[dropcap]During[/dropcap] the past four years, Creighton has gone 97-39, won games in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments, won two league tournament titles and one regular-season conference title, and gone 4-0 against Nebraska and 8-1 in conference tournament action. Of course, most of that came while the current players were complimentary pieces on the Doug McDermott/Grant Gibbs/Jahenns Manigat/Ethan Wragge Bluejays. On their own, they’re liable to be remembered for losing seven games — six in Big East play alone — after leading in the final minute, and for being the team that saw several long-time streaks end on their watch.
That would be a shame.
Has this been one of the most frustrating seasons in a long time? Absolutely. Not only have the losses mounted at rates not seen since the mid-nineties, they’ve come in heartbreaking fashion, time after time. Six of their 13 Big East losses came after they were ahead in the final minute. I mean, that’s absurd.
And yet, this team has improved as the season went on, has continued to play as hard as it’s possible to play, and continued to leave every ounce of effort they possess out on the court. There’s been years when CU won and you couldn’t say that. There may very well be a year in the future when we look back and wish that team played with the team-first attitude, determination, and effort of this group. Look around the country, and it’s not hard to find teams in the midst of similarly frustrating seasons that have imploded. They’re everywhere; the team that loses and points fingers at one another, the team that gets locked out of their own locker room because their effort has been called into question, the team that fights with one another and with opponents in equal measure, the team that gets blown out in late-season games because they’ve stopped giving maximum effort. None of that has happened with this group.
Even as the losses mounted — nine straight at one point, and an 0-8 start in the league — they stuck together and continued to leave everything on the court, while being terrific representatives of the school off the court. If there was ever a team that could say “To hell with it” and be semi-justified in that decision, it’s this group. They’ve been SOOOO close SOOOO many times, and can’t seem to get rewarded for it with a win. They can legitimately look at their season and wonder what might have been if those close losses were wins — they’d be in the conversation for an NCAA or NIT berth. This is a flawed team from a talent perspective, it’s a scarred team from a results perspective…and yet, they come out every damn night and do their absolute damnedest to get a win.
Austin Chatman has been a three-year starter after being a key contributor off the bench his freshman year, and was the point guard on two of the best teams in Creighton history. As a sophomore, he was second in the MVC in assists/game, fourth in three-point field goal percentage and second in assist/turnover ratio, and played his best when the spotlight was brightest — he had 12 points and six assists in the MVC regular-season title-clinching victory vs. Wichita State, and then a week later dished a game-high seven assists in the MVC Tournament title game victory vs. the Shockers. As a junior, he was one of the best point guards in the Big East, ranking third in the league with 4.4 assists per game, third with a 2.6 assist/turnover ratio and ninth in three-point percentage. He was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Big East Tournament after averaging 8.7 points and 6.3 assists per game, and then had 16 points, six assists and five rebounds vs. Louisiana in an NCAA Tournament victory. His senior season has seen dips in shooting percentage and assists per game, but he’s remained an underrated defender and his steady influence has helped keep the team stay on an even keel despite the losses. He’ll go down as one of the great point guards in Creighton history, which is saying something given the lineage of PG’s that have come before.
Avery Dingman came to Creighton as a three-point shooter with size and length, and as a freshman he was terrific — he made 26-62 (41%) from three-point range despite playing just seven minutes a game. His sophomore season continued that trend, and then at some point he lost confidence in his shot. For the year, he wound up 33-83 (39%), but after making six treys in his first three MVC games, he made just 10 more the rest of the year, often launching shots that were obviously misses the second they left his hand. With his three-point shot no longer a viable weapon, he reinvented himself as a defensive specialist and occasional slasher, drawing fouls at the rim or passing out to an open teammate on the perimeter, and played a valuable complimentary role on last year’s record-setting team, doing anything necessary to get a win.
Will Artino is the last of Dana Altman’s recruits still at Creighton, having been signed by Altman in 2009 and redshirting during Greg McDermott’s first season on the Hilltop in 2010. He spent his first two seasons backing up Gregory Echenique at center, providing energy off the bench and a change-of-pace from the bruising style of the gigantic Echenique. As a junior, he started the first seven games at center before being replaced in the lineup by Ethan Wragge, and with no complaints resumed his role as high-energy guy off the bench, thriving in short bursts — such as his 10 points and seven rebounds in 12 minutes of a road win at DePaul, or his 11 points and 10 rebounds in a career-high 22 minutes in a five-point road win at Butler. Overall, he made 41-of-53 field goals in Big East action and had just one league game with more than one field goal miss. As a senior, he’s struggled to take on a larger role, and his shooting percentage has dropped to 54% as his minutes have increased to a career-high 16 a game. He once again lost a starting role , but once again kept a team-first attitude and has had moments of brilliance, such as against #19 Seton Hall on January 10, when he recorded his third career double-double, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds including a go-ahead tip-in with 17.2 seconds left that would have been the game-winner if not for Sterling Gibbs. He also had 12 points (all in the second half) and a career-high 14 rebounds in a win over Marquette on February 14, and in a road win at DePaul he scored 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor with seven rebounds. He’s also one of just five Creighton players to go 4-0 in their career against Nebraska.
Devin Brooks has played just two seasons at Creighton after transferring in following a successful stint at Iowa Western Community College, but has given Bluejay fans a lot of memories. His crossover ability led to some of the best highlights of the 2013-14 season, and as the season wore on, his overall game improved immensely. Brooks had 11 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists vs. Georgetown on January 25, 12 points in 12 minutes in win vs. #6 Villanova on February 16, and eight points, six rebounds and three assists off the bench in win at Marquette later that week. He’s started 15 games as a senior, leads the team in steals, rebounding and plus/minus and is second in assists. He’s led the team in rebounding eight of the last 20 games, and 10 times overall this season. And in the last seven games, he leads team in assists and steals and is second in both rebounds and scoring. While he remains a maddening player at times with his penchant for following a big play with a costly mistake, he’s given them a dimension that they lacked in previous years and given his vast improvement, you wish he had another year at Creighton to see what he might be able to do.
Speaking of players you wish had another year at Creighton: Rick Kreklow. A fifth-year transfer, this is his one and only season in a Creighton uniform, but he’s endeared himself to Bluejay fans with his hard-nosed play and clutch shooting, and endeared himself to coaches for his leadership and never-ending supply of positivity. His three-point shooting has also spawned the “Kreklometer” on Twitter, which is my favorite social media moment of the season, hands-down — playing off the fact that he alternatively goes by either Rick or Ricky, the meter goes through variations on his name with “Ricardo” coming when he’s on fire from long range. His style of play can be summed up in one play, though: against Marquette, he dove head-first out of bounds to save a ball, then came back in bounds to catch a pass and drain a three in the corner.
You want to know why 16,000+ fans have continued showing up night after night to cheer this team on? That’s why. The losses suck, the gut-punch endings time after time are hard to stomach. But as a Creighton fan, how can you not be impressed with this group? It’s been said that a program’s culture is tested the most during a bad season, and by that metric Creighton Basketball is in great shape. The team continues to give max effort. The fans have continued to show up in huge numbers. It might be next year before the wins come in waves again, but when they do, this senior class should be rightfully praised for holding the line on the culture of Creighton Basketball, something that will make that quick turnaround possible when it comes. And it will come.
Roll Damn Jays.
Quick Notes on the Musketeers:
- Xavier’s streak of 32 straight years of a .500 mark or better in conference play entering this season is the longest in the nation. They’re 8-9 in the Big East entering the season finale, so they must win in Omaha on Saturday to extend their streak.
- Xavier (43) is among 6 Big East teams in the top 50 of the NCAA official Daily RPI, and leads the Big East in FG% (.476), FT% (.735) and assists (16.9 apg.).
- Senior Dee Davis is 2nd in the league and 10th in the nation in assists (6.2 apg.), while ranking 7th on XU’s all-time career assist list with 457. His 186 assists so far this season rank 5th all-time at Xavier for a single season.
- Myles Davis, who is third on the team in scoring at 11.1 ppg., leads XU in 3-point FG at 1.8 per game. He leads the Big East and is 16th in the nation in free throw percentage at .876.
- Xavier has three players averaging in double figures in scoring and six that are at 8.5 ppg. or more. Freshman Trevon Bluiett (15th overall and second among freshmen in the Big East at 12.3 ppg.) leads Xavier followed by senior Matt Stainbrook (11.5 ppg.), sophomore Myles Davis (11.1 ppg.), sophomore Jalen Reynolds (9.6 ppg.), junior Remy Abell (8.7 ppg.) and senior Dee Davis (8.5 ppg.).
- Xavier has held its opponents to 56.5 ppg. in its last four wins. Xavier is 14-2 when it holds its opponent to less than 70 points this season.
Bluejay Bytes:
- Creighton is 18-1 in the last 19 years in its final home game of the regular-season, including last year’s 88-71 win over Providence. CU’s last loss in a regular-season home finale came on a senior-less team in 2002 to Drake. The Jays have won 18 straight Senior Day’s when they have at least one senior dating to a 1994-95 setback vs. Southern Illinois.
- Senior guard Austin Chatman has scored 20 or more points in consecutive games for the first time in his career, and enters Senior Day with 973 career points. He stands 27 points shy of becoming the 39th member in program history to reach 1,000 career points. Saturday will be the 137th game of his Creighton career, which would be more than any other player in school history to reach the milestone.
- There have only been four efforts of 40 points or more in a game at CenturyLink Center Omaha, as Cavel Witter (42 points vs. Bradley on 3/1/08), Evansville’s Colt Ryan (43 points at CU on 2/21/12), Doug McDermott (41 points vs. Wichita State on 3/2/13) and McDermott again (45 points vs. Providence on 3/7/14) have done it. This is relevant because all four 40-plus point outings came on a Creighton Senior Day.
The Series:
Xavier owns a slim 10-9 lead in 19 all-time games with Creighton, but the Bluejays have won three of the five games played in Omaha. Notably, all five times they’ve played in Omaha, the game was decided by seven points or less.
Greg McDermott is 3-1 against Xavier, while Chris Mack is 2-3 against Creighton.
The Last Time They Played:
Devin Brooks had his first career double-double, scoring 13 points with 12 rebounds, six assists, and three steals in 38 minutes, leading the Jays to an improbable 79-72 overtime win in Cincinnati. An early 10-point lead came courtesy of Rick Kreklow, who scored nine of the team’s 12 points during a 12-2 run that turned an 11-11- tie into a 23-13 Bluejay lead. A game of personal runs continued in the second half, as Geoff Groselle scored five straight to bring the Jays back from behind to tie the game at 44, and then in the overtime, James Milliken drained two straight triples in the first 75 seconds to set the tone. The madness of the final moments is recapped pretty well in our Morning After piece.
Gratuitous Linkage:
Banners on the Parkway has an excellent breakdown of seeding possibilities for next week’s Big East Tournament. As far as Creighton is concerned: they’ll be the 9 seed if they win OR they lose and Marquette loses OR they lose, Marquette wins, and Providence loses. They’ll be the 10 seed if they lose, Marquette wins, and Providence wins.
What The Other Side is Saying:
So what does Xavier have to do to beat Creighton? No. 1, rebound. The Bluejays out-rebounded XU 41-32 in the first meeting and scored 14 second-chance points.
One sequence that frustrated Mack came with 3:42 left in regulation. After Geoffrey Groselle nabbed James Milliken’s lay-up miss, Austin Chatman attempted a 3-pointer and also missed. Devin Brooks came up with the rebound. Rick Kreklow misfired on another three – but Chatman tracked down the offensive board.
On the third 3-point attempt of the possession, Kreklow finally scored.
“It gave them a one-point lead, gave them a lot of momentum. We were able to tie it up and go to overtime,” Chris Mack said. “But it certainly didn’t help our position by not being able to rebound the ball effectively.”
Rebounding Key in Rematch with Creighton, Cincinnati.com
This Date in Creighton Hoops History:
On March 7, 2005, Creighton defeated Southwest Missouri State 75-57 to win the MVC Tournament — their fifth title in seven seasons — and clinch an auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament. In classic Dana Altman fashion, he had the team peaking as they entered St. Louis, and the win was the Jays’ eighth straight victory. Tournament MVP Johnny Mathies and freshman Dane Watts both scored 14 points in the game for the winning Bluejays.
Creighton jumped out to a 38-32 lead at halftime, and while SMS never took the lead, they did tie it 40-40 early in the second half. Nate Funk’s three-pointer gave the Jays back the lead, but they were unable to pull away until late, when they unleashed a game-ending 23-7 run. That run was sparked by a lay-up from Watts and three-pointers from Tyler McKinney and Jimmy Motz to give the Jays a 60-50 lead with 3:59 remaining. Motz made four treys in the game, and along with Funk, joined Mathies on the All-Tournament Team.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day:
Playing this classic from the early days of CenturyLink Center (back when it was called Qwest Center) seemed to work pretty well before each of the last two year’s home finales. Why mess with a good thing?
The Bottom Line:
With the Jays down by two and five seconds left, Austin Chatman kicks it out to Ricky Kreklow for a game-winning three at the buzzer.
Creighton 74, Xavier 73