Mamadou Seck had a massive game the first time these two teams met, scoring 18 points and gathering 14 rebounds. The Jays really had no answer for the 6’7″, 210 lb forward, and to his credit, he exploited that. But then, the junior college transfer has done that to a lot of teams this year, as he’s emerged as the Salukis best player, averaging nearly 11 points and 8 rebounds a game.
His play has been a big reason why, after Chris Lowery suspended three players, including center Gene Teague, the Salukis have survived. Many observers figured those suspensions would be the nail in the coffin of their season. Instead, they went down to first place Wichita State and pulled off an upset win. How? Well, for one thing, Teague hasn’t had nearly the kind of season most expected him to have. Teague had been their leading scorer and rebounder through the non-conference slate, but he’d been struggling mightily lately.
Struggling might be too kind of a word, actually. In his last game before the suspension, he scored zero points, and grabbed zero rebounds, in 14 minutes of a 65-44 home loss to Drake. The game before that, he scored two points and grabbed one rebound in a 66-49 loss to Evansville. In MVC play, he had just one game where he scored in double figures, and just one game with more than 4 rebounds. In other words, his statistics were way overinflated and it was his reputation — not his production — that caused observers to believe his loss would torpedo their season. At 6’9″, 285 lbs, he takes up a lot of room, but other than that, he wasn’t contributing much that others couldn’t replace. Thus, losing him didn’t hurt them nearly as much as the conventional wisdom would have believed.
Instead of being the nail in the coffin, the suspensions seem to have rallied the team together. As Coach Chris Lowery told the media on Thursday, “I think it has made us get locked in. I hope that’s what the case is because we were very disciplined at Wichita.” Its forced them to play Kendal Brown-Surles at point guard (in place of the suspended Mykel Cleveland), and he’s thrived. “He’s taking advantage of it and he’s playing with a level of confidence, and that’s how we envisioned him being as a sophomore, as the guy who’s going to run our team, the guy who’s going to break people down, penetrate and pitch, and in the last two games he’s really done that.”
In Tuesday’s upset win over Wichita, it was their forwards, Seck and Carlton Fay, who keyed the win — they combined for 35 of the team’s 56 points and eight of SIU’s 30 rebounds in that big win. Senior guard Jack Crowder also had a career game, scoring 11 points with 8 rebounds.
The Salukis shoot just 30% from behind the arc, ninth in the MVC, and as such need to keep the game in the low 60s to win. Creighton, despite their offensive outbursts the last two weekends at home, probably needs to keep the game in the same range to be successful tonight. Who will have the better combined impact, SIU’s big men or Creighton’s?
The Jays are 10-0 this season when they get at least 15 points at the free throw line, and in the first matchup, a 72-66 overtime win, they were 20-31 from the charity stripe. A repeat of that effort means Seck and Fay will likely be in foul trouble, and the Jays will likely be successful.
Neither team shoots particularly well from three-point range, to be kind, so a tough, grind-it-out battle where both teams try to run things through their big men is likely in store.
About the Salukis: John Freeman, their outstanding guard who has defended Antoine Young in the last three meetings, is nursing an injury to his wrist and while likely to play, he won’t be 100%. That could be big. He defended him well in Carbondale, but was in foul trouble and Young ran wild with him on the bench … The Salukis had 21 more field goal attempts than the Bluejays in the first meeting (68 to 47), but Creighton had 20 more free throw attempts (31 to 11). SIU dominated the board, 42-32, and had 17 offensive rebounds to Creighton’s five … Carlton Fay ranks 3rd in the MVC in scoring (16.4 ppg) in conference games, but his lowest point total of the conference season was against Creighton — seven points on 2-of-10 shooting … Tuesday’s win at first place Wichita State helped the Salukis snap a five-game losing streak, their longest skid since dropping the final seven games of the 1996-97 season … Mamadou Seck leads the MVC in rebounding (7.8 rpg. He had an 18-point, 17-rebound game against Missouri State on Jan. 12, both career highs … SIU held Wichita to a season-low 56 points in Tuesday’s win … Thirteen times this season, SIU has been ahead at halftime. They went on to lose five of those contests. Sound familiar?
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Only two schools have played more than three men’s basketball games at Qwest Center Omaha and have a winning record in the eight-year-old facility — Creighton (109-21) and Southern Illinois (4-3) … Since the 2002 MVC Tournament final, Creighton is 9-0 against Southern Illinois when scoring 70 points or more, but 1-10 when scoring less than 70 against the Salukis. Creighton had just 57 points in regulation at Southern Illinois on January 7, but then scored 15 points in overtime to finish with 72 points and earn the win … Creighton has averaged 78.2 points per game in its four MVC home wins this season, but just 54.5 points in its two MVC home losses this year … Antoine Young played two of his best games last season against Southern Illinois. In the Jan. 13 game in Omaha, Young hit a game-winning shot with the score tied and 1.3 seconds left, giving the Jays a 71-69 victory. He finished that game with seven points and five assists without a turnover. In the Feb. 23 rematch in Carbondale, Young had a (then) career-high 22 points to go with three assists and two rebounds. He scored six of Creighton’s final eight points in the 83-78 overtime victory. His 22 points were seven more than his previous best at the time.
The Last Time They Played: Creighton overcame two seven-point second-half deficits to post a 72-66 overtime win at Southern Illinois on January 7 at SIU Arena. The Bluejays received 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists from sophomore transfer Gregory Echenique, making his first Creighton start, while three other Bluejay starters scored in double figures in the road win, including a career-high tying 14 points from Kaleb Korver.
The Series: Creighton owns a 48-36 all-time lead in the series against Southern Illinois, including a 25-14 mark in Omaha. Creighton has won the last six meetings and seven of eight since an eight-game losing streak to Southern Illinois.
Eighteen of the last 22 meetings have been decided by nine points or less, including three straight games decided by six or less.
Greg McDermott is 5-7 against Southern Illinois and 3-3 against Chris Lowery. Meanwhile, Lowery is 7-7 against Creighton all-time.
Gratuitous Linkage: Its about damn time. Norm MacDonald finally is back on TV, with a new show on Comedy Central to be called “Sports Show with Norm MacDonald.”
Out of Context Simpsons quote: “How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?” – Homer Simpson
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: On February 13, 2000, a 15-1 Bluejay run spanning the first 11 minutes of the second half keyed a big win over Bradley at the Civic. Creighton held Bradley to just six field goals in the second half (28.6%, 6-for-21). This after 12 lead changes and three ties in the first half, and a 38-37 Creighton advantage at the break.
Kyle Korver led the Bluejays with 16 points and a career-high eight rebounds off the bench, nailing 4-of-7 three-pointers. Justin Haynes added 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field. Ben Walker scored 12 points and pulled down five rebounds and Ryan Sears scored 11 points and had four assists. Sears tied Duan Cole for second on the Bluejay all-time steals list with his 186th career theft.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day: Diamond Dave!
The Bottom Line: Creighton wins a slugfest, 65-60.