In their first year post-Missouri Valley, Creighton will play none of the other nine schools that comprised the league, but they will play a longtime MVC rival that just so happens to be the last team to leave prior to CU — the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, who departed in 1996. They’ve played each of the past two years, with the Jays winning both games, quite a change from the days when Tulsa dominated the overall series (TU won 14 of the previous 17 before this current contract).
This particular Golden Hurricane squad is 0-3, with two losses to MVC foes — a 96-93 loss at Missouri State, and a 77-54 loss at home to Wichita State. The latter, on Wednesday of this week, was much closer than it appears from merely looking the score. Tied at 31 at the half, Tulsa continued to keep things close for the first nine minutes of the second half, trailing by just three at the eleven-minute mark. A 26-6 Shocker run to end the game blew things open, sending Tulsa to their first 0-3 start since 1977.
They average 71 points per game and shoot 46% from the floor, but shoot a ghastly 57% from the free-throw line, something that has likely cost them at least one win. Against Oral Roberts, they went 17-36 from the line and lost by just six points; against Wichita, they shot 13-30, and four of their starters (Rashad Smith, Lew Evans, Shaq Harrison and James Woodard) were a combined 9-21. Yikes. At this rate, they’ll need to improve pretty significantly just to be average at the line.
Entering Wednesday’s game vs Wichita, Harrison averaged 19.5 points, and Smith 19.0; they combined to make one field goal in the game. Offensively, they’re a better team than they showed against the Shockers; that they average over 70 points despite such atrocious free throw shooting is indicative of that. Defensively, they are what they are — they’ve been beaten on the boards in all three games, and have allowed huge, decisive scoring runs in all three.
It’s the classic trap game in a lot of ways: a struggling, perhaps overlooked opponent in an afternoon game right before a long road trip to a warm-weather destination. That was a common talking point amongst players and coaches on Thursday at practice, hammering home the idea that they’re well aware of Tulsa’s ability to win if CU doesn’t come out ready to play.
This game will probably go a lot like Tulsa’s first three — it will be relatively close for a while, before their poor free throw shooting, rebounding woes and defensive lapses catch up to them. If they come out ready to play, CU should win by 10-15 in this one, and head to California rated in the Top 20.
About the Golden Hurricane: Tulsa is 0-3 on the season after losses to Oral Roberts, Missouri State and Wichita State … The Golden Hurricane feature a whopping eight sophomores on the roster, incuding top scorers Shaquille Harrison (14.7 ppg.), Rashad Smith (14.7 ppg.), and James Woodard, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds in last year’s game at Creighton … Tulsa went 13-30 from the free-throw line against Wichita State, and lost by 23 … Tulsa head coach Danny Manning was on the Kansas bench as an assistant coach as the Jayhawks won their first two NCAA Tournament games in Omaha in 2008 before eventually winning a national title, and in March of 2012, Manning was again a Kansas assistant coach as KU won its first two NCAA Tournament games in Omaha, only to fall just short in the national title game vs. Kentucky. He’s 4-1 all-time when sitting on the bench at CenturyLink Center Omaha, losing only last year when his Tulsa team came to town.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Last year vs Tulsa in Omaha, Avery Dingman made his first seven attempts and finished 8-for-9 from the field, including 5-of-6 from three-point land … When Doug McDermott hit his game-winning shot with four seconds to go Saturday night, not only was it his first career game-winner, it was Creighton’s first come-from-behind game-winner away from home since 2009, when Booker Woodfox’s buzzer-beater stunned Wichita State in the MVC Quarterfinals … Amazingly, last year only one Creighton game had a lead change in the final five minutes (a Feb. 13 loss at UNI) … The comeback was the 10th in Greg McDermott’s four years as head coach in a game after trailing by double-figures at some point, including six such comebacks away from home.
The RUN-DMD Show: Last week, Doug McDermott was named the National Player of the Week by ESPN.com and the Big East Conference Player of the Week after averaging 25.7 points and 5.7 rebounds in three Creighton wins. During that opening-season stretch, McDermott made 55.8 percent from the field, 53.3 percent from three-point range, and 78.6 percent from the free-throw line.
Including his seven MVC Newcomer of the Week honors in 2010-11, 13 MVC Player of the Week honors from 2011-13, and his first Big East Player of the Week accolade of 2013-14, McDermott has now won at least one conference weekly award from the MVC or Big East in 21 of 50 weeks during his career.
Let that sink in a for a minute. Wow.
The Last Time They Played: On December 19, 2012, Creighton beat Tulsa 71-54 in Omaha. While sloppy streets due to a winter storm kept many fans at home, the Jays were plenty sloppy themselves, committing 17 turnovers and losing the rebounding battle 35-28. Thankfully, Avery Dingman picked that night for his best game of the year — almost everybody else struggled, but Dingman scored 21 points on 8-9 shooting, including 5-6 from long range.
The Series: Longtime MVC foes, Tulsa and Creighton have played 77 times with the Golden Hurricane winning 43 of them, including 14 of the past 19. However, Creighton has won three straight in the series, and is 23-15 all-time in Omaha.
Greg McDermott is 2-0 against Tulsa, 7-0 all-time against current Conference USA institutions and 1-0 in head-to-head meetings against Tulsa coach Danny Manning.
Gratuitous Linkage: This column in the Tulsa World details the current chasm in results and talent between the two former mirror images of one another, Tulsa and Wichita State. It’s an interesting read.
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: On November 23, 2004, Creighton beat Missouri 78-54 in the semifinals of the Guardians Classic in Kansas City. The Jays made 12 three-pointers, led by Nate Funk who scored 21 points on 8-11 shooting. Tyler McKinney dished out 11 assists with zero turnovers in 27 minutes, and Johnny Mathies scored 18 points — all of them in one eight-minute stretch of the second half where he was quite literally unstoppable — as the Jays blew out the crowd favorite Tigers.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day:
The Bottom Line: Much like Wichita State earlier this week, the final score won’t be indicative of the closeness of the game. Jays pull away late.
Creighton 84, Tulsa 69