Creighton played 1,259 home games between their first game in 1917 and their game against Seton Hall on December 28, 2016. None of those 1,259 games featured two top-12 teams in the major poll of the day. Zero.
On the heels of a battle #10 Creighton and #1 Villanova on New Years Eve, #8 Creighton and #12 Butler play in Omaha on Wednesday night. That’s right: There wasn’t a single home game in the first 100 years of Creighton hoops where both teams were ranked that highly. Now, they’ll have played two consecutive home games of that magnitude.
Butler is 14-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big East, owning four wins over teams ranked at the time of the game: #8 Arizona, #22 Cincinnati, #9 Indiana, and #1 Villanova. Their only losses came at St. John’s (76-73) and at Indiana State (72-71). CU fans know full well the perils of Terre Haute and can sympathize with the Bulldogs on that one; the constant worry some fans have about every single opponent, even when not totally warranted, has been jokingly dubbed “Evansville Syndrome” on social media but could just as easily be known as “Sycamore Syndrome” for all the times a superior Bluejay team went into Terradise and lost.
The Bulldogs are a team that shoots really well (48.8% overall from the floor), plays solid defense (0.938 points per possession) and doesn’t turn the ball over (10.4 turnovers per game). And though they’re a bit undersized — Tyler Wideman at 6’8” is their biggest regular — they rebound well and are so sound defensively they generally haven’t been burned by bigger post players.
Their styles are very different, which is why a lot of folks look at Butler as a bad matchup for the Jays, though it’s not like Creighton is chopped liver; bad matchups go both ways when the two teams are this close. And close they are. Butler plays more methodically, while Creighton plays faster, but the results are pretty similar, at least statistically:
Stat breakdown courtesy KenPom.com
Creighton’s a bit better on both two-and-three pointers, while Butler’s a bit better at the free throw line. They’re neither very good on offensive rebounds, with Butler corralling an offensive board on 27.1% of their misses and Creighton doing so on 24.9% of theirs — Butler gives up far more to their opponent’s than Creighton does (31% to 27.3%), though that’s partially because of their brutal schedule. And they both turn it over on an identical 15.3% of their possessions, tied for 11th fewest in the country.
Butler was picked sixth in the preseason Big East poll after losing five players off last year’s NCAA Tournament team, including key contributors Roosevelt Jones and Kellen Dunham. Even with high-scoring Kelan Martin back, not many thought they’d be this good this quickly. A pair of transfers in the backcourt have softened the fall post-Jones/Dunham: George Washington transfer Kethan Savage, who’s scored in double figures in four straight games including 13 points vs Villanova, and Memphis transfer Avery Woodson, who shoots 42% from three-point range and takes defensive pressure off of Martin with his range.
The 6’7” Martin leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, as expected, at 17.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. The Bluejays had no answer for him a year ago; in the first game in Omaha he scored 22 points with 11 rebounds, and in the rematch he scored 21 points with 8 boards. A preseason All-Big East First Team selection, Martin has led the team in scoring in eight of their 16 games, and scored 20 or more in six of them.
Andrew Chrabascz is their second-leading scorer (11.9 points per game) and is third on the team in both assists (2.8) and rebounds (5.0). At 6’7”, 230 Chrabascz is a tough matchup because he’s big enough to bang around in the paint, but versatile enough to knock down threes and create shots for his teammates. The question for Chrabascz against the Jays will be what happens when they stretch the floor with Cole Huff or Toby Hegner at the ‘4’ — Butler would ideally not like to see Chrabascz chasing them around the perimeter all night, not only because he’s not suited to do that defensively, but because the further away from the rim he has to defend, the less likely he is to be in position to rebound missed shots.
Tyler Wideman leads a group of three players averaging between 8.3 and 8.6 points per game, along with Kamar Baldwin and Woodson. At 6’8”, 240 pounds, Wideman is the Bulldogs biggest player and will be tasked with taking on Justin Patton on both ends. He’s second in the Big East in shooting percentage (behind Patton), making 66% of his shot attempts, and does almost all of his damage around the rim. Baldwin, a 6’0” freshman, scored a career-high 16 points in their win over Georgetown on Saturday, and has started all four conference games after primarily coming off the bench during the first two months, upping his scoring average to 9.0 points in Big East play.
Their starting point guard is Tyler Lewis, a 5’11” senior who leads the Big East in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.7) and is fourth in the league in assists (4.4 per game). In Big East play, his numbers have dropped dramatically across the board — from 7.4 points per game down to 5.3, from 4.4 assists per game to 1.5, from nearly 25 minutes played to less than 20. The Jays have a huge advantage at the point with Mo Watson vs Lewis, and as long as Watson can avoid the foul trouble that plagued him against Villanova, should be able to exploit that.
The numbers look pretty even, but on an individual basis, especially at home, the scales tip towards the Bluejays. Khyri Thomas has drawn the defensive assignment on opponents’ best guard all year, and held them in check if not downright shut them down. He’ll likely draw Kelan Martin tonight, at least initially, and if he can keep Martin from going off that’s a win for the Jays. Watson gives CU the edge at point. Patton has at least four inches on anyone the Bulldogs defend him with, as he did against both Providence and St. John’s, and while Wideman might be successful at stopping him where those two teams were not, I’m not so sure.
It’ll be another closely contested Big East game, but I like Creighton in this one.
***
During Doug McDermott’s historic career on the Hilltop, “The RUN-DMD Show” was a regular feature of the Primer where we’d highlight his latest amazing stat or accomplishment. Patton’s destined to join him in the NBA (the only question at this point is when, not if) so we thought it only made sense to give him the same treatment. Introducing The Big Muddy Bulletin!
Last week Justin Patton had 25 points at St. John’s, then followed that up with 20 points at Providence to become the first Creighton freshman with consecutive games of 20 or more points since Doug McDermott in March of 2011. If he scores 20+ against Butler, he’ll become the first CU freshman since Rodney Buford to do it three straight games — Rodzilla had four straight games of 20 or more points from January 29 – Feb. 8, 1996 — but McDermott never did. He’s been named Big East freshman of the year three times, has made 74.3% of his shots to lead the league and rank third nationally, and has 42 dunks on the season. In other words, in half of a season Patton is nearly halfway to Gregory Echenique’s 90 career dunks over two-and-a-half seasons.
The talk has now shifted from “Can Patton be an impact player this year?” to “Will he leave for the NBA after this year?” because that’s what fans do — worry — but that’s talk for the offseason. Whether he’s gone after this year, next year, or later, enjoy his brilliance while you can. Seven-footers like Patton don’t come around very often.
Quick Notes on the Bulldogs:
- For only the third time in program history, Butler is in the midst of playing three Top 15 teams in a four-game stretch as No. 8 Creighton joins (previously ranked) No. 1 Villanova from last week and Butler’s upcoming opponent, No. 15/14 Xavier. This also occurred during the 2010 NCAA Tournament and in the first four games of the 2015-16 Big East schedule. (Wisconsin was ranked No. 16 and VCU was unranked entering the 2011 NCAA Tournament.)
- Butler won the rebounding battle for the third consecutive game with a 42-36 advantage at Georgetown. After out-rebounding its first five opponents, the Bulldogs had only pulled down more boards than one of its last eight opponents prior to this three-game stretch. Butler is 9-0 this season when out-rebounding its opponent.
- The Bulldogs are shooting nearly 10 percentage points better from behind the three-point line than their opponents. Including a 10-of-20 performance at Georgetown Saturday, the Bulldogs are shooting .392 from distance, which is 42nd nationally. Butler’s opponents have been limited to a .299 mark as Butler’s defense from behind the arc is ranked second in the BIG EAST and 22nd in the nation. Butler has shot 45 percent or better from three-point range in six of its 16 games this season.
Bluejay Bytes:
- Wednesday marks the sixth time in program history that a ranked Creighton team has hosted a ranked opponent, and three of those games have been this season. (Earlier this year Creighton topped No. 9 Wisconsin before losing at No. 1 Villanova)
- Maurice Watson Jr. owns 785 career assists to date, easily the most among the nation’s active players. Watson also leads the nation with 9.1 assists per game and with 146 overall assists. According to research by Creighton SID Rob Anderson, Watson’s 146 assists this year have been spread among nine different players, and have led to 64 three-pointers, 41 lay-ups, 29 dunks and 12 other two-point jump shots (see chart, bottom of page four). Including eight converted “and-1” free throw opportunities, Watson’s 146 assists have led to 364 points, an average of 22.8 points per game.
The Series:
Creighton is 7-6 all-time vs. Butler. The teams have split six meetings since joining the Big East together in 2013; CU has won of two of three in Omaha during that span.
Greg McDermott is 3-5 in his career vs. Butler, including a 3-3 mark on the Creighton sideline. He is 1-3 against Chris Holtmann.
The Last Time They Played:
Creighton’s defense was torched in a 88-75 loss to Butler last February, where BU assisted on 20 of their 28 made baskets. The Bulldogs shot 13-27 from three-point range, including a blistering 7-11 in a second half where they scored 52 points. From the Morning After:
“The Bulldogs’ 13 made three-pointers are the second most the Jays have given up in a game all year — not just conference games, all season long. The 27 attempts are the third most of any opponent, and the 48.1% they shot from long range is the second highest percentage the Jays have allowed all season. And lest you think it was just one of those nights where the Bulldogs were feeling it, the reason they attempted so many is because time after time, Creighton left shooters wide open on the perimeter, almost daring them to shoot. There’s a reason why Butler’s only attempted that many threes in a game one other time this season — no one else has left them as wide-open, as consistently, as the Bluejays did on Tuesday night.”
Gratuitous Linkage:
The IndyStar’s David Woods has dubbed tonight’s game the “Transfer Bowl” because of the litany of players on both sides who began their careers at other schools.
This (Relative) Date in Creighton Hoops History:
It’s not exactly “this date”, but since there isn’t a game Thursday, we’ll make an exception. Thursday marks the 100th anniversary of the first recorded game in Creighton men’s basketball history, as Creighton topped Peru State 30-17 on January 12, 1917 in Omaha. CU went 17-3 in that first season despite never scoring more than 40 points in any game.
This (Actual) Date in Creighton Hoops History:
On January 11, 2006, Creighton defeated Northern Iowa 55-52 at the UNI-Dome to snap the Panthers’ 13-game home winning streak in one of their first games after Nate Funk’s season officially ended due to shoulder surgery. Funk had made a game-winning buzzer beater at UNI the year before, and his absence left the Jays scrambling for offense. Against the Panthers, their defense carried them.
Josh Dotzler’s free throw with 32 seconds to play broke a 52-52 tie, and then Nick Porter iced the game with two more free throws for the final margin.
UNI had been averaging 70 points a game, but the Jays’ mix of match-up zone and man-to-man forced a Panthers team that would go on to win 23 games and earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament into making uncharacteristic mistakes. “They came in here with a great plan, and they always do,” UNI coach Greg McDermott said. “Given the circumstances, without Nate Funk, they played great basketball. Creighton has a way of throwing you out of your rhythm. You find out what you’re made of when you play them.”
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day:
The Bottom Line:
In the latest biggest game of the season, Creighton uses big games from Patton and Watson to pull away late.
#8 Bluejays 80, #12 Bulldogs 73