[dropcap]After[/dropcap] winning their Big East opener Thursday afternoon at St. John’s, Creighton returns home to take on 16th-ranked Villanova on Saturday in the nightcap of the league’s five-game tipoff marathon on FS1. The Wildcats come into the game with an 11-2 record, with their only two losses coming to a pair of top-five opponents in Virginia and Oklahoma, and blew #6 Xavier out of the gym on Thursday with a 95-64 win.
Villanova was very good in that game, making 13-25 from three-point range, with seven of them courtesy of senior guard Ryan Arcidiacano. Their huge win was overshadowed by an early injury, of course. Xavier’s star point guard, Edmond Sumner, went up for an off-balance transition layup just a couple of minutes into the game, as Villanova’s Kris Jenkins trailed, and the ensuing collision resulted in a nasty fall where Jenkins landed on top of him. Sumner was taken off the court on a stretcher after a lengthy delay. Widely regarded as the team leader, in addition to what he brings statistically, the Musketeers were quite obviously rattled — with good reason — and Villanova promptly went on a 32-12 run in the immediate aftermath of his injury.
They’re an excellent team worthy of their prediction as preseason favorites in the Big East, and on nights where their three-pointers are falling at the rate they did against Xavier, they’re a national title contender. When they don’t, as they didn’t against Oklahoma in a 78-55 loss, they can look pretty bad. The Wildcats were a hideous 4-32 from behind the arc in that game, and despite being ice-cold, they still attempted more threes (32) than two-point shots (31). Unfortunately for opponents, games like that are the exception, not the rule.
As a team, Villanova shoots 47.0% from the field, 37% from three point range, 74.0% at the line and has 220 assists against just 129 turnovers. Their top six players all have positive assist:turnover ratios, and as a team they have a +5.4 turnover margin. They lead the Big East and rank ninth nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 59.5 points per game, and allow foes to shoot just 37.3 percent from the field (11th nationally).
Individually, they have four players averaging in double-figures and all four shoot better than 30% from three-point range, a group led by Josh Hart (14.8 ppg.). Hart, a 6’5″ junior, shoots 38% from downtown (24-62) and 52% overall (73-138), and is second on the team in rebounds (6.7 per game). He scored 14 points in two games against the Bluejays a year ago, but is a much-improved player over the one CU saw in those games.
Their second-leading scorer is Ryan Arcidiacano (13.1 points per game), the 2015 Big East Co-Player of the Year. A 39% shooter from three-point range (27-68), Arcidiacano also averages 4.6 assists and 2.1 rebounds a game, while turning it over just 16 times all season. He’s had big games against the Jays, none moreso than last March in Omaha when he scored 23 points on 10-12 shooting from the line and 6-12 from the floor in 35 minutes.
Preseason Big East Freshman of the Year Jalen Brunson (11.5 ppg.) has had a huge debut season for Villanova. In addition to being their third-leading scorer, he has a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio (41:20), shoots 32% from three-point range (17-53) and is nearly perfect at the line (36-43, 83%).
Kris Jenkins, a 6’6″ junior, is their fourth player averaging in double-figures at 10.4 points per game. Jenkins has taken on a bigger role this year, and thrived — his 25-made threes are second most on the team, and he led the team with 23 points in the loss to Virginia.
While those four are stretching defenses with their long-range shooting, Daniel Ochefu (9.7 ppg., 8.0 rpg., 1.8 bpg.) holds down the fort inside. Ochefu has just one three-point attempt all year, and is 54-85 (63%) from the floor. He didn’t score a ton in the two games vs Creighton a year ago, but they had no answer for him on the glass as the big man had 8 boards in the first meeting and nine in the rematch.
Off the bench, Phil Booth (7.5 ppg.) and Mikal Bridges (7.0 ppg.) are the top performers. The only other player to see action in all 13 games is Darryl Reynolds, who averages 2.1 points and 3.7 rebounds a game.
Last March, Creighton employed a gameplan designed to force Villanova into an ugly, rugged game. The Jays’ defense was aggressive, prevented them from running their cuts, and essentially forced them to drive the ball to the rim almost every possession instead of shooting threes. It caught Villanova off-guard, and nearly enabled CU to steal a win. The personnel are different this time, and Creighton had played at a much faster pace than a year ago, so a repeat of that strategy may not be likely. It will be interesting to see how McDermott schemes to slow down the Wildcat shooters, and if the rowdy, late-night crowd can give the Jays enough energy to fuel the upset.
Villanova should win. But the Bluejays have some things going for them. For fans, this game has been circled on the schedule since it came out, both because of the opponent and because of the holiday weekend, Saturday night, 9:00pm tip off. In the 13 years of the CLink, late night weekend games like this have ALWAYS had ridiculous atmospheres, and tonight will be no exception. The quick, roughly 48-hour turnaround from the last game is the same for both teams but one had to travel halfway across the country to get here, and the other didn’t. That’s a slight edge to the Jays, too. On paper, Villanova is by far the better team, but if the Jays can hit some shots early to keep the crowd juiced, who knows?
One thing I know for sure: I can’t wait for 9:00 to get here.
Quick Notes on the Wildcats:
- Villanova has steadily improved their long distance shooting since a December 7 loss to Oklahoma. They’ve converted 40% of their three-pointers in the five games since then, going 4-1.
- Creighton has scored 80 points or more in all 10 wins thus far, and is 10-2 when scoring 70 or more points. Meanwhile, Villanova is 9-1 this year when scoring 70 or more points, and 34-1 over the past two years when reaching that point total. Defensively, ‘Nova is 10-0 when holding foes to 69 points or less but 1-2 when opponents score 70 points or more.
- The Wildcats only have three home games in January: Seton Hall next Wednesday, Marquette (January 13) and Providence (January 23) at the Wells Fargo Center.
Bluejay Bytes:
- Saturday night marks the 10th time in the last 34 games that Creighton has played against a ranked team, a stretch that started January 3, 2015 at No. 25 Georgetown. You already knew this, but we ain’t in the Valley no more.
- Maurice Watson Jr. owns 39 assists in Creighton’s last five games against just 10 turnovers. He’s had seven assists or more in all five of those games, becoming the first Bluejay in more than 30 years with a streak that long of seven or more assists. Watson is currently averaging 6.5 assists per game. Creighton’s last player to average 6.0 assists per game or more for an entire season is Randy Eccker’s 7.3 assists per contest in 1976-77.
- Saturday night’s 9:01 pm tilt vs. Villanova marks Creighton’s 10th start in the 13-year history of the CenturyLink Center that the Jays will tip-off after 8:30 pm, a list that includes some of the most lively crowds and best games in building history. Here’s the crazy thing: in the 211-game history of the building, there’s only been five games where the Jays hit a game-winning shot in the final five seconds, but two of those (Rhode Island and Long Beach State) came among the games that tipped after 9 pm.
The Series:
Villanova leads the all-time series 5-2, but the teams have split four games since CU joined the Big East. CU is 1-1 against Villanova in Omaha.
The Last Time They Played:
Last March in Omaha, Creighton used a physical defensive gameplan to hold the Wildcats under 30% shooting for the first half — just the third time that had happened all season — and the Jays led by as many as nine points. But Villanova cut the deficit to 30-29 at the half, and exploded in the second half to take a 51-40 edge midway thru the second.
In front of one of the most electric crowds of the season, Rick Kreklow hit a three with 5:08 to go that cut the lead to three; after a free throw from ‘Nova, Austin Chatman hit a long three to cut the lead to one. Then a defensive stop, and two free throws by Chatman, gave the Jays a 67-66 lead with 1:10 to go. A blown defensive assignment freed up Ryan Arcidiacano for a baseline layup, and he converted the and-one to give his team a 69-67 lead.
The drama wasn’t over. Devin Brooks lost control of the ball the next time down, leading to two free throws by Darrun Hilliard. Toby Hegner missed a point-blank layup with 10 seconds left, rebounded his own miss, and put it in to make it 72-69. Arcidiacano hit two more free throws to make it 74-69. Chatman hit a three, Brooks drew a charge on the ensuing inbounds pass, and the Jays threw the ball to Will Artino at the rim for a chance to tie it…except his soft hook shot came up short, and the game was over.
It was their seventh loss, and sixth in Big East play, when they had a lead with at least 61 seconds remaining in the game.
Gratuitous Linkage:
Even before the Jays won on Thursday to go 1-0 in the league, ESPN’s Andy Katz was touting them as a darkhorse candidate to finish in the top half of the Big East.
What the Other Side is Saying:
“Creighton has plenty of offensive fire-power, with a high-power offense that features four players averaging double-digit points and a fifth who is close. Villanova’s defense will have their hands full trying to slow the Jays’ roll on offense. If that doesn’t happen, it could be a high-scoring affair.
Villanova has a good offense as well, especially if their shots are falling from deep like they were on New Years. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, rank 167th in the nation for defensive-efficiency, which puts them just a hair above the average. Unless the Wildcats shoot themselves in the foot, scoring points to keep pace in Omaha should be a reasonable possibility. However, you’d have to hope that the ‘Cats learned a few key takeaways from their loss at Virginia, where a shootout, combined with a rough night on the boards, saw the Cavaliers run away with a victory.”
-Brian Ewart, VU Hoops, “3 things to watch when Villanova visits Creighton”
This Date in Creighton Hoops History:
On January 2, 2001, Creighton beat Nebraska 62-51 at the Devaney Center in Lincoln to pick up their first-ever win in the building in 13 tries. The 11-point win was made all the more remarkable by the fact that the Jays went scoreless for their first 15 possessions — 8-1/2 minutes of game time — and then scored 62 in the remaining 31-1/2. In fact, the Bluejays only stayed in the game because Nebraska was nearly as bad, scoring just seven points of their own during the dry spell.
The Huskers had more turnovers (15) than field goals (7) in the first half, and as a result led only 24-22 at the half. The Jays took the lead on the very first possession of the second, and never trailed again.
Leading the charge was sophomore Kyle Korver, who had 22 points, 13 rebounds, and four steals. It was his three that gave them a 25-24 lead with 19:17 to go; after the game, he told the media the win was of little significance to him, “But it’s big for Creighton, and it’s big for our fans.”
The Creighton fans he spoke of took over the Devaney Center in the game’s final minute. As a good portion of Nebraska’s fans headed for the exits, Bluejay backers filled the arena with chants of “Let’s Go Bluejays!” — the first instance of something that would become commonplace in years to come.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day:
Motley Crue “officially” retired from touring on New Years Eve, which bums me out a bit because there’s few spectacles like them left in rock. I’ll take solace in having seen them in concert three times — including from the third row in their final show in Omaha — and in the many, many live videos like this one on YouTube.
The Bottom Line:
Odds are, even a team as good at shooting the basketball as Villanova is due for a bit of a market correction after going bananas in the last game, right? If that happens, can the Jays make enough baskets of their own to keep pace?
I’m going to predict a Wildcat win, but I’m hoping like heck to be wrong and think there’s a real, distinct possibility the Bluejays steal one here.
#16 Villanova 82, Creighton 75