The Jays are tied for second place in the MVC at 4-1, and they have a big week: they take on both teams they’re tied with in the next five days. A tussle in Terre Haute with Indiana State, who’s a surprising 4-1, happens on Sunday on FSN. But first things first. Tonight the preseason favorite Wichita State Shockers come to town, fresh off a home loss to Missouri State.
Its been a while since Wichita State won in Omaha. How long? Well, Dana Altman was the head coach for 16 years and never lost at home to the Shockers. And Rick Johnson — who won just 24 total games in three disastrous seasons — won his final two home games against them. The last time the Shockers won in Omaha was during the first year of the Johnson Era, in February of 1992. That’s 17 straight wins for the Jays, and the only reason its not 18 is because the teams did not meet in Omaha in the 1994-95 season due the MVC not playing a full home-and-home schedule back then. Its a strange thing, because it isn’t like Wichita State has been terrible the last 17 years; on the contrary, they’ve been pretty good, with a couple of NCAA bids, a Sweet 16 berth, and several NIT bids scattered amongst many winning seasons. They’ve done a lot. They just haven’t won in Omaha. For 17 years.
1992 seems like it was so long ago, yet looking over a list of events that happened that year, it seems like just yesterday. Many high school seniors — or college freshmen — were born that year (!) so here’s a recap of what was going on in the world the last time the Shockers won in Omaha.
In January of that year, President George HW Bush vomited into the lap of Japanese Prime Minister, and then fainted. In February, Mike Tyson was convicted of rape and sent to prison, and the Winter Olympics were held in Albertville, France. In March, “Silence of the Lambs” won the Oscar for Best Picture. In April, Microsoft released Windows 3.1, and the much-mocked Euro Disney opened. In May, Johnny Carson retired from the Tonight Show. In June, Vice-President Dan Quayle erroneously corrects a student’s spelling of the word “Potato” in a New Jersey spelling bee by indicating it should have an “e” on the end. In July, the 1992 Summer Olympics open in Barcelona, and the Dream Team begins its domination en route to a gold medal. In August, the Mall of America opened in Minnesota, and Hurricane Andrew devastated south Florida. In September, Brett Favre replaced Don Majikowski as starter of the Green Bay Packers. In October, Sinead O’Connor made her infamous appearance on Saturday Night Live where she tore up a photo of the Pope on live TV, and Toronto became the first non-American team to win the World Series. In November, Bill Clinton was elected President. And in December, the military conflict in Somalia began. That was 1992. That was the last time Wichita State won in Omaha.
The Jays aren’t going to keep beating the Shockers in Omaha every year, as much as we’d all like them to. The streak is going to end sometime. Unfortunately, that night might be tonight.
Wichita State was picked, almost unanimously, to win the league, and with good reason: they’re deep, they’re talented, and they’re a veteran group. They have three losses on the year — to UCONN (13-2, ranked 10th), San Diego State (17-0, ranked 6th), and Missouri State (13-3, 5-0 and first place in the MVC). Despite the loss to the Bears Sunday night, they’re still the most talented group in the league in my opinion, they play a style that Creighton cannot match, and they have a coach who despises the Jays and would like nothing more than to blow them out. That’s a potent combination.
Its a cliche, but the team who dictates the tempo is probably going to win tonight. The Jays simply do not have the speed, the depth at wing, or the athleticism to run with Wichita State in a shootout. Likewise, the Shockers have been frustrated by teams who force them to play a half-court game, with Sunday’s loss to Missouri State being the best example.
David Kyles leads the team in scoring at 11.6 points a game, but has seen his average dip to just 7.8 in MVC games as his three-point shooting went from red-hot to ice cold. J.T. Durley has picked up some of the slack, raising his average from 11.4 to 12.0 in league games. Toure’ Murry averages 10.5 points per game, and tops the club with 61 assists. Seven other players average between 4.6 and 7.4 points per game, as 10 men average 13 minutes per game or more.
They average a league-high 75.1 points per game while yielding just 62.0 per game. The Shockers also lead the MVC in rebound margin (+9.4), field goal percentage (.477), three-point percentage (.388), three-pointers per game (7.9) and assists per game (16.0). They have six players who are 6’8″ or taller, and two 7-footers.
Clearly, those are scary numbers.
However, they’re not perfect. Point guard play is their Achilles Heel, as it has proved more difficult to replace Cleven Hannah than most people suspected. Toure Murry has gotten most of the time at the point guard spot, but the natural two-guard has struggled leading the team; at 6’5″ and 203, he’s a big guard, and his skillset appears better suited as a two-guard. Junior College transfer Joe Ragland has gotten some minutes at point lately, and the Shockers have seemed to play well when the two share the floor together. Paul Suellentrop wrote yesterday that, “Regardless of who is out there, (Gregg Marshall) wants more leadership and more communication from his guards. Perhaps that’s not surprising. Murry didn’t have to fill that role as a shooting guard the past two seasons. Clevin Hannah took care of it. Ragland is a newcomer. In practices, it’s often WSU big men Garrett Stutz and J.T. Durley who are the most vocal.” He echoed those sentiments in an interview with our own Patrick Marshall today.
The issues at point guard became glaring in the final minute of the game Sunday, when the Shockers seemed disorganized on offense, and Murry committed an absolutely horrendous turnover — throwing the ball out of bounds on the final possession, costing them an opportunity for a game-winning shot. MVC teams are going to try to duplicate what Missouri State did to them, at least until Murry and the Shockers prove they can win that way.
So what exactly did Missouri State do to them? They sent just one player to the offensive boards in a trade-off to prevent Wichita State from fastbreaking them to death. They played physical at all five positions, and for the most part, kept them from shooting early in the shot clock by denying them easy looks. When Murry was forced to pull the ball back out and reset the offense, it led to panic — they had 16 turnovers — and even when they managed not to turn it over, they made a lot of bad shot choices. This team is built to run, and to score as early in the shot clock as possible. Prevent them from doing that, and you can frustrate them.
With that said, the Jays need a lot to go right to pull out a win tonight. They’re going to have to hit three-point shots — making 30% isn’t going to cut it tonight — and they’re going to have to prevent Wichita State from getting hot behind the arc. They need to force Murry into having a bad game in part by slowing him down. They need their big guys, especially Kenny Lawson and Gregory Echenique, to stay out of foul trouble while simultaneously denying easy baskets in the paint. A Shocker team moping around after losing some of their swagger with Sunday’s home loss wouldn’t hurt.
I think enough of those things can happen to keep it close. And if the crowd can give the Jays a lift, it may just be enough to pull out a win. To that end, tonight is a White Out, its $1 Beer Night, and its the first game with the students back from break, so the crowd should be jacked. I can’t wait for 7 o’clock.
About the Shockers: J.T. Durley put together the most productive three games of his senior season to date by leading WSU with 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds last week, shooting 45.7% from the field with three blocks and three steals … Durley had 13 points each against Drake and at Illinois State, and 11 against Missouri State; against the Bears he also had his first double-double of the season with 10 boards and 11 points … Gabe Blair continues to play with a stress fracture in his back, but has remained effective, averaging 8.4 points and 5.6 rebounds in the last five games … Last week, Blair went 8-for-12 from the field with 15 rebounds in the two games … WSU is receiving votes in the polls this week, which equates to 42nd in the ESPN/ USA Today voting section and 44th in the AP Poll … Gregg Marshall is 67-3 in his career when his teams score 80 or more points, which includes a 12-0 record in the last three-plus seasons at WSU; he is also 11-0 when his teams have scored 90-plus points in his 12-plus seasons as a head coach … Undefeated San Diego State is the only team to outrebound the Shockers this season; in the Gregg Marshall Era, they’ve outrebounded opponents 89 times out of 116 games … The Shockers are shooting 73.3% from the line through 16 games, which would rank third all-time on the season team free throw percentage list if the season stopped today; Last year, WSU shot a WSU-record-high 74.6 percent from the line.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Wednesday marks the fifth time Creighton has had a “White Out”, with the Jays winning the first four such games — two each over Southern Illinois and Wichita State –including a pair of one-point victories … Creighton and Wichita State have played 26 games decided by 12 points or less during the 34 matchups since 1994-95, with CU going 22-4 in those games … Creighton is 13-2 since 1994-95 in games vs. Wichita State decided by four points or less … Creighton has allowed the Shockers to score 70 or more points in just seven of the last 34 meetings. Wichita State is 5-2 in such games … In the 27 matchups the Shockers scored under 70, they are 2-25 vs. the Bluejays … Seven of the last 11 Creighton/Wichita State games have been decided in the final seconds, including this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, and, um, this one … Creighton has overcome a double-digit deficit to beat Wichita State five times since 2003, which includes a 57-55 win over the Shockers on Jan. 28, 2006 in which WSU had led 25-6 before eventually falling on a buzzer-beater by CU’s Anthony Tolliver … Creighton has won its sixth game of the MVC slate in each of the previous 16 seasons. Wednesday’s game vs. Wichita State is Creighton’s sixth MVC contest this season.
The Last Time They Played: On January 16, 2010, Creighton missed its first seven shots from the floor before a P’Allen Stinnett slam snapped an 0-for-7 drought that lasted more than seven minutes. Despite that early drought, CU trailed just 9-7 after the Stinnett’s jam. Wichita State took its biggest lead of the game at 24-18 with 3:05 left in the first half on a three-pointer by Garrett Stutz, then watched as CU applied some pressure and ended the half on an 8-0 surge. That included 6-of-6 shooting at the line and a pull-up jumper from Cavel Witter that gave CU a 28-26 halftime lead.
After leading by as many as 12 in the second half, the Jays lead was just 57-53 with 23.8 seconds left. WSU’s Clevin Hannah drained a three-pointer with 13.1 seconds left to make it a 57-56 Bluejay edge. As CU was bringing the ball upcourt, WSU would knock the ball out of bounds with 9.4 seconds left. CU would inbound the ball to Stinnett, would combined with Witter to play keep away until time expired as an anticipated foul from the Shockers never came.
The Series: Creighton leads the all-time series with Wichita State by a 52-41 margin, including wins in five of the past seven meetings. The Jays have also won 28-of-35 and 35-of-45 vs. the Shockers in recent seasons. Creighton has won the last 17 games in Omaha to own a 29-14 home record against the Shockers all-time.
Greg McDermott is 7-4 all-time vs. Wichita State, including a 4-1 record in home games. McDermott has never coached against Gregg Marshall. Marshall is 2-5 against Creighton.
Gratuitous Linkage: In a mid-80s commercial, Ronald McDonald played a one-on-five game of basketball against the Chicken McNuggets. Who would win such a seemingly lopsided battle? Watch the gloriously cheesy 30-second spot to find out.
Out of Context Simpsons quote: “Whoa, slow down there, maestro. There’s a *New* Mexico?” -Mr. Burns
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: #19 Tulsa snapped Creighton’s two-game home winning streak against Top 25 opponents, defeating the Bluejays 75-67 before a crowd of 5,516 at the Civic Auditorium on January 12, 2000. Tulsa used a 16-1 run midway through the second half to erase a seven-point Creighton lead and take an eight-point advantage with 6:55 remaining.
Seniors Matt West, Nerijus Karlikanovas and freshman Terrell Taylor each scored 11 points to lead Creighton. Freshman Kyle Korver added 10 points, hitting his first three 3-point attempts and finishing the night 3-for-4. Ryan Sears was limited to four points, but did dish out eight assists as he surpassed Creighton assistant coach Kevin McKenna for fifth all-time on the Creighton career assists list with 333 assists.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day: For reasons not totally understood by me, the hashtag #rolljays has taken off on Twitter. Its no doubt appropriated from the Alabama slogan “Roll Tide”, and as such, its strange to me. But internet memes cannot be controlled, often cannot be explained, and should not be dissected intellectually. Just go with it.
So with that, I guess, Roll Jays. Come out with the Eye of the Bluejay tonight and take it to the Shockers! What’s that, its actually Eye of the Tiger? See the preceding paragraph.
The Bottom Line: Creighton needs a lot to go right to win tonight, because on paper, Wichita State is the better team. But that’s been the case before in this 17-game streak, and the Shockers have yet to win. I think the Jays will successfully slow the game down, as they’ve done pretty consistently this year, and will frustrate Toure Murry and the Shockers into bad turnovers and questionable shots.
Close game throughout, Jays prevail late.
Creighton 64, Wichita State 61