[dropcap]Wednesday[/dropcap] night, Creighton’s second trip through the Big East tips off in a place where they suffered one of their worst defeats during the first go-around: the Dunkin Donuts Center, against the Providence Friars.
In the first of three meetings last season, Providence beat the Bluejays 81-68 in a game they led by as many as 20 points. The Friars were aggressive and tough; they crashed the glass and forced the game to be played at a slow, methodical tempo. The rematch in Omaha was an emotional night for a lot of reasons, what with it being the final curtain call at home for four seniors, and the Jays avenged the earlier loss with an 88-73 win. Then in NYC, the teams met again for the Big East title, and Providence did pretty much the same thing they did in Rhode Island — they controlled the tempo, and with it, the game in a 65-58 win.
Both teams are completely different from the ones that went on to play in the NCAA Tournament. Creighton lost four starters; Providence lost three, including Bryce Cotton, Josh Fortune and Kadeem Batts, who were responsible for 42.5 of the team’s 73.3-point scoring average. No offense to Fortune and Batts, who were good players, but it’s Cotton that is the biggest loss. He was a two-time First Team All-Big East selection, finished second in the league in scoring behind Doug McDermott a year ago, and led the league in assists with 6.1 per game…all while playing nearly every second of every game.
That puts them in a similar position as the Bluejays, as the Friars are also replacing the majority of their starting five including one spectacular star. And the Friars have fared about the same: really good wins (knocking off Florida State, Rhode Island and Notre Dame) and mystifying losses (Brown), while struggling to define roles with a mix of young players and veteran role players thrust into the limelight.
What they have that Creighton doesn’t (at least so far) is a consistent, game-changing scoring threat. The Jays have had six different leading scorers in 13 games; Providence has LaDontae Henton, who leads the Big East in scoring at 20.0 points per game. He’s scored 21 or more points in seven of the 13 games this season, including 38 versus Notre Dame (November 23), 29 versus Yale (November 28), 27 against UMass (December 20) and 25 versus Miami (December 22). Henton has excelled at all facets of the game offensively; he’s a 33% (20-60) shooter from three-point range and a 55% (78-141) shooter on all other shots, while making 73% (44-60) of his free throws. Defenses have to know where he is at all times, because he can be successful shooting it from anywhere.
The other returning starter, 6’9″ junior Tyler Harris, started the first 11 games this year but has come off the bench the last two and is expected to be the sixth man again on Wednesday. He’s their third-leading scorer at 12.2 points per game, but has been supplanted in the starting lineup by 6’8″ freshman Ben Bentil. In explaining the move, coach Ed Cooley told the media, “As we get ready to get into Big East play, we have to continue to develop our young guys. We need a little bit more offensive firepower coming off the bench.” Harris may be coming off the bench, but he’s still playing starter-level minutes and providing the same offensive production; he scored 13 points in 29 minutes against Miami, and 12 points in 16 foul-trouble-plagued minutes against UMass.
Taking on the unenviable task of replacing Cotton is Kris Dunn, a 6’3″ sophomore who spent the last two years fighting injuries. As a freshman in 2012, he suffered a shoulder injury that cost him nine games and hampered him even after he came back. Last year, he re-injured the same shoulder just four games into the season, and took a medical redshirt. Finally healthy, he’s come back with a vengeance. Dunn leads the league in assists (7.0 per game) and steals (2.9) while ranking 10th in scoring (13.3). Over the last six games in particular, he’s been terrific — averaging 18.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 3.8 steals a game, while shooting 58% from the field. He’s been an assist-machine, dishing out 14 (!) against Navy, 13 against Miami, and 11 against UMass.
The formula for success last year in three meetings was toughness. In PC’s two wins, they were the aggressor both on the glass and in slowing down the tempo. In Creighton’s win, they were tougher and more aggressive than the Friars, sped the game up, and used the faster pace to their advantage. Though the personnel is different, the strategy will be the same — whichever team is more successful at clearing the boards and controlling the tempo will likely be the winner.
For Creighton to be able to do that, their leading rebounder can’t be a guard. They need the three-headed monster of Zach Hanson, Will Artino, and Geoff Groselle to combine for a solid night, both offensively and on the boards, because Providence will destroy them on the glass if those three struggle. In particular, I’m very curious to see how Hanson does in this first Big East game, because it seems that he’s played better the more physical the opponent is, and has struggled when the opposing center is undersized and/or more of a finesse player. Is that just an anecdotal observation, or is there something to it? We’ll start to find out tonight.
They also need Austin Chatman and Devin Brooks need to push the ball in transition, because open three-pointers were hard to come by a year ago in R.I. when they allowed the Friars to get set in their half-court defense. If their bigs can clear the glass and push the ball out to the guards in transition, there will be open looks for Toby Hegner, Isaiah Zierden, and others.
Can the Jays win this game? Absolutely. But it will take a complete effort for 40 minutes; if they fall behind by 10+ points, they won’t have the luxury of the home crowd (Oklahoma), an opponent playing tight (Nebraska), or a mistake-prone opponent (North Texas) to help them back into it.
Quick Notes on the Friars:
- Providence has lost its first Big East home game in five straight seasons
- For the second consecutive season, the Friars finished the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 10-3 record
- Senior LaDontae Henton has recorded 1,650 points in 114 career games (14.5 ppg), and recently surpassed Marshon Brooks to rank 10th all-time in scoring at Providence
- Providence has posted a 3-1 mark this season against ACC teams, beating Miami, Notre Dame, and Florida State, while losing to Boston College
- The Friars score 70.6 points per game and allow just 61.7 per contest. PC shoots 45.8 percent from the field and has held foes to 41.6 percent shooting, including a 28.8 percent mark from downtown.
Bluejay Bytes:
- Creighton owns a 12-4 record in its last 16 conference openers, including a 67-49 win over Marquette last New Year’s Eve
- Greg McDermott has a 7-6 all-time in conference openers as a Division I head coach, including a 3-1 mark at Creighton, and he’s 4-0 in CU’s first conference road game of the season
- Creighton was 26-0 last year when leading at halftime, but just 1-8 when trailing at intermission. This year’s team is 6-1 when leading at half, 3-2 when trailing at halftime and 0-1 when tied at the break
- Creighton owns 14 victories under Greg McDermott after trailing by double-figures at some point, including three games this year, and seven such comebacks away from home.
The Last Time They Played:
On March 15, 2014, Providence defeated Creighton 65-58 to win the Big East Tournament championship. The Friars used a 9-0 run in the first half to take a 26-17 halftime lead, and went on to hold three separate 12-point leads in the second half. CU rallied, and Doug McDermott’s three-pointer with 1:17 to play cut the deficit to 58-56. PC ended the game on a 7-2 run to clinch the title.
Bryce Cotton scored 23 points with five rebounds en route to being named the Big East Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. McDermott led all scorers with 27 points and had a team-high five rebounds, and junior Avery Dingman reached double figures in scoring with 10 points.
The Series:
Providence owns a 8-5 lead in a series that dates back to 1961, including a 5-1 mark in Rhode Island. Greg McDermott is 1-2 against Providence and Ed Cooley.
Cooley is 2-2 against the Bluejays, though, as his Fairfield team fell on March 22, 2010 in a CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament game contested at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
Gratuitous Linkage:
Fox Sports has put together several fun promos for Big East coverage this year; one of them turns commentary from Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery into a song.
What the Other Side is Saying:
“This is a game Providence should win. The trip from Omaha isn’t an easy one, and if the Friars are to defeat Creighton for the third time in four meetings over the past 12 months they’ll have to follow a formula similar to what they used a year ago — out-working and out-muscling the Jays. The Friars were able to bully Creighton in their two victories a season ago and figure to rely heavily on their length throughout the Big East schedule.”
–PC Opens Versus New Look Jays, FriarBasketball.com
This Date in Creighton Hoops History:
Creighton lost seven straight New Year’s Eve games from 1956 to 2005, but enters Wednesday having won three straight since, with wins on December 31 in 2008 (at Indiana State), 2011 (at Wichita State) and 2013 (Marquette).
Perhaps the biggest of those three came on December 31, 2011, when Creighton went into Wichita State for a New Years Evening game on ESPN faced with the prospect of falling to 0-2 in the Valley after dropping the conference opener at home to Missouri State. Not many gave them a chance against the Shockers, but a spirited defensive effort keyed a 68-61 CU win. They held the Shox to 29% shooting in the second half, and used a 21-5 run to turn a 46-39 deficit into a 60-51 lead.
“The last two days were probably as little a time as I spent on preparing for an opponent,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott told the media afterward. “We know Wichita State’s personnel because most of them played last year. But we knew if we didn’t get some things fixed that were going south, it wouldn’t matter how prepared we were for our opponent. We just got back to what we had to do as a team defensively to cover up some of our mistakes. The team that wins isn’t necessarily the one that plays the best, but it’s the one that makes the fewest mistakes.”
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day:
Whatever happened in the non-conference season, Big East play is a fresh start.
“Birds flying high
You know how I feel
Sun in the sky
You know how I feel
Reeds driftin’ on by
You know how I feel
It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life
For me
And I’m feeling good…”
(And yes, this is Muse covering the Nina Simone classic that was featured in last year’s intro video at the CLink.)
The Bottom Line:
Greg McDermott has traditionally done very well when given a week to prepare for an opponent and implement a game plan. Given the fact that it’s been a week-and-a-half since the embarrassment at North Texas, I’d expect the Jays to come out with fire in their belly — and a smart plan for victory, executed well. I just think Providence, on their home court in front of a rowdy NYE crowd, is too big of an obstacle to overcome.
Providence 67, Creighton 64