Just 20 days will have passed when Creighton and Butler meet again on Tuesday night, but oh how things have changed in that short time. They were tied at 3-1 in the Big East before that first meeting, and the Jays’ 75-64 win — especially their sublime first half that led to a 47-27 halftime advantage — was one of the high points of the Jays’ season.
Since then, Butler won four straight, Creighton lost Mo Watson and then lost two straight…and yet, by virtue of Butler losing to Georgetown on Saturday, a CU win would propel the Jays into second place all by themselves, ahead of Butler, and go a long ways towards rehabbing their dented resume.
Looking back at that first meeting, there’s a temptation to throw most of it out since the Jays are a far different team today than they were then, and Maurice Watson played such a massive role in the win (21 points, 9-14 shooting, seven assists in 39 minutes, 12 straight points during a second-half stretch where Butler tried desperately to claw back into the game). However, there’s a lot of non-Watson things to be encouraged about in the way they won that game. Khyri Thomas shut down leading scorer Kelan Martin (3-14 shooting, including 0-8 in the first half). They played far from a clean game, committing 17 turnovers in a game where Watson played nearly every second (and had eight turnovers himself). They shot poorly from three-point range (7-23) but were completely dominant in the paint, making 24-33 on two-pointers. They outrebounded the Bulldogs 34-30, but had more turnovers (17) than assists (14).
Also, Watson’s loss isn’t the only change since that game. Lost in the ugliness of last Wednesday’s game at Georgetown was the fact that Zach Hanson returned to action, and if his play on Saturday against DePaul is any indication — he was 4-4 from the field, with four rebounds in 10 minutes to go along with solid fundamental defense on the block — he’s close to the same space-eating center he was before he went down in November. That’s great news for a Bluejay team that could use some, and particularly in this matchup. They already had a size advantage inside over Butler, and dominated them in the paint in the first outing. Tyler Wideman at 6’8” is Butler’s biggest regular, and though they’re so sound defensively they generally haven’t been burned by bigger post players, including Justin Patton who was held to 10 points and two rebounds in 31 minutes in the first meeting, they now have to scheme against Patton AND Hanson who bring completely different skillsets to the floor.
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Butler is a terrific team, but you’d never know it from listening to their coach or fans following Saturday’s loss to Georgetown. “If our guys don’t understand that, understand what their approach has to be every night, then I’ve done a bad job communicating to them,” Butler coach Chris Holtmann told the Indianapolis Star. “And we don’t have as aware of guys as I hope we have. We played with zero edge tonight. Zero chip. Some of us had zero grit to us tonight defensively. Just zero.”
It was a costly loss for the Bulldogs. A certain Top 10 ranking, a share of the Big East lead, and their 14-game home winning streak all went by the wayside. They allowed Georgetown to shoot 64%, including 73% in the second half, and for the first time under Chris Holtmann, scored over 80 points and lost.
Their offense remained potent despite the loss; they shot 54.5% as a team and got huge games from Kelan Martin (22 points on 8-15 shooting) and Andrew Chrabascz (16 points on 5-7 shooting and 6-6 free throws). Other parts of their game were suspect. Martin was benched the final three minutes of the game after a costly turnover. Point guard Tyler Lewis had a pair of threes and four assists in the first half, and spent the end of the game on the bench, too. Nate Fowler scored six points in the first, and didn’t play at all in the second. Their defense was torched, their coach called their effort and approach into question, and their leading scorer spent the end of the game on the bench.
In other words, that had all the trappings of a wake-up call loss, and they’ll be locked in tonight. The Jays will get Butler’s A game, and will need to bring theirs as well to give themselves a chance to steal a road win. How do they do that? They’ll need to play with the same intensity Butler will bring, but do it in a controlled way. They’ll need to cut down on turnovers, because Butler is one of the best teams in the country at not turning it over — their average of 9.8 turnovers a game is third-best in the country. Another 17 Bluejay turnovers will almost certainly spell doom in the rematch. And they need to get the ball inside so that Justin Patton and Zach Hanson can get them baskets in the paint.
Quick Notes on the Bulldogs:
- 14 of Butler’s 18 wins have come against teams in the Top 100 of the NCAA’s RPI. They also own victories against the leaders of five leagues (Big East, Pac-12, American, Patriot, and America East).
- Kelan Martin leads the team in scoring (16.6) and rebounding (5.5), but has been in a prolonged shooting slump for most of conference play. He’s only making 36% of his shots in Big East games, 26% from three-point range, and has had one ugly game after another — 3-13 against Georgetown in their first meeting, 3-14 at Creighton, 3-13 at DePaul, and 2-10 at Seton Hall.
- Andrew Chrabascz is their second-leading scorer overall (11.4 points) but has been passed up by both Kamar Baldwin (12.4 points in Big East games) and Kethan Savage (12.2) in conference play. The 6’8” Chrabascz remains their leading assist guy, with 26 in 10 league games.
Bluejay Bytes:
- Freshman Justin Patton has scored nine or more points in every game this season, and landed in double-figures in each of his last 12 games. It’s the longest by any Bluejay newcomer since junior college transfer Booker Woodfox had a stretch of 14 straight games in double-figures from January 26 – March 18, 2008, and the longest by any Creighton freshman since Rodney Buford’s stretch of 17 straight games from January 3 – February 21, 1996.
- Creighton has three wins over top-25 teams this season, more than any campaign in program history. Five previous teams had two top-25 victories in the same season: 1973-74, 2001-02, 2006-07, 2013-14, and 2015-16.
- Tyler Clement had played a total of 12 minutes in Creighton’s first eight Big East games, accumulating no points, one rebound and one assist. On Saturday against DePaul, Clement was Creighton’s first reserve off the bench and contributed three points, four rebounds and five assists in 23 minutes of action.
The Series:
Creighton and Butler have played 14 times, with the Bluejays winning eight of them. They’re 2-4 all-time in Indianapolis, including a 64-61 defeat there two years ago and a 88-75 loss last year.
Greg McDermott is 3-3 vs the Bulldogs while coaching the Bluejays, but 3-5 all-time including two losses while at Northern Iowa.
The Last Time They Played:
“In the first 20 minutes of Wednesday’s game, Creighton was as close to unbeatable as you can get. They scored 47 points on 60% shooting, had an assist on 11 of their 18 made baskets, and averaged an absurd 1.38 points per possession. Defensively, they held the nation’s 12th ranked team and 15th-most efficient offense (according to Ken Pomeroy) to 14 points in the first 13 minutes of the game, and eight of those 14 points came on second chances. If not for offensive rebounds, the Jays’ dominance might have extended to a 30-point lead.
They overwhelmed the #12 Bulldogs on offense, smothered them on defense, and by halftime the outcome was more or less assured.”
The Highlight Reel should come with a sadness disclaimer; looking at all the stuff Mo Watson did for the team in this game is almost too much to bear.
Gratuitous Linkage:
Butler’s loss to Georgetown was an anomaly in an otherwise stellar season, and looking back at what people were writing after their previous game illustrates that. From BustingBrackets:
“The most promising aspect of this victory for Butler was the fact that their leading scorer Martin shot just 2-of-10 and the Bulldogs still pulled out a road win in conference play.
That shows mental toughness and incredible grit. This is the same Butler team that trailed at halftime in six of their first eight conference games and went on to win five of those games, including home victories over both Villanova and Xavier.
That’s going to go a long way in March. The Bulldogs may not have as much talent as teams in the top 10, but they sure have the coaching, fundamentals, and chemistry to compete with those units.”
Yeah, the Jays will have their hands full tonight.
This Date in Creighton Hoops History:
On January 31, 1998, Creighton defeated SIU 63-61 in a game they nearly lost after blowing a 22-point first half lead. The Salukis made five straight 3-pointers midway through the second half to cut that 22-point lead to a single point, then got a bucket from Monte Jenkins to take the lead.
Freshman Ryan Sears countered with three pointers on consecutive possessions to give the Jays back the lead, 59-54, with five minutes left. SIU fought back again, and tied the game at 61 with under a minute to go. Following a timeout, Rodney Buford took the inbounds pass, used a screen to roll to the basket, and drove to the rim for a layup to win the game. Sears finished with 18 points, all on three pointers, three assists and four steals — not bad for a freshman playing on the road in the not-so-friendly confines of SIU Arena.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day:
The Bottom Line:
The combination of the loss to Georgetown on Saturday and the loss to the Bluejays three weeks ago ensures CU will get a focused, locked-in Butler team on Tuesday. KenPom pegs this as a five-point Butler win, and unfortunately, that sounds about right.
Butler 78, Creighton 73