[dropcap]Creighton[/dropcap] tries to get back on track Monday night in Las Vegas against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, who come into the game 3-1 following an 87-84 win over Central Arkansas Saturday night. They avoided an embarrassing loss (UCA is ranked 315th out of 351 teams in D1 according to KenPom) thanks to clutch play from Corey Sanders, who went 4-4 from the free throw line in the closing moments to clinch the win.
That was an important win, as it came on the heels of a loss to St. John’s on Thursday night where the Scarlet Knights blew a 16-point halftime lead. They were outscored 32-14 over the final 14 minutes of the game, making their last field goal with 3:24 to play. Two controversial calls contributed to the outcome — with 16 seconds left and down by a point, Rutgers guard Bishop Daniels brought the ball up court, got bumped by a St. John’s defender, and lost the ball at mid-court. Teammate Corey Sanders grabbed it, started to dribble forward, and was tripped/tackled. He lost the ball, St. John’s picked it up, and iced the game at the free throw line. Both collisions appeared to be fouls, but neither were called as such.
The Scarlet Knights have four players averaging in double-figures, a group led by Mike Williams (16.0 ppg., 5.0 rpg.). Williams also leads the club with eight steals and 10 three-point baskets. The sophomore guard had his first-career double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds in the season-opening win over Rutgers-Newark, and set a new career high for points with 25 on Saturday night against Central Arkansas.
Their second-leading scorer is 6’7″, 220 pound junior Deshawn Freeman (15.0 ppg., 5.8 rpg., 2.0 bpg.). Freeman is a JuCo transfer in his first year “On the Banks”, as their fans call Rutgers, and has been an explosive offensive player through four games. He scored 13 points in his debut, had 17 points and 7 rebounds in a win over Howard, added seven points and four boards against St. John’s, and 23 points, eight boards, four blocks and foul steals against Central Arkansas. He’s a face-up scorer that also has the ability to put the ball on the floor and attack, making him a tough matchup.
D.J. Foreman (10.0 ppg., 8.0 rpg.), a massive 6’8″, 230-pound forward, leads the team in rebounding. He had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds against Central Arkansas, and was near a double-double in both of the previous games — nine points and eight boards against St. John’s, 11 points and eight rebounds against Howard. Foreman is a strong, aggressive player who draws contact, attempting 19 free throws in four games. It will be essential for Creighton to box him out and prevent Rutgers from getting extra shots by Foreman grabbing offensive boards.
That’s because the Scarlet Knights have made just 29.6% (16-of-54) three-point shots this season, and have shot just 46% overall, so there’s generally a lot of rebounds to be had when Rutgers is shooting. Offensively, they have a habit of making one pass and then quickly shooting, and they’ve assisted on just 55 of their 108 made field goals this year. They’re also sloppy with the ball, committing 66 turnovers through four games. And something to keep in mind if the game is close: outside of the highly-touted freshman guard Corey Sanders, Rutgers is a horrible free-throw shooting team, making 44-72 as a team (61%), and they went 5-14 against St. John’s, meaning they left nine points on the floor in a game they lost by two.
Speaking of Sanders, he’s gradually taken more of the reigns offensively through the three games he’s played after sitting out the first game (a self-imposed sanction from RU because Sanders participated in a non-sanctioned event this summer), and has the ability to dribble-penetrate and find shooters unlike any other guard on the roster. He also has shown flashes of being a difference-maker defensively, and it seems likely he’ll draw the assignment of trying to slow down Mo Watson.
Watson has scored in double-figures during each of his first three games this season, joining Doug McDermott as the only Bluejays to do that over the last 20 years (McDermott opened his freshman year in 2010-11 with eight straight games in double-figures). Interestingly, the last Bluejay transfer to start his career with 10 or more points in each of CU’s first three games was Wabash Valley JC transfer Tad Ackerman, who did it in six straight contests to open the 1994-95 season. All totaled, Watson’s 41 points through three games are tied for the most of any Bluejay newcomer since 1994-95 (tied with Brody Deren and P’Allen Stinnett at 41).
Rutgers is once again picked to be among the worst teams in the Big Ten, hasn’t looked terribly impressive through four games (winning by 13 and 12 points, respectively, against Rutgers-Newark and Howard — the former is a DIII school, and the latter is ranked 300th in DI by KenPom — losing to St. John’s, widely regarded as one of the worst teams in the Big East this year, and barely squeaking past Central Arkansas, a team ranked 315th by KenPom). As such, they’re not getting much love from the advanced rankings. Their adjusted offensive ranking is 265, and their adjusted defense is 143, for an overall KenPom ranking of 210.
In summation: This is a team that blew a 16-point second half lead to St. John’s, barely beat DIII Rutgers-Newark, and needed some last-minute heroics to beat Central Arkansas by three (while allowing 84 points). They won two games in the B1G last year, and are picked dead last again this year. They’re a horrible free-throw shooting team (61%), they’ve turned it over 11 more times than they’ve assisted on a made basket, and they’ve made 16 total three-pointers all year while shooting in the mid-40s from the floor. They are +4 on the glass, I’ll give them that.
As long as the Bluejays don’t suffer from a hangover after last Thursday’s loss to Indiana, this ought to be a win. Frankly, it would be hugely disappointing if it isn’t.
Quick Notes on the Scarlet Knights:
- Rutgers finished 10-22 and 2-16 in the Big Ten a year ago, and is picked to finish dead last this year by almost every prognosticator you can find.
- This is Rutgers’ first trip to Las Vegas since 1991, when they lost 115-72 to #1 UNLV. Current head coach Eddie Jordan was an assistant on that staff to Bob Wenzel.
- The Scarlet Knights are in the midst of playing a game every-other-day for eight days.
Bluejay Bytes:
- Creighton does not lose many games by 20 or more points as they did Thursday at Indiana, having done so just twice in the last seven seasons. They’re 2-0 following a loss by 20 or more points under Greg McDermott, beating both St. John’s 77-74 and Central Arkansas 104-77 last season. The last time Creighton lost by 20 or more points, then lost the next game, came in early January of 2009 when they were throttled at Illinois State 86-64 and lost three days later to Northern Iowa at home, 69-66.
- I scarcely dare give it utterance, but here goes: Creighton last lost consecutive November games in 2009, when it went 0-3 at the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla., falling to #15 Michigan, Xavier and Iona.
- Creighton’s 289,808 home fans last season (an average of 17,048 fans per home game) is nearly more by itself than their three possible opponents in Las Vegas combined (290,406 home fans last year).
The Series / The Last Time They Played:
Creighton has never played Rutgers, and Greg McDermott has never coached against Eddie Jordan, nor Rutgers.
The last time Creighton opened a tournament in Las Vegas, it was also against a Big Ten team, as the Bluejays topped Wisconsin 84-74 on November 23, 2012. Junior Doug McDermott had 30 points and eight rebounds while Wisky sophomore Frank Kaminsky had no points and no rebounds in nine minutes.
They’ve won four straight in Sin City, with the last loss coming in the 1987 Rebel Roundup, where they lost to #15 UNLV, 90-59.
Gratuitous Linkage:
15th ranked JUCO prospect Deshawn Freeman has made a strong first impression for Rutgers, as this article from BT Powerhouse details.
What the Other Side is Saying:
“This is a perfect field for Rutgers, providing a chance to play beatable teams from solid conferences. None of the four has a quality win yet; the closest is UMass’s victory over a reloading Harvard. Creighton got routed at Indiana, plays suspect defense and is coming off a 14-19 season. Rutgers beat Clemson decisively on the road last year. No one is expecting 2-0, but it’s not out of the question, and there’s no reason why the Scarlet Knights can’t gain a split.”
-Jerry Carino, Asbury Park Press
This Date in Creighton Hoops History:
The aforementioned game against Wisconsin came on this date in 2012, but let’s go back a little further than that just for fun.
On November 23, 2004, Creighton blew out Missouri 78-54 in the semifinals of the Guardians Classic in Kansas City. Trailing 7-3 early on, they took control by holding the Tigers without a field goal for almost eight minutes, turning that deficit into an 18-10 lead. Then the Jays unleashed another big run — this time a 21-6 barrage, keyed by clutch three-pointers from Nate Funk, Dane Watts, and Pierce Hibma — to blow the game open.
Funk had 21 points (16 in the first half), making eight of 11 from the floor, including three 3-point baskets, while Johnny Mathies had 18 and freshman Dane Watts had 12. Perhaps the most impressive performance came from senior point guard Tyler McKinney, who dished out 11 assists without a single turnover against the Tigers’ pressing defense. His play elicited a “Wow!” from usually reserved Coach Dana Altman is the postgame press conference. No, seriously. It’s not as exciting as it sounds, but here’s his full quote:
“Wow!” Altman replied when asked to comment on McKinney’s performance. “We had kind of a rocky start, and Tyler really settled us down. Our flow wasn’t real good at the start, and Tyler was the guy who got us settled down and got us some easy shots. Once a couple fell, we relaxed a little bit and started to play.”
McKinney would be the star the next night against Ohio State as well, hitting a jumper with 4.3 seconds left in overtime to give the Jays a 65-63 win and the tournament title.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day:
Reading a preview of this game in the “Asbury Park Press” made me think of The Boss, and with the action tipping off at 11:00pm Omaha time tonight, this seems apropos.
The Bottom Line:
It’ll be damn near 1:00am before this one’s in the books, but the Jays will wind up victorious.
Creighton 80, Rutgers 72