When was the last time Creighton played a non-conference home game as B1G* as Thursday night’s tussle with the Northwestern Wildcats? That’s a question I’ve been wrestling with all week as the hype and anticipation surrounding this game has swelled to what is now a fever pitch.
*Sorry, I couldn’t resist!
In the Qwest/CenturyLink Center Era, exactly two BCS programs have willingly played games against the Jays in Omaha — Nebraska and DePaul — and neither had great teams the years they visited. Miami, Oregon and Kentucky were all forced to come here in postseason tournaments, but being second-tier tourneys, while there was excitement and anticipation, there was still a sense somewhere in the back of your mind that you’d rather the Jays were playing in the NCAA Tournament somewhere else.
Top-shelf mid major programs like Dayton, Xavier, Saint Joseph’s, New Mexico and BYU have all visited, several of them more than once, and those are awesome games. But like it or not, wins over those teams don’t turn heads like beating a team from a BCS league does. So a visit from Northwestern would be a big deal, even if they were terrible. Thing is, they’re far from terrible — they’re 10-1 and have a real chance at finishing in the top third of the Big Ten.
The last time a BCS team with legitimate NCAA Tournament credentials visited Omaha was 13 years ago, when former Creighton coach Eddie Sutton brought his 18th ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys to the Civic. That’s an eternity. Is Thursday night the biggest non-conference game since that night in 1998? Ludicrous as it sounds, it just might be.
The very term “Biggest Game” is quite loaded, and highly subjective. Was a visit from 21st ranked BYU last December not a big game? How about the Kentucky game, which might have been the loudest the Qwest Center has ever been, on a sustained basis, for an entire game? What about the visit from 24th ranked Xavier in 2006? Big Games all, no doubt. I think what separates tonight’s game from all of those, however, is the home team. Creighton had good teams in all three of those instances, but not the sort of “special” team that can turn a Big Game into a BIG GAME.
There’s been a growing feeling among Jays fans for a couple of weeks now — since the win over San Diego State — that we’re witnessing the start of something great. Doug McDermott’s 35-point effort Monday night at Tulsa is already the stuff of legend, and is generating the kind of buzz among both national media and casual sports fans locally that hasn’t surrounded the Creighton program, at least not to this extent, since 2003.
There’s a sense that a win Thursday over Northwestern not only gives them a third win over a BCS team this season, but that it would serve as the exclamation point at the end of a very impressive 10-1 non-conference record. In much the same way that their 1998 win over 18th ranked Oklahoma State signaled the program was serious about returning to relevance and catapulted them to their first NCAA Tournament berth of the Altman Era, a win over a Northwestern team that will likely knock off several rated teams during the course of the Big Ten season could eventually catapult this team into the first NCAA Tournament berth of the McDermott Era.
So you’ll have to forgive Creighton fans if we’re slightly jacked for this game. It’s only the biggest non-conference home game in 13 years. Let’s heed Coach Greg McDermott’s “Call to Arms” in his postgame interview after Monday’s win over Tulsa and not just show up tonight, but show up in force and make the C-Link intimidating, raucous and inhospitable!
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Northwestern presents some unique challenges, beyond the obvious that they’re a pretty solid team. They run the Princeton Offense, a scheme predicated on screens and backcuts that was popularized by Pete Carrill at — you guessed it — Princeton. Northwestern plays it at a slightly faster pace than many of Carrill’s teams were known for, but it isn’t the pace of play that’s bothersome. It’s that their sets are so different, and that being overly aggressive can spell doom.
Like Princeton back in the day, Northwestern takes almost half of their shots from behind the perimeter. Of the 622 shots they’ve attempted, 286 of them (46%) have been three-point attempts. Four players have 33 or more attempts, with John Shurna attempting 72 and Drew Crawford attempting 58. No one for Creighton has more than 50, with Ethan Wragge’s 47 leading the way.
It’s tempting to try and take away the three-point shot by hedging their ball screens on the perimeter, but typically when teams try to do that, Northwestern takes advantage by using that aggression against you, employing backcuts to get open shots in the paint.
Creighton played two teams that ran the Princeton offense last year, Louisiana Lafayette and these same Wildcats, and had huge struggles defensively. Against Louisiana, Randell Daigle was open time after time outside, and made 7-13 from behind the arc en route to 25 points. His teammates struggled to make baskets, though they had open looks all night long, and Creighton won 63-58. In Evanston, their opponent had no such problems. John Shurna, Michael Thompson and Drew Crawford all had big nights, the Wildcats shot 57% from the floor in the first half, and the Jays lost 65-52.
As he was a year ago, Shurna is their catalyst and the main focus of opposing defenses. A senior All-American and a finalist for both the Naismith and the Wooden Awards, Shurna might be the best individual player the Jays face all season. He leads the Wildcats in scoring (19.5 ppg.), rebounding (5.7 rpg.) and blocked shots (1.6 bpg.), shoots 43% from long range, and is coming off a game in which he made 9 three-pointers to tie a school record.
Drew Crawford, who was a thorn in the Jays’ side a year ago, is second on the team in scoring at 16.6 a game, leads the team with 13 steals, and shoots 39.7% from behind the arc. Dave Sobolewski is next in line, averaging just under nine points a game and connecting at a 37.5% clip from long range (18-48).
Their 10-1 record is the product of beating, among others, LSU, Tulsa, Seton Hall and Georgia Tech, with their only loss coming to #7 Baylor, a game they lost 69-41. It’s that game which has some Creighton fans believing Northwestern is not as good as their record indicates — it was televised on BTN and was on many TV’s in sports bars prior to the Creighton-Nebraska game. It was their worst game of the season, and it’s likely the only time most Jays fans have seen them play.
Do not be fooled. The Wildcats are a good team, despite that performance, and a win tonight would be among the best on Creighton’s resume come March.
Meet the Northwestern Wildcats: Beginning tonight, six of Northwestern’s next seven opponents are ranked in the Dec. 20 Associated Press poll … The Wildcats rank second nationally with a 1.81 assist-to-turnover ratio this season, after ranking second in the nation to only Wisconsin with a 1.70 mark a year ago … NU has a +4.4 turnover margin, forcing 14.2 turnovers per game, while ranking fourth in the nation with just 9.8 per contest. The ‘Cats finished third nationally with an average of only 9.9 turnovers per game during the 2010-11 season … In their 87-72 victory over Eastern Illinois on Sunday, John Shurna scored a game-high 32 points, including tying a school record with nine 3-pointers, while Luka Mirkovic contributed his seventh career double-double, posting 18 points and 10 rebounds along with seven assists … A win Thursday would be NU’s 11th of the season and would set a new school record for wins prior to January 1 … Northwestern has started its season 10-1 for the third time in school history, matching the 1982-83 and 2009-10 teams. It’s the best start for the Wildcats since beginning the 1930-31 season with a school-record 12 straight wins … Northwestern and Creighton has one common opponent so far this season in Tulsa. The Wildcats defeated the Golden Hurricane 69-65 Nov. 18 in the Charleston Classic, while the Bluejays earned an 83-64 win at Tulsa Dec. 19.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Creighton has won 12 straight regular-season home games against teams from the top-six BCS leagues since the start of the 1996-97 season. Those 12 wins have been by an average of 11.3 points, with seven coming by double-digits, and none decided by fewer than six points … Creighton has won its last 15 Thursday home games since a Feb. 16, 1995 loss to Bradley, and has never lost a Thursday game at CenturyLink Center (6-0) … Creighton has won 17 straight home games when taking the floor as a ranked team, dating to a March 8, 1975 loss to No. 5 Marquette. All-time, ranked Creighton teams are 21-0 at home when facing unranked foes … Creighton has scored 70 points or more in all 10 games to date, their longest streak of 70 point games to begin a season since starting the 1970-71 campaign with 17 straight contests of 70 or more … Creighton has never had a player with a traditional point-rebound-assist triple-double, but Grant Gibbs is getting closer. The junior guard had nine points, seven rebounds and 10 assists on Monday at Tulsa. The only three triple-doubles in school history were recorded by Benoit Benjamin in 1985, but all three were of the point-rebound-blocked shot variety.
The RUN-DMD Show: Doug McDermott’s 16 field goals on Monday night in Tulsa were the most by a Bluejay since Chad Gallagher also went exactly 16-for-23 at Siena way back on Feb. 3, 1991 … His 35 points in that game were the most since Cavel Witter had 42 points on March 1, 2008 vs. Bradley, and the most in a true road game since Nate Funk had 35 on Feb. 16, 2005 in a win at Wichita State … He has now upped his scoring average after all 10 games this season, which is absolutely mind-boggling … If he scores 30 or more points against Northwestern, he’ll be the first to notch back-to-back games of 30 or more points since Bob Harstad on Feb. 10 & 12, 1990 … His current streak of nine straight games of 20 or more points is CU’s longest streak in at least 30 years. The streak includes eight straight games of 24 points or more.
The Last Time They Played: On November 28 of last year, Northwestern defeated the Jays 65-52. Kenny Lawson had nine points and five rebounds early on before Northwestern’s trapping zone bogged down the Jays offense, and a 10-0 NU run during a six-minute Bluejay drought gave the Wildcats a lead they would not relinquish.
The Series: Northwestern leads the all-time series 3-1, but the teams have never met in Omaha. The Jays only win in the series came on December 19, 1964, when they knocked off the Wildcats in Evanston 82-70.
Greg McDermott is 0-2 all-time against Northwestern and Bill Carmody, having also lost 67-65 on Nov. 28, 2009 in Chicago at the Chicago Invitational Challenge, when he was the head coach at Iowa State.
Gratuitous Linkage: Earlier this week, Creighton made a trip to Children’s Hospital to visit some of the kids getting treatment there. WOWT did an absolutely awesome story on it, including one girl’s wish to meet Gregory Echenique.
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: On December 22, 1988, Creighton beat Montana State 75-69 in overtime. Sophomore forward Bob Harstad made a buzzer-beating layup to force OT. The game could have been tied sooner, but after Tony Bell stole the ball with 1:24 to play, he missed a dunk on the other end. “It’s pretty simple,” Bell told the media after the game. “I just missed it. When I looked up, it was too late. I was under the goal. I was really down after that, but the team boosted me up.” He would get the key rebound a minute later that led to Harstad’s game-tying bucket, and then the Jays hit 12 of 14 free throws in the extra period to pull away for the victory.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day: It’s tradition around these parts to play “Last Christmas” by Wham in the Primer for the final game before Christmas. But since I know not everyone wants to have their eardrums assaulted by George Michael and, um, the Other Guy From Wham, today I present not only that video but an alternative choice as well. Totally up to you which one you’d rather listen to. Wham, or Rob Halford (of Judas Priest) with Slash on “We Three Kings.” It’s a Christmas music kind of day, what can I say.
The Bottom Line: The atmosphere should be electric tonight, and I believe the Jays feed off their energy to a big win.
Jays 81, Wildcats 70