Picked to finish eighth in the MVC, Illinois State has been the biggest surprise in the league so far with their 11-5 record (3-2 in conference). A win tonight would equal both their overall win total and their league total from a year ago.
It’s quite a remarkable turnaround for Tim Jankovich’s program. After winning 25 and 24 games the previous two years, the Redbirds stumbled to a 12-19 record last year following the departure of Osiris Eldridge and company. What had previously been a high-octane offense suddenly couldn’t score; they scored 490 fewer points, dished out almost 100 fewer assists, and scored an average of eight less points a game.
Their quick rebound has come courtesy of a reversal of those numbers. They’re averaging 68.8 points a game, in line with their 2008 and 2009 teams, and they’re back on pace both in terms of assists and total points scored. The Redbirds were a decent defensive team a year ago — it was the only thing keeping their season from really getting out of hand given their offensive struggles — and have continued that this year. They’re not an elite defensive team, but good enough to keep them in most games (giving up an average of 60 points a game, a figure skewed by a horrendous non-conference slate). This is a formidable team, and one that could finish in the top half of the league. In fact, they would be tied for first place at 4-1 if not for an inexplicable loss on New Years Day in Carbondale, a loss their beat writer at the Pantagraph, Jim Benson, told WBR featured “a very lackluster effort, easily the worst effort by a Jankovich team I have seen in his five seasons as coach. It looked like ISU just thought they could walk on the court and handle the Salukis.”
The loss appears to have been a wake-up call of sorts for the young team. As Benson told us, the Redbirds know now that they need to show up every night in the MVC, regardless of the won/loss record of the opponent. A win in Springfield — Missouri State’s only conference loss so far — came a few days later, so clearly the team bounced back just fine.
Jackie Carmichael, a 6’9″, 240 pound junior, is the Redbirds best player, as he was a year ago. Playing a career-high of 25 minutes a game, he’s averaging nearly 13 points a game, pulls in 8.3 rebounds and blocks nearly two shots a contest. He’s also shooting 100% from three-point range after banking in a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer to beat Evansville last week — the first three-pointer of his career, and the #1 play on ESPN’s Top 10 Plays of the Day. In his first two years, Carmichael got a reputation as a player who had a tendency to check out mentally when his offense wasn’t clicking early in games. Creighton saw that first-hand last year, as he was invisible in a 64-53 Jays win in Normal, scoring eight points and grabbing only one lone rebound.
That seems to have become a thing of the past, as he’s been much more consistent this year on both ends of the floor. Against Wichita State on Tuesday night, he had nine points and 13 rebounds, battling the Shockers’ tough post players and at times dominating them.
Another 6’9″ post player, John Wilkins, joins Carmichael in the starting lineup to give them a tough front line. His numbers are underwhelming — 7.8 points per game, 3.7 rebounds — but he’s played solid defense when playing in tandem with Carmichael and 6’7″ forward Jon Ekey, a technique that allows their guards to use their quickness and athleticism to disrupt the perimeter. Wilkins and Ekey will take turns trying to slow down Doug McDermott; Wilkins is the bigger player and is better suited to defend DMD in the paint, while Ekey is quicker and better suited to defend him on the perimeter. The Redbirds are a rare MVC team with the length and athleticism to defend Doug straight-up without resorting to zones or double-teams, so it will be a fascinating matchup to watch.
JuCo transfer Tyler Brown averages 12.5 points a game and shoots 46.7% from behind the arc, leading the Redbirds’ perimeter attack. He’s an athletic wing player, and the Jays have allowed players like him to have career nights on too many occasions this year. Joining him in the backcourt is another newcomer, freshman point guard Nic Moore. What he lacks in size (Moore is 5’9″ and 170 pounds) he makes up for in basketball IQ and athleticism. He’s averaging 9.2 points, 3.7 assists and has a 1.6 assist/turnover ratio, all stellar numbers for a freshman.
There are no seniors on this team, meaning as good as they’ve been early on this year, they’re probably a year away from being really scary. It might be a good idea for the Jays to get a win in Normal tonight, because wins will be tough to come by in Redbird Arena the next couple of years.
Speaking of youth, there’s been much gnashing of teeth over the production of Creighton’s freshmen through the first half of the season. Statistically, they’re doing just fine, though that likely won’t silence the people who insist on being negative. For example:
- Avery Dingman has scored 56 points through his first 16 points while making 50% of his three-pointers (14-28), and has played just 110 minutes. By comparison, Jahenns Manigat scored an identical 56 points in his first 16 games last year, but made just 30.6% of his three-pointers (11-36) while playing 243 minutes. Manigat made the MVC All-Freshman team.
- Austin Chatman has drawn the ire of message board posters, but he has 34 points and 33 assists with just 22 turnovers through his first 16 games. Antoine Young, one of the great point guards in Creighton history, had 27 points and 17 assists against 17 turnovers through his first 16 games. Tyler McKinney, another of the greats, had 47 points, 28 assists and 13 turnovers through his first 16 games.
- Will Artino has 53 points and 25 rebounds, excellent numbers for a player still developing. Another big man who was “in development” during the early part of his time at Creighton, Anthony Tolliver, had 14 points and 19 rebounds through his first 16 games — and finished his freshman year with 22 points and 34 rebounds. Artino has already doubled that point total, and should exceed that rebound total before the end of the month.
Sure, statistics can lie, but in this case, I think they show that people are overreacting when they claim the freshman aren’t producing. Their minutes have decreased as conference play has heated up and games have gotten tighter, but they’ll be fine.
Catching up with the Redbirds: The Redbirds have lost 21-straight games against ranked opponents and are 0-5 against ranked teams all-time in Redbird Arena. They have not beaten a ranked opponent since downing No. 14 Iowa, 89-88, on Dec. 29, 1987, and the last Redbird victory over a ranked foe in Normal, Ill., was a 91-81 win over No. 9 Tulsa on March 3, 1984 … Over the last four games, Tyler Brown leads the Redbirds with 14.5 points per game, while averaging 4.8 rebounds per contest … Brown has made at least one three-pointer in 13 of his last 14 games and is leading the team with 38 made threes and a 46.9 shooting percentage from beyond the arc. Brown is leading the Valley with 2.5 made three-point field goals per contest … During the non-conference portion of the schedule, Illinois State freshman Nic Moore averaged 8.1 points per contest, while shooting 39.1 percent from the floor. In league games, Moore has picked up his game and is posting 11.8 points per contest, while shooting 48.7 percent from the field … Illinois State has held eight opponents this season to under 40 percent shooting, including four of the last seven, and three teams to under 30 percent … In the Tim Jankovich Era, the Redbirds boast a 69-10 (.873) mark when leading at the half, and an 84-7 mark (.923) when leading with five minutes remaining in regulation.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Creighton overcame a 31-20 deficit to beat Northern Iowa on Tuesday, the third time this year it’s won a game after previously trailing by double-digits. It was the 33rd time in CenturyLink Center Omaha history that Creighton has fallen behind by 10 points or more — unbelievably, they’ve rallied to win 20 of those contests … In his career, Josh Jones has made 8-of-13 attempts (61.5 percent) against the Redbirds. The last time he played against Illinois State, he was a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor and 3-3 from behind the arc, scoring 15 points in 19 minutes … Creighton’s 14-2 record equals their third-best start in school history through 16 games … Creighton is 7-0 all-time when Gregory Echenique collects 10 or more rebounds and 9-0 when he scores 15 or more points. He has double-digit rebounds in two straight games.
The RUN-DMD Show: Doug McDermott has played just 55 games in a Creighton uniform, but he’s already 27 points shy of 1,000 for his career. If he does it in the next three games, he’ll be the fastest to reach 1,000 since Paul Silas in the early 1960s. The great Silas needed just 47 games to reach the milestone; the next closest is Rodney Buford, who needed 59 games. Other notable players: Kyle Korver needed 81 games, P’Allen Stinnett took 86 games, Johnny Mathies took 91 and Nate Funk took 92 games to reach 1,000.
The Last Time They Played: On February 16 of last year, Creighton and Illinois State exchanged the lead 12 times in a closely contested first half before CU pulled away with a 9-0 run in the final five minutes. Josh Jones had eight points in 10 minutes off the bench, en route to going 6-for-6 from the field and a career-high 15 points. The game gave Creighton a sweep of the season series with Illinois State for the first time since 2003-04.
The Series: Illinois State leads the all-time series with Creighton by a 40-26 margin, but the Bluejays have won 18 of the last 28 games. In Normal, the Redbirds own a 24-7 lead in the series, but the Bluejays have won in five of their past 10 trips to Redbird Arena. That the Jays have dominated the series so much over the last decade shows just how much the Redbirds dominated before that, as ISU Red still holds a 14-game edge in the series.
Greg McDermott has won seven straight meetings with Illinois State to improve to 9-4 all-time (4-2 in Normal) and is 2-0 against Tim Jankovich. Jankovich is 6-3 against Creighton.
Gratuitous Linkage: Tonight’s game is a sellout, as Illinois State’s new athletic director Gary Friedman has overhauled the way the department markets itself and promotes it’s teams. Randy Kindred has a pretty interesting feature on him and the things they’re doing to generate interest.
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: Believe it or not, Creighton has played on Friday the 13th just once in the past four decades. That game also took place on January 13, and it was a 76-69 win in Terre Haute back in 1989.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day: Because I refuse to embed a Katy Perry song here, I couldn’t think of any other “Friday” songs off the top of my head, and because The Cure always kicks butt. I’m probably forgetting something awesome, but oh well.
The Bottom Line: This is a tough test for the Jays. I think the apparent decision to at least try to play Doug McDermott straight-up will backfire, and the Redbirds preference for playing up-tempo as opposed to a slower, more deliberate pace will allow the Jays to get out and run.
Creighton 77, Illinois State 72