Providence was picked third in the preseason Big East poll, just behind Villanova and Creighton, and after a pair of resounding defeats in the season’s first week (79-58 to Indiana and 88-71 to Alabama) they’ve played as well as anyone in the league. They’ve cleaned up some of the defensive issues that plagued them in those two losses, and they have an overtime win at Seton Hall and a double-overtime win against DePaul on their resume since then. And they enter Saturday’s clash with Creighton at 7-3 and 3-1 in the Big East.
In that respect, it’s a typical Ed Cooley team, improving and getting better as the season goes on. In other respects, it’s very much not a typical Cooley team — their adjusted defensive efficiency (96.0) currently ranks 79th according to KenPom, which if it holds all year would be their worst showing since the 2013-14 season. By comparison, they were 27th a year ago.
Presumably that ranking will get a lot better as time goes on. They have three transfers playing big roles in their rotation, still adjusting both to the Friars’ schemes and to high-level D1 basketball. But entering this game, they’re still a bit uneven defensively, especially from the perimeter, which has to be a concern with the Bluejays coming to town.
A year ago, Creighton had all kinds of problems with Providence. The Jays were blown out on February 5 on the road 73-56, in a game that wasn’t that close. Providence outscored them 34-11 over the game’s final 15 minutes, making 8-of-10 from three point range after halftime. The Jays twice missed seven straight shots against Providence’s 2-3 zone, which they rode most of the second half. Defensively, CU spent much of the night packed into the paint in an effort to deny Providence’s size from controlling the game. Daring one of the worst jump-shooting teams in the league to hit those shots was a gamble, and they lost it. The Friars controlled most of the first meeting in Omaha, too, and led 74-69 with 1:41 to go before the Jays stunned them with a 9-0 run the rest of the way. Marcus Zegarowski capped the comeback with a game-winning three on the final possession.
The players who made CU’s life difficult a year ago are still around, too. Senior center Nate Watson leads that group, averaging 19.0 points and 6.9 rebounds a game so far. He’s made 62.8% of his shots and 76.0% at the line. At 6’10”, 260 pounds there’s no one on Creighton’s roster that can match his combination of size and strength, and his presence was part of the reason CU defended the Friars the way they did last February in Providence. They did limit his production — Watson had 11 points on only seven shot attempts in Providence, and seven points on four shots in Omaha. But it came at a cost.
That cost was giving up huge games to A.J. Reeves and David Duke. In Omaha, Duke had 36 points and was a one-man wrecking machine — he made 6-of-10 inside the arc, 6-of-8 outside of it, and 6-of-7 at the line. He had just 12 in the rematch, but Reeves (who did not play in the game in Omaha) scored 22 thanks to an identical 6-of-8 shooting performance from three-point range.
To be fair, Duke is one of the toughest players in the league for anyone to defend. The 6’5” junior leads the team in scoring at 19.9 points per game. He’s second on the team in both rebounding (6.3 rpg) and assists (4.3 apg). He’s shooting 47 percent (66-142) from the field, including 41 percent (18-44) from behind the arc. He’s a team best 83.1 percent (49-59) from the free-throw line.
In their win over Butler earlier in the week, Duke nearly had a triple-double with 22 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists. In the double-overtime win over DePaul last weekend, he played 48 of the 50 minutes and scored 24 points with five rebounds and six assists. He’s a tremendous player that is firing on all cylinders at the moment, and the Jays will have their hands full containing him.
As for Reeves, he’s struggled this year to recapture the magic of his final 10 games a year ago. He averaged 9.1 points and went 19 of 38 from 3-point range during the Friars’ 8-2 finish to last season. He’s only made 15 of 54 (27.8%) from three-point range so far this year. But one of those was a game-tying three at the buzzer against DePaul.
Among the newcomers, Jared Bynum, a transfer from Saint Joseph’s, has shined brightest. He starts at point guard for the Friars and is averaging 6.4 points and 4.7 assists a game. He had 12 and 6 against Butler earlier this week and seems to be getting more comfortable with each game. Bynum is second in the Big East in assist to turnover ratio at 3.6; In nine games, he’s registered 47 assists and just 13 turnovers.
As always in this series, the key offensively seems to be for Creighton to run when they can — especially off of rebounds following defensive stops and turnovers. There won’t be a lot of chances to push pace but when there is, CU needs to be ready to do it (and then to take advantage in transition before the Friars can get organized). Defensively, they’ll probably be tempted to pack the paint to stop the Friars’ guards from attacking off the dribble and getting easy opportunities for Nate Watson — and if they do, it will also be tempting to overcommit and dare the Friars to beat them from deep. They’re a poor three-point shooting team (27.3%, ranking 295th in D1), after all. But that dare blew up in their face a year ago. The Friars went 23 of 48 (47.9%) in the two games from three-point range. The Jays have to balance protecting the paint and still guarding the perimeter, especially limiting the in-rhythm attempts for Reeves and Duke.
- Tip: 11:00am
- Venue: Alumni Hall, Providence, R.I.
- TV: FOX
- Announcers: Brian Custer, Donny Marshall
- In Omaha: Cox channel 10 (SD), 1010 (HD); CenturyLink Prism channel 42 (SD), 1042 (HD); DirecTV 42; Dish Network 42 or 5203
- Outside Omaha: Your local FOX affiliate
- Streaming on FoxSportsGO
- Radio: 1620AM
- Announcers: John Bishop and Brody Deren
- Streaming on 1620TheZone.com and the 1620 The Zone mobile app
- Satellite Radio:
- Creighton broadcast on SiriusXM channel 201
- Providence broadcast on SiriusXM channel 383
- Ed Cooley is wearing a towel on his shoulder this season to honor his mentor, longtime Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson, who played for Providence and graduated from there in 1964.
- Two transfers were granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA: sophomore guard Brycen Goodine (from Syracuse) and junior forward Ed Croswell (from LaSalle). Goodine averages 1.8 points and 1.0 rebounds, and Croswell is averaging 3.8 and 2.2, both off the bench.
- The Friars opened the season on Wednesday, November 25 at Alumni Hall versus Fairfield. The game marked the Friars’ first regular-season contest at Alumni Hall since the squad opened the season on November 10, 2017 with an 84-55 win over Houston Baptist. Prior to that, the team’s last game at Alumni Hall was on March 1, 1972 when Providence defeated St John’s 73-65. The Friars played their home games at Alumni Hall from 1955-72. The Friars have compiled a 182-29 mark (.863) in the arena over 19 seasons.
- Saturday marks Creighton’s ninth meeting against Providence as a ranked team, more than any other foe in program history. The Bluejays are 4-4 in those games. Next on that list? A tie between Illinois State (CU is 6-1 in seven games as a ranked team) and Xavier (3-4).
- Creighton defeated Xavier on Dec. 23rd despite shooting a season-low 35.5 percent from the field. In 11 seasons under Greg McDermott, it was just the 17th time that Creighton shot under 36 percent — and only its second victory.
- Creighton leads the Big East and ranks 38th nationally with 82.9 points per game. The Bluejays have pumped in 93 or more points in four games this season, one of 10 teams in the country (with Iowa, Gonzaga, Baylor, Bryant, The Citadel, Sam Houston State, Coastal Carolina, McNeese State and UMKC) who can say that. Last year’s Big East champion squad only cracked the 93-point barrier three times all season.
Providence owns a 16-11 lead in a series that dates back to 1961, but Creighton has won three of the past four meetings. The Jays are 2-5 at Providence since joining the Big East and 3-9 all-time, with all seven meetings since they became league rivals coming at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. Saturday’s clash comes on campus at Alumni Hall, where the Bluejays and Friars played four times in the 1960s and 1970s — with PC winning three. The Jays’ only win in the building is a 68-64 victory on February 23, 1970.
On January 2, 2001, Creighton beat Nebraska 62-51 at the Devaney Center in Lincoln to pick up their first-ever win in the building in 13 tries. The 11-point win was made all the more remarkable by the fact that the Jays went scoreless for their first 15 possessions — 8-1/2 minutes of game time — and then scored 62 in the remaining 31-1/2. In fact, the Bluejays only stayed in the game because Nebraska was nearly as bad, scoring just seven points of their own during the dry spell.
The Huskers had more turnovers (15) than field goals (7) in the first half, and as a result led only 24-22 at the half. The Jays took the lead on the very first possession of the second, and never trailed again.
Leading the charge was sophomore Kyle Korver, who had 22 points, 13 rebounds, and four steals. It was his three that gave them a 25-24 lead with 19:17 to go; after the game, he told the media the win was of little significance to him, “But it’s big for Creighton, and it’s big for our fans.”
The Creighton fans he spoke of took over the Devaney Center in the game’s final minute. As a good portion of Nebraska’s fans headed for the exits, Bluejay backers filled the arena with chants of “Let’s Go Bluejays!” — the first instance of something that would become commonplace in years to come.
The Bottom Line:
KenPom favors Creighton 75-71, ESPN’s BPI gives the Jays a 59.0% chance of victory, and the World-Herald’s Jon Nyatawa predicts an 80-74 Bluejay win.
If the Jays can keep Providence from getting hot from three-point range, I think they escape with a close win. If not, the Friars are likely to win. It’s a toss-up, in other words.
#11 Creighton 78, Providence 73
