While the glow of Tuesday night’s win over #9 Wisconsin is still fresh in everyone’s minds, Creighton heads back to the court Friday in the Virgin Islands for the opening game of the Paradise Jam. Their opponent is the Washington State Cougars, a team that finished 9-22 a year ago and is picked to finish dead last in the Pac-12 preseason poll this year.
It’s the second straight season they’ve been pegged for last place in the preseason poll, and with good reason. After turning heads with a 85-78 win over #25 UCLA in the conference opener a year ago, they didn’t win another game — dropping 17 straight league games, and their first-round Pac-12 tourney game, to end the season on an 18-game losing streak. Yikes!
They’re coached by Ernie Kent, the former Oregon coach whose departure led to the hiring of Dana Altman (and the arrival of Greg McDermott at Creighton). That’s a big storyline in Omaha coming into the game mostly because talking about the Cougars is depressing — in two years at WSU, Kent is 22-40 in league games, he’s watched seven players transfer out of the program, and this year looks like more of the same. They’re a power conference team with name recognition, but beating them isn’t likely to be a marquee win come March, and their own fanbase is more concerned with football at this point than hoops (though at 8-2 and in first place in their division, can you blame them?)
Four seniors hope to lead a turnaround in the Cougars’ fortunes. Josh Hawkinson and Conor Clifford anchor the frontcourt, while Ike Iroegbu and Charles Callison lead the guard corps.
Hawkinson, a 6’10”, 230 pound forward, has earned All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention accolades each of the last two seasons. He’s had a double-double in both games so far this year, going for 16 points and 13 boards against Montana State, and 18 points with 12 rebounds against Central Washington. That’s nothing new: he had 20 double-doubles in 29 games a year ago, 12th most in the country. Against in-state rival Washington, he had a pair of monster games — 21 points and 20 rebounds on January 9, and 23 points with 17 boards on March 2, though they lost both games.
He’s a force to be reckoned with, and given the Bluejays’ immense rebounding problems against Wisconsin, it would not surprise me to see Hawkinson have one of his monster games. As ridiculous as it sounds, holding him to around 10 boards would be a huge win — because getting closer to 20 is a distinct possibility. Justin Patton and Zach Hanson have their work cut out for them here.
Meanwhile in the backcourt, Ike Iroegbu was the only Cougar to start all 31 games last season, and averaged 30.7 minutes a contest. He led WSU and ranked 11th in the Pac-12 with 3.6 assists per game, and was their second-leading scorer with 12.7 points per game. Iroegbu does the bulk of his scoring inside; 106 of his 139 made field goals a year ago came inside the arc, though he is a 34% shooter from outside when he does take threes (33-95). He’s a solid free throw shooter, as well, going 84-109 a year ago (77%).
Callison averaged 24.8 minutes, 7.9 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game a year ago, but is off to a slow start this year — he’s scored eight total points and grabbed three boards in two games. Callison’s not a terribly efficient shooter, as he went 80-205 (39%) overall and 24-75 (32%) from three-point range, but he’ll shoot from anywhere so defenses have to keep an eye on him. If there’s a secondary player most likely to get hot against the Jays, I’d look out for Callison.
The fourth senior is Conor Clifford, who started seven games a year ago but was mostly a reserve. The 7’0” center averaged 14.1 minutes, 6.8 points and 2.1 rebounds per game a year ago, and led the team in field goal percentage (64%, 89-139).
Junior Derrien King returns to the Cougars backcourt after playing 26 games all off the bench last season. King averaged 12.5 minutes, 3.8 points and 1.8 rebounds per game during his first year at Washington State. The 6’6” guard put up a career high 22 points on 6-for-12 shooting and 3-for-6 from beyond the three-point arc, to go along with five 5 rebounds in a career-high 31 minutes played against Montana State in the season’s first game.
Sophomore Viont’e Daniels has the potential to make a big impact with the Cougars this season from beyond the arc. The three-point specialist played in 20 games for WSU last season, with three starts. He set a WSU freshman single-game record by going 5-for-5 from beyond the 3-point arc against Northern Arizona in his first collegiate game.
Of the newcomers, freshman Malachi Flynn is the first to breakout. He started at point guard for the Cougars in their season opener against Montana State, and came one rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points and 9 boards, adding 2 assists. The 2015-16 Washington 4A Player of the Year is a key recruit for the Cougars, and followed up that strong debut with 18 points and six boards in his second game.
Washington State has some good top-line players — Hawkinson in particular could start for anyone in the Pac-12, or just about anyone anywhere for that matter — but they could never settle on a regular starting five or even a regular rotation a year ago, cycling through 14 different lineups and 10 different starters.
The Cougars fouled a lot (just over 100 more than their opponents), allowing opponents to attempt 150 more free throws than they did. They were outrebounded (-2.1), outscored (-6.7 points per game), turned it over 102 more times than their opponents (-3.3 per game), and had a negative assist/turnover ratio as a team in 18 games. This was a bad team a year ago, and while there’s some hope on the horizon with their recruiting class, that probably won’t help much Friday night. Barring a repeat of last year’s exempt tourney opener against a mediocre power conference opponent — lest we forget, the Jays struggled to put Rutgers away out in Las Vegas — this one should give Greg McDermott ample opportunity to go deep into his bench.
If Creighton beats Washington State, it would play the Montana/NC State winner on Sunday at 7:30 pm Central, a game which be televised on CBS Sports Network. If Creighton (gasp) loses to Washington State, it would play the Montana/NC State loser on Saturday at 5 pm Central, and would be relegated to webcast only status.
I’m making plans for a Sunday night clash, but your mileage may vary.
Quick Notes on the Cougars:
- In WSU’s nine wins a year go, they averaged 82.0 points per game, compared to 65.9 points in losses. Likewise, WSU’s opponents averaged 67.1 points per game in Cougar wins and 81.4 points per game in Cougar losses.
- WSU has played in 65 regular season tournaments dating back to the 1954-55 season, holding an 83-83 all-time record in those tournaments. This is the first tournament the Cougars will have played in the Virgin Islands.
Bluejay Bytes:
- Creighton’s participation in the Paradise Jam marks the 11th straight year a Big East team has participated in the event, which began in 2001. Last year DePaul went 1-2 in the event. Five previous Big East teams have won the Paradise Jam title, a list that consists of Seton Hall (2014), Marquette (2011), Connecticut (2008), Boston College (2003) and Miami (2001).
- Both Marcus Foster and Justin Patton have scored in double-figures during each of Creighton’s first two games this season. In the last 22 years, the only newcomers to score in double-figures during CU’s first three games have been Doug McDermott (8 straight in 2010-11) and Maurice Watson Jr. (5 in 2015-16). With eight points on Friday against Washington State, Foster will own the most points for any Bluejay newcomer through three games since 1994-95. That is, unless Justin Patton scores at least 20 or more points and 12 or more than Foster.
- Creighton has started Omaha natives Justin Patton and Khyri Thomas in each of its first two games. It’s the first time Creighton has started two Omaha products in the same game since March 16, 2000 vs. Auburn, when Matt West (Omaha Westside) and Donnie Johnson (Omaha Central) earning a nod. Johnson, coincidentally, coached Thomas at Omaha Benson High School.
The Series / The Last Time They Played:
Creighton and Washington State have met just once, with the Cougars winning 48-39 in the Western Regional of the 1941 NCAA Tournament at Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium. CU advanced to the regional of the third-ever NCAA Tourney by defeating Big Six Conference champ Iowa State in the first round.
Bluejay star Ed Beisser picked up three fouls in the game’s first seven minutes attempting to guard the Cougars’ dominant post man, Paul Lindeman, and watched from the bench as his team fell behind 25-14 by halftime. The World-Herald recap is the kind of sportswriting you just don’t see anymore:
“Paul Lindeman, 230 pounds of man mountain as rugged as the Pacific Northwest from where he came, smashed Creighton’s bid for further national basket ball honors Friday night…
The behemoth manufactured 26 points, despite the desperate barricading efforts of the Bluejays, to show the way for a 48-39 Cougar triumph.”
And then there’s this beauty of a passage:
“Coach Jack Friel…gave Lindeman repeated rests of from two to three minutes. Each time the giant quit the rink he flopped on the bench like a postman hitting the couch after a December 24 delivery.
But he always came back full of life for a big man. His shifty pivoting under the goal baffled every Jay defender. Only Beisser had the height to stop the bully boy, but after gathering that third foul, Beisser didn’t dare make the try.”
Adjectives! Analogies! Crazy nicknames! This baby had it all!
Gratuitous Linkage:
“This is the best team yet that’s suited for the style of play that we’ve been trying to put in,” Ernie Kent told the Seattle Times in a preseason preview article. “Last year’s team left so many plays on the floor where we didn’t score points. We either didn’t see the play or didn’t have the ability to make the play.”
–“Cougars, Picked to Finish Last in the Pac12, are Looking to Pick Up the Scoring”, Seattle Times
This Date in Creighton Hoops History:
On November 18, 2002, the Bluejays defeated Furman 82-57 in a preliminary game of the Guardians Classic at the Civic. But despite the 25-point win, all the talk postgame was about the balls — specifically, “The Rock”, which was the official game ball of the Guardians Classic and universally disliked by Bluejay players. From the next morning’s Omaha World-Herald:
“’We all hate the balls that we’re using,’ said Creighton forward Kyle Korver, 13 for 18 in the first two games (of the Guardians Classic). ‘They’re like really weird.’
Said teammate Brody Deren: ‘They’re different than we normally use, and we had to get used to using them.’
Added Korver: ‘It’s kind of crazy that they call the ball ‘The Rock.’ That’s what it feels like in your hand.’
The Bluejays put it through the net enough to assure themselves of having to play two more games with the official ball of the Guardians Classic. Sunday’s win advanced the Bluejays to Kansas City, and Monday’s victory left them matched up against IUPUI in one of next Monday’s semifinals at Municipal Auditorium.”
After dispatching with IUPUI, the Jays earned a much-anticipated game with Notre Dame which we chronicled in a Bluejay Rewind episode this summer.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day:
The Bottom Line:
If there’s a path to victory for the Cougars, it’s probably getting a huge night from one of their guards, lots of rebounds and easy second-chance points from Hawkinson, and a Jays team not totally focused. I do expect Creighton to have a bit of a hangover following Tuesday’s emotional win, keeping this one close most of the night, but with a huge fan contingent cheering them on, they’ll pull away late.
Bluejays 82, Cougars 71