[dropcap]Creighton[/dropcap] hasn’t played a home game in 19 days, and return to the CenturyLink Center on Wednesday night riding a three-game losing streak and holding an 0-2 record in the league. The opponent for this homecoming of sorts? Old rival DePaul, who’s shockingly 2-0 after two home wins over Marquette and Xavier. The Blue Demons have never started 3-0 in the Big East, while the Jays have not started 0-3 in conference play since 1993-94, when Rick Johnson’s final, awful club started MVC play 0-7. As they say, something’s gotta give.
It hasn’t just been a long time since Creighton started 0-3 in conference; it’s been a really long time since Creighton lost has four straight games, period. The last time it happened was a four-game stretch that spanned the new millennium — the streak began with a 73-53 loss to Hawaii in the Nike Classic on December 23, 1999, and continued with a one-point loss to Southwest Missouri State in the MVC opener on the 29th. In the final eight minutes of that game, the Bluejays squandered a 10-point lead by committing four turnovers, missing three of four free throws, and failing to make a single field goal. With 11 seconds left, Ryan Sears missed a three-pointer, Ben Walker grabbed the rebound, and was fouled with six seconds left. He made the first free throw, missed the second, and the Jays lost 59-58.
Another excruciating loss followed, this time a 77-75 defeat in Cedar Falls to Northern Iowa where the Jays blew a 38-34 halftime lead by letting the Panthers shoot 72% in the second half. A furious last-minute comeback saw the Jays trim an eight-point deficit to two, but they couldn’t regain the lead. The misery continued in Terre Haute three nights later, as the Bluejays lost 56-46 to the Sycamores, once again blowing a halftime lead with cold second-half shooting — the Jays made 29% (8-27) in the second period. The loss dropped them to 1-3 in the MVC, their worst start of the Altman Era. The streak finally ended two nights later in Carbondale, with a 72-66 win over SIU. That team would finish strong, winning nine of its final 12 games, and won the MVC Tournament to secure an NCAA Tourney berth where they lost a heartbreaker to Auburn in the first round.
14 seasons have passed, and Creighton hasn’t had another four-game losing streak. They’re staring one in the eye this week, though, as they’ve dropped three straight with a similar stretch of offensive futility as that 1999-00 squad had in their four-game losing streak and are facing a team riding an unexpected wave of confidence.
DePaul was picked to finish 10th in the Big East, and during non-conference play did little to make anyone re-think that prediction. They were the only Big East team with a losing record at 6-7, and entered league play on a six-game losing streak. Then they proceeded to pick up a pair of three-point wins over Marquette and Xavier, and despite the worst RPI, lowest KenPom ranking, and worst overall record, they find themselves in first place with a 2-0 record.
Their RPI of 203 is 85 spots lower than the next closest Big East team, your Creighton Bluejays. Yet, DePaul is the only team in the Big East to feature four of the top 15 scorers in the league. Myke Henry (13.5 ppg) is seventh, Billy Garrett Jr. (13.4) is eighth, Tommy Hamilton IV (12.8) is 12th and Jamee Crockett (12.1) is 15th. No other league team has more than two players in the top 15.
Henry, a 6’6″, 228 pound junior transfer from Illinois, leads the team in scoring with that 13.5 average and is second on the team in rebounding at 5.1 boards per game, but over the last six games he’s been mired in a slump. During that stretch, he’s averaging 8.3 points and 3.2 rebounds, and shooting just 37.3% from the field (19-51) — a significant drop from the 50.0% he’s shooting for the season (79-158). Of note, Henry has 39 turnovers on the season, or nearly 2.5 per game.
The Demons’ second-leading scorer is Billy Garrett, Jr., the 2014 Big East Rookie of the Year after a season where he averaged 12.4 points, 3.3 assists, and 2.4 rebounds a game. In three meetings against CU, though, Garrett was held in check — he was scoreless in the game in Chicago (going 0-10 from the floor and 0-7 from three-point range), scored just nine points in Omaha (4-10 from the field, 1-5 from three), and scored just seven in the Big East Tournament matchup. So far this year, he’s increased his averages across the board, scoring at a 13.4 point clip per game, with 3.6 assists and 2.4 rebounds a game. In two Big East games, he’s been even better, scoring 34 points in the two wins on 11-16 shooting, including 4-6 from long range and 8-12 at the line.
Tommy Hamilton IV, a 6’11”, 255 pound sophomore, is their third-leading scorer. He was suspended for the conference opener due to an unspecified violation of team rules, but returned against Xavier to score nine points and grab three rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench. He’d started the team’s first 13 games before sitting out, and had averaged 13.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game along with 1.3 blocks in 32.8 minutes per game. Those averages have dropped a bit, but he remains a tough player to stop. He’s had several monster games so far this season, getting a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds against Illinois State, another double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds against Colorado. Other standout performances include piling up 15 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks against UW-Milwaukee, 25 points and 8 rebounds against Chicago State, and 17 points with 8 rebounds against UIC.
The fourth of those Big Four Scorers is Jamee Crockett, who averages 12.1 points and 3.3 rebounds a game. The senior forward played in just one of three meetings versus Creighton last year, scoring 13 points with three 3-pointers in the Big East Tournament Quarterfinals. He scored 10 points with four rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win over Xavier on Saturday. It’s been a nice rebound for the 6’4″ senior, who played in just 19 games a year ago and averaged only 3.9 points and 1.4 rebounds in those games after averaging 8.7 points and 3.0 rebounds his first two seasons.
With all of those scorers, how is DePaul only 8-7 on the season with the worst RPI in the league? Defensively, they’re really bad, allowing opponents to shoot 46.2% against them, and they have a -4.9 rebound margin. The Effective Field Goal Percentage for their opponents is 50.7%, which is astoundingly bad. They’re also averaging 14.7 turnovers a game.
Given the pace DePaul prefers to play at and their defensive deficiencies, they’re the perfect team for Creighton to get back on track against if a return to the CLink after 19 days leads to better shooting. If CU doesn’t guard well and their shots don’t fall even on friendly rims, DePaul is also the kind of team that can destroy them from behind the arc. I’m banking on the former.
Quick Notes on the Blue Demons:
- The Blue Demons are 6-2 in games with 70 possessions or less and 2-5 with 71 or more possessions. In the last two games, both wins, DePaul has played a season-low 64 possessions in each game
- A win makes DePaul 3-0 to start Big East play for the first time since joining the conference at the start of the 2005-06 season. The 2007-08 squad opened the Big East slate with two wins and went 3-1 over its first four, which is their best start in the league to date
- The Blue Demons are ranked second in the Big East in free throw percentage (74.5%), second three-point field goals (8.0 per game), third in scoring (73.6 ppg) and third in three-point field goal percentage (36.1%)
- After going 12-for-24 from the free throw line in the season opener, DePaul is 221-of-291 (.760) in the last 14 games
Bluejay Bytes:
- Saturday’s loss at Georgetown was the first time that Creighton had lost a game with a +9 rebound differential since falling to Illinois State on Feb. 9, 2013. Creighton had also not lost a game in which it made 24 or more free throws since Feb. 13, 2010, also to Illinois State
- This is just the fourth time in five seasons under Greg McDermott that the Bluejays have lost three games in a row. By comparison, DePaul has had 10 losing streaks of three or longer in the same five seasons
- Creighton is 8-0 in their last eight games against teams from the state of Illinois. They’ve won all eight games by double-digits and posted an average victory margin of 19.6 points
Possibly Motivational, Probably Hilarious Quote of the Day:
“I love the mirror in that bathroom. I don’t know what in the hell it is, I look terrific in that mirror. I don’t know if its the tile or the lighting…I feel like Robert Wagner in there.” -George Costanza, Seinfeld
The Series:
DePaul owns a 15-10 lead in the series, but the Bluejays have won the last five meetings. The teams met 12 times between 1977-86, but have met just seven times since then, including three victories last season over the Blue Demons. Creighton lost their first six home games against DePaul, but have won three straight in Omaha over the Blue Demons.
Greg McDermott is 3-0 against DePaul, and coach Oliver Purnell. Purnell is 0-3 when facing Creighton.
The Last Time They Played:
Creighton defeated DePaul 84-62 in the Quarterfinals of the 2014 Big East Tournament. Doug McDermott was 10-14 from the floor, 7-9 from three-point range, three assists and a steal, all in the first half. Those 27 first half points are a Big East Tournament record.
Gratuitous Linkage:
ESPN’s Jeff Goodman isn’t convinced the Big East is as good as it’s ranking. Actually, that’s being kind. In this piece, he lists the conference as #2 on his Most Overrated list so far this season.
“There were minimal expectations entering the season, but now everyone is touting the league as one of the elite after a strong nonleague performance. However, I’m still not buying that it’s one of the top three leagues in the country. I just don’t see anyone in the league with the potential to go deep in the tournament besides Villanova.”
Nice to see the four-letter network is still busy trying to take a hatchet to the Big East. Combined with CBS’ Doug Gottlieb’s public rant about the Big East not being a major conference — he called it “essentially the WCC” in a ridiculous, prolonged Twitter battle — it’s been a full-on assault this week.
What the Other Side is Saying:
“The next challenge for DePaul will be if they can now take the success they’ve had at home to on the road. The Blue Demons have won seven of their eight games at Allstate, their lone win coming at Chicago State Dec. 4. During the team’s six game losing streak, five of those losses were away from their home arena.
With their next game on Wednesday at 8 p.m. against Creighton, the Blue Demons will face another road test.
‘We haven’t performed on the road this year, so that’s another area we need to improve on,” Garrett said. “It’s always nice to have your first Big East road game too.'”
–Billy Garrett’s double-double helps DePaul knock off Xavier, The DePaulia
This Date in Creighton Hoops History:
On January 7, 2004, Creighton upended Illinois State 56-55 in Normal. In a wild final minute, first Nate Funk drained a three to give CU a 55-52 lead, then ISU’s Trey Guidry tied it with a three with 12 seconds left. Johnny Mathies brought the ball upcourt, and was fouled driving to the rim with one second left. A five-minute delay ensued as the referees attempted to reset the clock to the correct time, thanks to a timekeeping error. Four-tenths of a second were ultimately added, and Mathies went to the line to shoot two shots. He made the first, and then intentionally missed the second. By the time ISU corralled the rebound, they had no time for a final shot, and the Jays escaped with a one-point win that moved them to 11-0 on the season — their best start since 1942-43.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day:
After 19 days away, it’s good to be home.
The Bottom Line:
Creighton shoots a little better, DePaul plays a little worse than they did last week, and the Jays get a close win.
Bluejays 72, Blue Demons 69