Thursday night, a spirited Drake team played well in front of seven rows of fans and six — yes, six, I counted — students. (That was four more than SIU brought, for the record.) Rayvonte Rice had 18 points and got in a shooting rhythm early, always a dangerous proposition for an opposing defense. Ben Simons, still nursing his way back from a bout with mono, looked gassed at times but found his shooting stroke late, hitting two late threes.
Of course, it didn’t hurt that they jumped out to a 12-0 lead before the first media timeout. The Bradley Braves played them basically even from then until after the final timeout, but spotting a team a dozen points in a tournament is trouble, especially for a last-place team playing without it’s best player.
I thought coming into the weekend that Drake was, all things considered, the best matchup for the Jays out of the possible quarterfinal opponents. They’re not as deep as UNI, they don’t have Creighton’s number like Evansville does, and they don’t have Creighton nemesis Kyle Weems like Missouri State does. They do have Rice and Simons, two of the Valley’s top five scorers, meaning just like in the Jays’ first two games against the Bulldogs they will need to play good defense on the perimeter.
Where the Jays have a decided advantage is inside, as Drake’s two top post players have missed the entire season leaving them with Jordan Clarke — a 6’8″ junior — to hold down the post. He was dominated by Gregory Echenique in the first game in Omaha, going 2-5 with six points and was in foul trouble all night. The Jays outrebounded them 34-27 in that game, jumping out to a 40-25 halftime lead and rolling to a 76-59 win.
In the rematch, Clarke once again was plagued by foul trouble, going 2-4 from the floor with six rebounds. The Jays had an even bigger edge on the boards, 37-25, and led all night in a 77-69 win.
The gameplan for Creighton will likely be the same as the first two games: contain Rice and Simons to around their average, crash the boards, dominate the paint and hope to keep Drake’s complimentary players from having big nights. It was a successful strategy twice this year, and given the fact that Drake was forced to play the full 40 against Bradley on Thursday night — Simons and Rice both played 36 minutes — if Creighton can get the tempo up, they might be able to tire out the Bulldogs.
Catching Up with the Bulldogs: Drake posted their second-highest finish in the MVC in the last quarter-century, tying for third place at 9-9 in the league. Unfortunately, tiebreakers pushed them to the #7 seed and the play-in round … Ben Simons and Rayvonte Rice were both named second-team All-MVC on Tuesday. Drake is the first MVC team since 2003-04 to have two players finish in the top four in scoring, and the first to have two players average more than 16 points a game since 2002-03 … Drake is assured of finishing with a winning record for the first time in the Mark Phelps Era, holding a 17-14 record entering Friday’s game … Phelps is the first Drake coach in 50 years to post two winning seasons in his first four years.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Creighton owns a 37-20 all-time record in the MVC Tournament, and is 17-3 all-time as the #2 seed … The second seed has won 13 of the 34 tournaments all-time … The second seed has a 39-14 record since the tourney moved to St. Louis full-time in 1991, the best record of any seed … Greg McDermott will try to become the first coach in MVC history to win an Arch Madness title at two schools … Creighton legend Paul Silas will be inducted into the MVC Hall of Fame on Friday morning as an “Institutional Great”, since the Jays were not a Valley member when he played for them … Creighton is 17-12 all-time in the quarterfinals, 10-7 in the semifinals, and 10-1 in the championship game.
The RUN-DMD Show: Doug McDermott has averaged 12.5 points in two career MVC Tournament games, making 50% of his shots (10-20) … He became the first sophomore in league history to be named Player of the Year when he won the award on Tuesday.
The Last Time They Played: Creighton beat Drake 77-69 in Des Moines on January 25 of this year, a game in which Drake’s duo of Ben Simons and Rayvonte Rice combining for 41 of their 69 points. Doug McDermott led the way for the Jays with 30 points on 10-14 shooting, along with nine rebounds. The game is probably best remembered for Jahenns Manigat’s defense on Simons, though, the image of him chasing Simons back and forth along the baseline all game long seared in Jays’ fans memories.
The Series: Creighton leads 91-58, and has a 3-2 edge in MVC Tournament matchups.
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: On March 2, 2002, Creighton defeated Northern Iowa 80-65 in the quarterfinals of the MVC Tournament. Brody Deren led three Bluejays in double figures with 17 points, while DeAnthony Bowden contributed 14 and Mike Grimes added 12. Kyle Korver struggled against UNI coach Greg McDermott’s defense, attempting only three shots and scoring six points.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day: It’s time.
The Bottom Line: Gregory Echenique and Doug McDermott dominate the paint, and the Jays get a 12-point win.
Creighton 76, Drake 64