North Texas was the last team to be added to Creighton’s schedule, filling the opening-night slot that has traditionally been filled by pushovers that come to Omaha with little hope for victory. They may not be the sexy “name” team that some in the local print media longed for, but make no mistake: North Texas may very well wind up being the best team Creighton plays during the non-conference slate. It’s a rare season opener that combines the anticipation of the first game with the excitement of an opponent featuring one of the nation’s best players.
Over the last 20 years, the Jays have played just two eventual NCAA Tournament teams in the opener — Iowa State in 1992, and Alabama State in 2010 (the Hornets went 17-18 but won their conference tourney). Mississippi Valley State (2006), New Mexico (2008) and Dayton (2009) went on to play in the NIT, but on the other side of the coin are seven opponents who went on to win single-digit games. Season opening games have, over the years, been glorified exhibition games more often than not.
It may be a fortuitous time to catch the Mean Green. They’re a talented squad but one that hasn’t played many games with one another, and they’re adjusting to a new coaching staff. Give them eight or nine games to gel, and beating them will be much tougher than it could be tonight. Tony Mitchell, their headline player, originally signed with Missouri but after being ruled academically ineligible, landed with the Mean Green instead. He sat out the first semester last year, and just as he became eligible, two other standout players (Chris Jones and Jordan Williams) were ruled ineligible and missed the remainder of the season. As a result, the three talented players have played just five games together.
Mitchell is, by any measure, one of the handful of best players in college basketball and a likely lottery pick in next summer’s NBA draft. He’s “Gregory Echenique with a 40 inch vertical leap”, as Greg McDermott described him on last Friday’s postgame show — an explosive 6’8″ forward/center with a penchant for ridiculous dunks. He’s big enough to take up space in the paint and bang with most collegiate big men, but also quick enough to lead the fast break. Matt Norlander of CBS Sports wrote that he might be the best combination of talent and athleticism in college basketball — better than anyone at Kentucky, Carolina, Duke or any other “blueblood” program. He’ll pose massive problems defensively for the Jays, who struggled to defend athletic big men last season — St. Joseph’s and Wichita State (in Omaha) come to mind as teams that exploited Creighton’s defensive liabilities inside — and it will be fascinating to see how Greg McDermott schemes to slow him down.
With that said, Mitchell is the type of player who gets the bulk of his points in transition, on putbacks, and on lobs. When forced to play in the half-court, he’s not nearly as explosive in the handful of games I’ve watched him play. He also hasn’t played many games against a big, physical defender like Gregory Echenique who will push him around every possession. If the Jays allow Mitchell to run free in transition, they’ll struggle to slow him down. If, on the other hand, they can limit those opportunities, he’ll get his points but won’t single-handedly beat you.
As impressive as Mitchell is, it’s his surrounding cast that makes the Mean Green a real threat to pull the upset on opening night. Chris Jones, their starting point guard, was averaging 14.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.4 steals per game when he was ruled academically ineligible for the second semester. He’s capable of taking over a game offensively, shoots well from outside and fills up a stat sheet like few players the Jays will face all year. Jordan Williams is a streaky shooter who seems to either be “really on” or “really off” but not often in between. His 6’6″ frame and quickness make him tough to defend in transition, particularly when paired with Mitchell — not many teams can defend two big men that can run the floor. They had six players who averaged between 6 and 14 points a year ago, so while it’s tempting to try to focus on one player defensively, they have the depth to make you pay for that strategy.
They’re a good team, perhaps the best season opening opponent in 20 years. But Creighton picked the right year to take on this type of challenge out of the gates. If the Jays limit transition opportunities, make enough threes to make the Mean Green pay for doubling Doug McDermott, and don’t turn it over they’ll get their first win of the season.
About the Mean Green: North Texas has won 11 straight season opening games, the longest streak in school history … NT has averaged 21 wins per year over the last six seasons, including five straight 20-win seasons from 2007-11. They won the 2007 and 2010 Sun Belt titles, and played in the NCAA Tournament in both of those seasons … Matchups against Creighton, the NIT Season Tip-Off, St. Louis and Lehigh got the attention of USA Today, which ranked the North Texas schedule as the nation’s fifth toughest overall, and the best by any mid-major this year … The Mean Green, which fell just two wins shy of its sixth consecutive 20-win season last year, advanced to the Sun Belt Tournament finals for a third straight year … Last year, Tony Mitchell set the program’s single season blocks record at 70 blocks in just 23 games.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Creighton owns a 79-15 record (.840) on opening day, including wins in 14 of its last 15 lid-lifters … Creighton has won eight of its last 12 season-openers by 20 or more points, and they’ve outscored foes by an average of 83.0 to 56.8 in the last 12 openers … Greg McDermott has won each of the last 10 season openers he’s coached in, and he’s 10-1 at the Division I level in season-openers. Overall as a head coach, McDermott is 15-3 in season-opening games, including a completely ridiculous 99-point win (137-38) in his first game on the sidelines when he was at Wayne State … Creighton has won every Friday home game it’s played since Dec. 2, 1989 by double-digits, and the last time Creighton lost a Friday home game came on Dec. 12, 1975, when Greg McDermott was 11 years old … In last year’s season-opener, CU led 11-0 after four possessions and never trailed while throttling North Carolina A&T, 97-65. Incredibly, Creighton hasn’t trailed in its home opener in seven of the past 12 seasons (2000-01, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2009-10 and 2011-12) … Creighton has won 38 straight regular-season November home games, with their last home loss in November coming in 1989, when it fell to Coppin State on Nov. 27 … Overall, Creighton is 49-11 in regular-season November games at all sites since the start of the 1998-99 campaign.
The RUN-DMD Show: Doug McDermott has scored 714 points in his first 38 career home games. That’s 21 points shy of tying Nate Funk’s (2003-07) CenturyLink Center Omaha record for career points, and 22 shy of passing Funk. Last year McDermott averaged 22.1 points per home game, so it’s possible — nay, likely — that Funk’s record will fall tonight. In case you were curious, McDermott already owns the CenturyLink Center Omaha career records for points per game (18.8) and rebounds per game (7.6).
The Last Time They Played: Creighton lost in overtime, 108-105, at North Texas on February 26, 1977. That was part of a non-conference home-and-home series that took place over the span of three weeks. Creighton won the first game in Omaha, 101-83.
The Series: The Mean Green and the Bluejays just missed being Missouri Valley Conference teammates. Creighton left the MVC in 1948, while North Texas was a member of the league from 1957-75. Two years after North Texas departed, Creighton returned to the league. Despite that, the schools have met eight times, with each team winning four games. Six of the eight games have been decided by ten points or less.
Gratuitous Linkage: North Texas launched a really nice website this week called “TonyMitchell13.com”, featuring an interactive graphic showing the Anatomy of a Dunk, with commentary from Mitchell. It also features lots of info on the player, presumably to educate potential voters for the All-American teams. Nicely done, North Texas.
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: Creighton has played just one game on November 9 in it’s history — the 2007-08 opener against DePaul. Coincidentally, it was also a season opening game played on a Friday night. The Jays trailed by 17 points on two occasions before freshman P’Allen Stinnett scored all 23 of his points after halftime to lead the comeback, and Chad Millard, also playing his first game in a Bluejay uniform, had 15 points, four assists and five rebounds in the 74-62 win.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day: There’s a lot of songs with “Green” in the title. The one that rocks the hardest is, without a doubt, Judas Priest’s cover of “The Green Manalishi” so that seems like the correct choice for a festive occasion such as the season opener.
The Bottom Line: North Texas is a good team. Creighton is a better team.
Jays 81, Mean Green 72