Freshly ranked for the first time in two years, the #25 Creighton Bluejays continue their road trip Wednesday night in the nation’s capital against Georgetown. The 2019-20 Hoyas have made as much news off the court as they have on, with four players (James Akinjo, Josh LeBlanc, Myron Gardner and Jalen Alexander) leaving the program in December. That foursome averaged a combined 27.9 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game. Akinjo in particular, their starting point guard, seemed to be an impossible loss to overcome.
Then a funny thing happened. The shorthanded Hoyas won six straight games to finish the non-conference at 10-3, including victories over Oklahoma State, SMU and Syracuse. After the latter, Orange coach Jim Boeheim famously said, “They got rid of a guy that wouldn’t pass the ball to anybody and just shot it every time, and that’s why they’re good now. Patrick [Ewing] can’t say that but I can.”
It’s disputable whether that damning criticism of Akinjo is valid. It sure looks like addition by subtraction, though — they’re 7-3 since his departure, with road losses to Providence, Seton Hall and Villanova.
7’0″, 265-pound behemoth Omer Yurtseven, in his first year of eligibility after transferring from NC State, leads the team in scoring at 16.5 points per game. Yurtseven is the highest-scoring big man in the Big East, and nearly averages a double-double with 9.7 rebounds per game. He’s especially good on the offensive glass — he has 65 offensive boards (3.8 per game), second-most in the league. He’ll be a load for Creighton to defend and to battle on the glass, but there’s hope. Villanova’s smaller lineups seemed to frustrate him, as he expended energy on defense that he wasn’t used to. His 10 points were the second-fewest in any game this season. He had zero offensive boards for the only time this season. And his 25 minutes were the fewest he’d played in a game in nearly two months, as he needed more breaks than usual.
Mac McClung averages 15.9 points per game, and has been the most direct beneficiary of Akinjo’s departure. He seems more comfortable in a bigger role offensively than he was as a running mate alongside Akinjo in the backcourt, and to be sure, his role is much bigger now. He was taking an average of 9.8 shots per game when Akinjo was around; he’s taking 14.8 per game now. McClung has scored 20 or more points five times since Akinjo left, taking over the unquestioned role as the team’s alpha. Add in the fact that he’s made a pretty substantial leap from his freshman year to his sophomore year (his three-point shooting has raised from 27.7% to 34.7%, and his assist-to-turnover ratio is improved from 0.98 to 1.6), and it’s easy to see why he’s likely the top line of every opponent’s scouting report.
6’8″, 200 pound forward Jamorko Pickett is third in scoring, at 9.4 points per game, and second in rebounds at 6.0 (including 2.0 offensive boards per game). The junior has improved as a shooter, making 40.5% of his threes this year, and as a result he’s getting more touches — he’s certainly capable of creating his own offense, with over half of his two-point shots unassisted, but they also run plays specifically designed to get shots for him this year. He’s a player you can’t afford to lose track of, because he hunts offensive rebounds as good as any player in the league.
Senior guard Jagan Mosely started the final six games for the Hoyas last season, and has moved into the top five of the rotation full-time this year. Averaging 6.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, Mosely has played the most minutes of anyone on the roster (31.2 per game) while shooting well from all three levels. His 57 assists are second-most on the team, and while not as flashy of a playmaker as McClung, he’s an important table-setter.
So is fellow senior guard Terrell Allen. The grad transfer from UCF leads the Hoyas with 63 assists and a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio, with 6.9 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. He stepped into Akinjo’s starting role and took a chunk of his minutes, becoming one of their most important players even if a lot of what he does is under the radar.
Georgetown plays fast, with an average possession length of 15.5 seconds (22nd quickest in the country). But much like Creighton, whose possession length averages 16.3 seconds, the Hoyas are not deep at all. Through four conference games, their rotation has been essentially seven players, with five guys getting 79.8% of the total minutes — Mosely is averaging 36.5 minutes, Pickett is averaging 34.5, McClung and Allen are at 34.3, and Yurtseven is at 28.8. While their lack of depth hasn’t caught up to them yet from an energy standpoint, if there’s any foul trouble, it doesn’t take long before inexperienced players are playing important minutes for the Hoyas.
And while Georgetown’s size — the 7’0″ Yurtseven and 6’8″ Pickett in particular — is concerning, teams who have made the Hoyas’ big men work on defense have had success. Forcing Yurtseven and Pickett to guard smaller players via screens and rotations benefits teams like the Jays. While big, Georgetown has yet to show they’re capable of making elite perimeter shooters uncomfortable.
Likewise, teams who have managed to outwork the Hoyas on the glass have been rewarded. In their 11 wins, Georgetown has secured an offensive rebound on 27.9% of their missed shots; in their six losses, that number is just 22.9%. All six times they’ve been out-rebounded, they’ve lost the game. An effort close to what CU put forth against the similarly large Xavier frontline will pay dividends in this one.
- Tip: 6:00pm
- Venue: Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.
- TV: CBSSN
- Announcers: Andrew Catalon and Steve Lappas
- Sideline Reporter: Sherree Burruss
- In Omaha: Cox channel 234 (SD), 1234 (HD); CenturyLink Prism channel 643 (SD), 1643 (HD)
- Outside Omaha: CBSSN Channel Finder
- Satellite: DirecTV channel 221; Dish Network channel 158
- Streaming info
- Radio: 1620AM
- Announcers: John Bishop and Tyler Clement
- Streaming on 1620TheZone.com and the 1620 The Zone mobile app
- For Cord Cutters
- Georgetown scores a Big East-leading 78.8 points per game, while Creighton is second at 77.1. But it’s defense that holds the key: Creighton is 12-0 this year when scoring 70 points or more, but 1-4 when being held to 69 points or less. G’Town is 11-0 when scoring 80 points or more, and 0-5 when they score less than 80.
- Georgetown is ferocious on the boards, leading the conference with 40.1 rebounds per game and rebound margin at +6.6. They’ve had the combo of 50 or more boards and a plus-20 margin twice this year.
- The Hoyas lead the league with 283 made free throws, and rank second with a 76.1% shooting percentage from the line.
- Ty-Shon Alexander ranks 43rd in Creighton history with 989 career points entering Wednesday’s game. He could conceivably pass three big names from CU’s past on Wednesday — he’s five points behind Chuck Officer, 15 behind Anthony Tolliver and 17 behind Gregory Echenique.
- Marcus Zegarowski will play his 50th career game on Wednesday, and enters the contest with 624 points. That ranks ninth-best in program history through 50 games.
- Creighton took advantage of classes not resuming yet by staying on the east coast following Saturday’s win at Xavier. They practiced at the University of Cincinnati on Monday
And visited the White House and other sites upon arriving in Washington D.C. Tuesday.
Creighton is 8-6 in 14 all-time meetings, and has won two straight in D.C. after dropping their first four road games in the series after joining the Big East. Greg McDermott is 4-0 against Patrick Ewing.
In their last meeting, Creighton won 82-69. The Jays hit 14 3-pointers, shot 51.8 percent and recorded 20 assists on 29 makes. They grabbed a rebound on 26 of Georgetown’s 34 missed shots (and on one of their three missed free throws), mostly denying the Hoyas second-chance opportunities. And though a lot of that was due to Martin Krampelj (22 points and 10 rebounds) shutting down Jesse Govan, the philosophy is the same heading into this meeting.
Nick Bahe’s latest podcast features a long interview with Greg McDermott, where they talk about the team’s defensive improvements, the development of Damien Jefferson and Denzel Mahoney, not taking Mitch Ballock for granted, and getting his 500th win. It’s a really, really fun listen.
On January 15, 2013 Creighton defeated Northern Iowa 79-68 as Doug McDermott scored 21 of the Jays’ final 34 points. He punctuated the win with a two-handed slam that drew the attention of ESPN’s Karl Ravech, who narrated the highlight thusly:
The Bottom Line:
The Jays and Hoyas will play fast. That almost always favors the Bluejays.
#25 Creighton 83, Georgetown 77
