Jays neglect interior advantage…
As the first half wore on it was becoming apparent that Villanova was not going to be able to handle what Creighton was getting offensively in the low post. Junior forward Martin Krampelj and freshman forward Christian Bishop combined for 17 points and eight rebounds in the opening 20 minutes. The duo was 7-of-9 from the field, a perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw line, and had a total of four dunks between them.
All of that helped the Bluejays storm out to an 8-0 lead in second-chance points and finish the first half with a 21-20 edge in points in the paint.
The second half wasn’t just a different chapter, it felt like an entirely different book all together. By the time the game clock hit 0.0, Villanova had clawed their back to a 10-10 tie in second-chance points and outscored the Jays in the paint 36-29. Krampelj had more fouls (3) than field goals (2), and Bishop only played two minutes after halftime. Creighton head coach Greg McDermott felt the drop off in production out of the post was due in large part to his team’s decision-making against Villanova’s zone defense.
“I thought we missed them some,” he said of why Krampelj and Bishop didn’t get as many touches inside. “They mixed their defenses, they mixed some zone in a little and made it tough to get it in there. We did not do a good job of attacking the middle of the zone. I thought it was open and we didn’t get it there. Our guys were too quick to reverse instead of making sure it touched the middle of the floor, which is really critical against a zone.”
But Villanova deserves some credit as well. Even when they went to the zone in the first half, Creighton still got it inside and got Bishop a baseline dunk against the 1-3-1. The Wildcats simply did a better job in the second half of fighting for position with their big men and fronting the entry pass with their guards when Creighton did get a switch that they could attack.
“I thought [sophomore forward Jermaine Samuels] just did a great job in the second half of fighting around him when he got caught down low on him,” Villanova head coach Jay Wright said. “We did get caught on switches a few times and had guards down there, but the guards did a good job fighting.
“He still got us a couple times … that’s the tough thing about playing them is they have all these 3-point shooters and Krampelj inside is really good. I just thought we did a good job of balancing not letting him kill us and still guarding the three.”
Martin Krampelj dunks over top of Villanova’s Jermaine Samuels. (Photo by Brad Williams / WBR)
Villanova’s switching defenses…
The Wildcats threw different looks at the Jays in the first half, but it seemed far more frequent after halftime. It was certainly more effective. Creighton shot 50.0 percent from the field, 41.2 percent from three, and finished the first half with 14 assists on 16 field goals and just five turnovers. In the second half, they were 40.0 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from three, and turned the ball over seven times leading to 13 points the other way for Villanova.
True freshman point guard Marcus Zegarowski, who finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists in his first career start on Sunday, said after the game that it’s on him to identify the defense and get his team into their offense sooner.
“They were going from zone to man. They were switching it up on us, sometimes even during the same possession,” Zegarowski said. “I thought we could have done a better job in our zone offense with getting it moving instead of slowing it down, and that’s on me. I have to be better about seeing if it’s zone or man and then just getting into our offense as quickly as possible and moving the ball as quickly as possible to get guys good shots.”
Taking away Ty-Shon…
Along with the Jekyll and Hyde halves for Creighton’s big men, sophomore guard Ty-Shon Alexander also found things easier to come by in the first half than the second.
First half: 17 points, 5-9 3FG, 2 assists, 0 turnovers
Second half: 5 points, 1-6 3FG, 1 assist, 4 turnovers
“We just tried keep it out of his hands. But that was the plan in the first half, too,” Wright said. “We just did a better job. Sometimes with an inexperienced team you just get to half time and it becomes more about ‘ok, we have to stick to the game plan, but you have to do it better.’ That’s really what it was. We tried to keep it out of his hands early, but we did a great job in the second half.”
Alexander, though, was harder on himself for his second-half performance.
“I was just playing too loose with the ball, too casual,” he said. “That was my mistake.”
Does Creighton need a ‘run stopper’?
Doug McDermott.
Maurice Watson, Jr.
Marcus Foster.
The unquestioned go-to guys of Creighton squads of the recent past. When times are tough, you know who needs the ball. Does this young and inexperienced crop of Bluejays need to find their “guy” who can see the two separate 13-0 runs Villanova had in the second half coming and make a play to stop them sooner. Greg McDermott believes that’s not necessarily the case.
“I would rather that they trust each other in those situations,” McDermott said. “I think often times when that happens human nature tells you to take it upon yourself and take care of it and fix it, but I’d rather they trust each other and trust ball movement in those situations.”
Nova closed the show this time…
Last year in Omaha, Villanova led Creighton 68-60 with 4:30 on the clock and lost. On Sunday, they led the Jays 73-65 with 4:20 remaining. How did they seal the deal this time with the same roster minus four NBA Draft picks?
Phil Booth and Eric Paschall.
Nova’s two senior studs kept their foot on the gas and ended two of the next three possessions with back-breaking 3-pointers to extend the lead to double digits and ensure that the Wildcats didn’t let this one slip away.
“They went 1-3-1 and that’s a serious mind game for you. You can get threes quickly, but you have a lead,” Wright said. “[McDermott] is a very good coach. He knows that’s going to force quick shots, so it messes with your mind. We wanted to make it clear to our guys that we’re not worried about taking quick shots. If we get them let’s take them, and thank God the guys hit them.”
Sticking together…
Creighton ended 2018 on a high note with their conference-opening road win at Providence on New Year’s Eve. 2019, however, hasn’t been as kind to the Jays as they are still looking for their first win in the month of January after losses at Butler and at home against Marquette and Villanova. The three-game skid is their longest losing streak of the season. Another first lesson to learn for a team comprised of eight freshmen and sophomores.
“Their focus needs to be really narrow, and it has to be about today,” McDermott said of how his team needs to approach their current situation. “What can we do to get better today? I’m a firm believer that if you just keep improving, keep grinding, keep working that all of the other stuff will take care of itself. But you can’t start to point fingers at your teammates.
“They’ve got to allow me to correct the problems that we’re having, and we’ll talk through all of that as a group. They have to continue to trust one another. Human nature is when things don’t go well you want to start pointing fingers at somebody. That’s just what people want to do, and I think players are no different. We have to be mature enough not to allow that to happen to our locker room and I’m confident that it won’t.”
Ty-Shon Alexander is too.
“This is the Big East. This is how it works,” the sophomore guard said. “We’ve got one of the toughest conferences in the nation. We’re just going to fight back and do everything we can to get better.”