Indiana State’s impressive double-digit win at Koch Arena last night gives Creighton a mulligan for their loss to Drake — though the Shockers maintain the tiebreaker by virtue of their head-to-head win, a rematch awaits in Omaha. Wichita State and Creighton have now both dropped a game they weren’t supposed to, and that sets up a frantic final month in advance of that season finale.
It also signals that what most people figured was a two-team race now must include a third team, and a surprise one at that. The Sycamores are 14-7 overall and 7-3 in the league, and are officially a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament. Doubt it? They have the two best non-conference wins in the entire conference, beating both Miami and Ole Miss, and get both Wichita State and Creighton at home in the season’s final month. They’re starting to get noticed by national writers, with Seth Davis of CBS/Sports Illustrated tweeting this morning that they look like a tourney team to him. Quietly, the Sycamores have put themselves in position to pounce if either Wichita State or Creighton slips up.
The second half of the MVC slate for Creighton begins tonight, when the Missouri State Bears come to Omaha. Creighton is 44-6 at home over the last three years, but four of those six losses have come to two opponents. Wichita State is one, having won in Omaha each of the last two years. The other? Missouri State, who has also won in in Omaha each of the last two years. It’s worth noting that the only team to ever win three in a row against the Jays at CenturyLink Center is Southern Illinois (2004-07).
Of course, this Missouri State team bears little resemblance to Bears teams of the past two years, no pun intended. After starting 2-10 with zero wins against D1 competition in the non-conference, they turned things over to their freshmen — coach Paul Lusk now starts four freshmen along with senior Anthony Downing — and it’s proved a wise move.
On Saturday, the Bears defeated Drake 78-72 in Springfield, rallying from 10 points down in the second half to move to 4-5 in the league at the turn. They shot a season-high 56% from the floor in the win, as Downing tied a career-high with 26 points. Creighton fans, provided they haven’t blacked it out, remember the other time he scored 26 well — it came last year in Omaha, when Downing went off in the Bears upset win. MSU’s leading scorer at 14.7 points per game, Downing was held below his season average in the first meeting, as he scored 10 points on 4-11 shooting. He also drew a blank from the arc, going 0-3 thanks to suffocating defense.
Freshman Gavin Thurman has made tremendous strides since these teams first met, and was the MVC Newcomer of the Week last week after averaging 15.0 points and 5 rebounds in two games. He scored 10 points in the first meeting, but made just four of 13 shots (and two of seven from three-point range). Since that January 11 game against Creighton, he’s forced his way into the starting lineup by becoming the Bears second-best scorer. Among his performances since moving into the starting five: 18 points with six rebounds at Indiana State; 4-for-5 from three-point range, 13 points, 6 boards and 2 assists at Bradley; and 8-for-17 from the field with 3 three-pointers for a career-high 21 points against hometown Wichita State.
The Bears’ freshman class has accounted for 44.1% of the team’s points this season, the 17th-best freshman scoring percentage in the nation, and while Thurman is the first of that group to emerge as a bonafide star, three other freshmen have joined him in the starting lineup. 6’3″ guard Marcus Marshall averages 9.9 points and 2.0 assists a game, and is three points shy of becoming the 14th freshman in MSU history to score 200 points in his first season. He missed the first meeting with the Jays due to the flu. Dorrian Williams and Drew Wilson, the two other freshmen starters, don’t have eye-popping statistical numbers, but provide solid production and the Bears hope they’re part of the foundation for success down the road.
After giving up a JQH Arena record 39 points — including 28 in the second half alone — to Doug McDermott the first time around, it was always going to be a tall task for the Bears to keep it close tonight. Then their flight was canceled yesterday due to weather, and they didn’t arrive in Omaha until this morning, making the hill they need to climb to pull the upset that much steeper. Much like the game in Springfield, it’ll probably be close for a while tonight, but the final score will be a big win for the Jays.
Catching Up with the Bears: The Bears are 6-25 all-time gainst AP Top 25 foes, with their last win coming last season in Omaha vs. No. 19 Creighton … The Bears shot 58.7% from the free throw line in non-conference play, but have made 71.5% in Valley games … Missouri State’s freshman class has accounted for 558 of the club’s 1,265 points this season, which translates to 44.1% of the club’s total offensive production. Dubbed the “Super Six” by MSU sports information, the six freshmen have averaged a collective 26.6 points per game as a unit and have also produced 47.4% of MSU’s individual rebounds and 57.6% of the Bears’ 3-pointers … The Bears rank 11th in the NCAA in fewest turnovers (10.9), tops in the MVC. MSU has had fewer turnovers than 14 of 21 opponents this season and the same or fewer than 31 of its last 41 foes.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Creighton has been better than .500 in either the first or second-half of the league season in 34 straight trips through the league, including this year’s first half. Their 34 consecutive halves above .500 in league play is easily the Valley’s longest active streak, with Wichita State next closest at eight … Creighton’s 81-51 road win at Southern Illinois on Sunday night was Creighton’s largest road win since February 19, 1974 (83-52 at UC Irvine), the largest margin of victory in any MVC road game in program history, and the largest margin of victory in any conference road game since February 16, 1925 (46-16 at Morningside when CU was in the North Central Conference) … The team with the halftime lead has lost five of the last six meetings between Creighton and Missouri State. Why is that interesting? Creighton has won 27 straight games when tied or leading at halftime, dating to December 28, 2011 vs. Missouri State.
The RUN-DMD Show: Doug McDermott needs three points to reach 500 points this season and 28 points to become the first player to score 1,000 career points at CenturyLink Center Omaha. He’s already the leading scorer all-time at the CLink, and owns career records in points per game (19.4) and rebounds per game (7.6).
For the record, CU’s all-time leading scorer, Rodney Buford, scored 1,056 points in 56 career home games at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
The Last Time They Played: Creighton led 33-27 at halftime on January 11 in Springfield, and then Doug McDermott took over, scoring the team’s first 18 points after the break as the Jays extended their lead to 50-32. He made an absurd 14 straight field goals, and had a JQH Arena record 39 points in the 74-52 win.
McDermott outscored Missouri State by himself in the second half, 28-25, and outscored MSU 35-34 in the final 26:16 of the contest.
The Series: Creighton holds a 32-28 lead in the series, thanks to winning 10 of the last 16 meetings. However, Missouri State is on a two-game winning streak in Omaha after winning just two of its first 20 trips to town.
Greg McDermott is 8-11 in his career (and 2-4 as Creighton coach) against Missouri State, including a 79-74 double-overtime victory over the Bears to win the 2004 MVC Tournament (while coaching UNI). He is 2-1 against Paul Lusk.
Gratuitous Linkage: Lyndal Scranton of the Springfield News-Leader writes about Keith Pickens’ contribution to the Bears success in his latest notebook. Pickens’ chronic knee soreness has limited his effectiveness, but when he’s on, the Bears are a different team.
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: On January 30, 1989, Creighton improved to 6-1 in the Valley — despite five of the seven games coming on the road — with a 85-68 win over Bradley at Carver Arena. Chad Gallagher had 24 points and 16 rebounds, and Bob Harstad added 17 points despite being saddled with foul trouble most of the game. He picked up his fourth foul with 18:51 to play, but coach Tony Barone gambled and put him back in with 12 minutes to go after Bradley erased an eight-point lead. The gamble paid off; not only did Harstad not foul out, he scored eight straight points in a 13-3 spurt that put the Jays back ahead for good.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day: It depresses me that when you search for “Kiss” on YouTube, the auto-fill assumes you’re looking for a video from One Direction. So I did a whole bunch of searches for Kiss videos, and played a bunch more, in a sort of one-man protest. It’s almost assuredly futile, but I don’t care. I felt better, and I got to listen to a bunch of great classic rock. Now then, enjoy.
The Bottom Line: Missouri State keeps it close for a while, but Creighton pulls away.
Jays 79, Missouri State 67