point range after going just 7-for-40 (.175) from behind the arc in their first three games.
- Billy Garrett Jr. recorded the 300th assist of his career in the game vs Providence, becoming the 16th player in school history to reach that mark. With 16 points in that game, Garrett also recorded his 60th career game in double-figures.
- The Blue Demons’ rebounding margin of plus-24 (48-24) is their most this season and the highest rebound margin by a DePaul team since the same margin (56-32) against Alcorn State on Dec. 28, 2008.
Bluejay Bytes:
- Creighton has won 91 straight home games against teams that enter with a record of .500 or worse, and have never lost a game at the CenturyLink Center to a team with a losing record. The last team to pull such an upset was February 25, 2002, when Drake won at the Omaha Civic Auditorium. DePaul enters Saturday’s match-up with an 8-14 record this season.
- Creighton has won 6 of 7 meetings with DePaul since the schools became league rivals in the Big East three years ago. It’s probably not a coincidence that Creighton’s 78.1 points per game is its second-most against any conference foe in that span. The only Big East team that Creighton has scored more points per game against is Xavier (78.4), a team that CU is 3-2 against.
- Isaiah Zierden’s 31 point game at DePaul made him the third Creighton player to score 30 or more points in a game in Greg McDermott’s six-year tenure on The Hilltop. Kenny Lawson Jr. did it first with 30 points on Dec. 11, 2010 vs. Saint Joseph’s, and Doug McDermott did it 27 different times.
- When Zach Hanson replaced Geoffrey Groselle in Creighton’s starting line-up on Tuesday at Villanova, it left the Bluejays without a senior on the floor to start the game. The last time Creighton’s line-up didn’t have a senior starter had been November 26, 2009 vs. No. 15 Michigan. Each of CU’s past 231 games had featured a senior starter.
The Series:
DePaul owns a 16-13 lead in the series, but the Bluejays have won eight of the last nine meetings. Each of the last seven meetings in the series have been decided by double-figures. Creighton is 6-1 in the series since joining the Big East, including a victory at last year’s conference Tournament in the opening round, and a 91-80 win in Rosemont last month.
The Last Time They Played:
Isaiah Zierden had a career day offensively, making eight-of-eleven from 3-point range en route to 31 points. Five of them came during a seven-minute stretch in the second half, during which time the Jays turned a 50-50 tie into a 74-63 lead. Combined with Creighton’s bench outscored DePaul’s bench 38-7, thanks to Cole Huff, Zach Hanson, and James Milliken all scoring in double figures, their offense was simply too much for DePaul and the Jays beat them 91-80.
Gratuitous Linkage:
SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell wrote a first-hand account of DePaul’s “Reverse Court Storming” after the win against Providence this week. With roughly 12 students in the student section, there weren’t enough bodies to storm the court after the upset, so the players stormed the student section instead.
This Date in Creighton Hoops History:
On February 6, 2002, Tyler McKinney hit two free throws with 6.8 seconds remaining to lift Creighton to a 64-63 win at Indiana State. CU led most of the game and built aa 59-50 edge with 5:35 to go, but ISU Blue used a 13-3 run — capped by a three pointer from Matt Broermann with 14 seconds to play — to take a 63-62 lead. Then McKinney was working for a last-second shot when he was fouled by ISU’s Lamar Grimes in front of the bench. His free throws were sweet justice for the Bluejays, as he alluded to in talking to the media afterward.
“I was just trying to penetrate, get to the lane and hope to get a shot for someone else. He did push me, and I kind of stepped out of bounds, so they probably had to call something. We kind of know what they feel like. We got the call called on us last time.”
Ah yes, the last time. Three days prior to that game at Indiana State was the infamous Super Bowl Sunday heist where the Jays lost at home to SIU on a controversial foul call with 0.3 seconds remaining in a tie game. The Salukis’ Kent Williams sank a pair of free throws to steal the game 79-77, and the Civic came unglued, with fans first hurling insults at the officiating crew and then hurling debris in their direction. It was, without a doubt, the worst call I’ve ever seen, and led to a scathing column from Tom Shatel the next day where he called out the official by name:
“An official who decides the game. Not the players. Not the coaches.
By the time official Mike Sanzere put his prints on this one, CU had taken a 16 – point lead, blown a 14 – point halftime lead, fallen behind by four, then rallied frantically to tie at 77 with 4.5 seconds left on Mike Grimes’ two free throws.
SIU brought the ball down quickly and got the ball to guard Kent Williams, who was pinned on the sidelines by Creighton guard DeAnthony Bowden. Williams leaned into Bowden, making contact. Bowden bumped back. Williams threw up a prayer.
It was answered by the stunning sound of Sanzere’s whistle.
Let’s get this straight. Williams is so far away from the basket that he’s almost out of bounds. Players were tackled in this game and no foul called. There’s three – tenths of a second left. And Williams gets the foul called and three free throws for heaving the ball toward the hoop?
Are you kidding me?
Sadly, no.”
Gets my blood boiling now just reading about it.
15 years ago today, Tyler McKinney exacted a tiny bit of revenge by beating Indiana State in close to the same fashion.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day:
Creighton was born to run, so here’s hoping they defend — and rebound — well enough to get out and do it. And yes, that’s probably the cheesiest pun I’ve ever used in a Primer. I don’t care.
The Bottom Line:
Every time Creighton has been counted out this year, they’ve responded (so far). I think their late-January swoon ends on Saturday.
Bluejays 85, Blue Demons 78