After dropping their home finale to Providence 79-76 on Saturday, Creighton dropped to 14-16 and 8-11 in the Big East. They’ve won just five times since the calendar flipped to 2026, and they’ve lost eight of their last 10 games to drop out of the top five in the league. Their lone path to the NCAA Tournament — winning the Big East’s auto bid — will be a difficult road. How difficult depends on this week’s results.
“We’re going to need a little help, but the help does us no good if we don’t take care of our own business,” Greg McDermott said on Tuesday. “And obviously, Butler’s physical and really beat us up on the offensive glass the first time we played. So we’ll need a better effort there if we’re going to take care of business.”
The top five teams in the Big East earn byes to Thursday’s quarterfinals, while the bottom six have to play an extra game on Wednesday. With Seton Hall’s win last night, they clinched a top five seed, and eliminated one path for CU to get a bye. The other path requires help, as McDermott alluded to. Creighton has to win at Butler in the season finale and DePaul has to lose their final two games (at home against Villanova and Butler), as the Blue Demons own the tiebreaker. In that scenario, Creighton would be 9-11 and DePaul would be 8-12, and the Jays would be the ‘5’ seed.
It’s been more than two months since these teams last saw each other, and unlike on December 30 when both teams seemed to be finding themselves, they’re both skidding to the finish line on fumes ahead of this one. CU has lost eight of their last 10 games and Butler has lost seven of 10, including a six-game losing streak.
From a personnel standpoint, the biggest difference since December 30 is that Butler is now without Azavier “Stink” Robinson, their starting point guard. Robinson suffered a torn ligament in his left wrist against Georgetown on January 31, and had season-ending surgery. He dished out eight assists against just one turnover in the first meeting, and also had four steals. Robinson’s injury happened at the start of their six-game losing streak, and as you’d expect after losing a point guard of his caliber, they’ve been a very different team since.
“They’ve kind of shifted styles and it’s a bigger, more physical lineup,” McDermott said. “They have a lot of different guys that can initiate on offense, but (Finley) Bizjack’s playing at a high level. Obviously, (Michael) Ajayi is doing a great job on the on the glass and around the rim. They rotate two bigs, and they’ve got guys that can shoot it around them. It’s their last home game, and we’re going to get their best shot.”
The loss of Robinson, combined with losing the only other true point guard on the roster, Jalen Jackson, to a season ending injury back in November, has left them with some unconventional lineups. It’s also created an even bigger role for Bizjack.
Bizjack is the Big East’s third-leading scorer at 17.3 points per game, and he leads the league in minutes at 33:43 per game. He’s scored 20 or more points in seven of Butler’s Big East games this season, including tying his career-high with 30 points Feb. 4 at Providence. He had 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting in the first meeting, as Josh Dix frustrated him all night.
“You have to stay disciplined and you can’t lose him,” McDermott said of the key to defending Bizjack. “You have to stay down on shots. He’s really scrappy. And without a point guard, he’s got the ball in his hands a little bit more now. He’s initiating more of their sets. And he’s a threat to shoot from anywhere.”
6’6” freshman Efeosa Olio-Elabor barely played in the first meeting, but with Robinson out, he’s been thrust into a bigger role — and has started the last seven games. He’s scored in double figures three times this season, and two of those have come in Butler’s three most recent games.
6’6” wing Jamie Kaiser is third in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 9.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Half of his shots have been threes (103 of his 204 attempts), and he’s made 35.0% (36-of-103).
Michael Ajayi ranks fifth nationally at 11.1 rebounds per game. He has 16 double-doubles this season, which is eighth most in the nation, and he’s led the Bulldogs in rebounding in 28 of their 29 games. His 321 rebounds this season currently ranks fourth on Butler’s single-season list; Daryl Mason holds the record at 354 (1972-73). By comparison, Jasen Green leads the Bluejays in rebounding with 168, although in fairness, CU has six players with 75 or more, and Butler has three.
Ajayi ranks fifth in the league at 16.0 points per game, and is also among the conference Top 15 in minutes played (third), field goal percentage (fifth), blocked shots (seventh), and assists (13th). Green got the better of him in Omaha, as Ajayi had 16 points, 13 rebounds and two assists, but he was 4-of-12 inside the arc and had three turnovers. He had no steals and no blocks. And he fouled out with five minutes left.
Meanwhile, Green led all scorers with a career-high 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting (and 1-of-2 from three point range) and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. He also had a career-high five assists versus just one turnover, grabbed six rebounds, plus a steal and a block in 37 minutes.
“He’s best rebounder in our league, I would say,” Green said on Tuesday. “He’s super physical. He’ll just throw you out of the way to get the rebound, so it’s going to be a battle every single possession offensively and defensively to try to keep him out of there. We’ve got to help each other out, because if one person sacrifices themselves to get him out of the play, the other person has got to come and fight for the ball.”
And with Evan Haywood missing time due to a right thigh injury — he’s not played in the last three games — freshman Jackson Keith has been thrown into the mix after not playing much in the first half of the season. Keith is the primary backup when Ajayi needs a quick break, and he’s a capable scorer that also knows it’s not his role to be a volume shooter at this point in his career.
6’11” center Yohan Traore led the Bulldogs in the first meeting with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, all inside the arc, and added seven rebounds. It’s one of just two games this year where he’s scored 20 or more, though the second came last week against Xavier when he had 21. In that one, Traore was a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor and made 11-of-13 from the line. He’s averaging 14.0 points over his last five games.
6’11” Drayton Jones rotates with Traore in a roughly 60/40 split in the middle. They have similar shooting profiles, as neither is much of a threat from three-point range, and both have similar shooting percentages inside (86-of-154 for 55.8% for Traore; 62-of-107 for 57.9% for Jones). Jones is a more physical player, though, both on the glass and in rim protection. His 24 blocks are second most on the team behind Ajayi’s 28.
For Creighton to get a win and keep their hopes of a first-round bye alive, they have to clean up the sloppy play that doomed them in two home losses last week and push the tempo every chance they get. Butler doesn’t force a ton of turnovers, but their half court defense is really physical if you let them get set.
“We had a lot of opportunities in those two losses last week that we didn’t cash in on,” McDermott said. “We make a lot of mental mistakes still, and that’s probably from my perspective the most frustrating thing. I know I’m frustrated, so imagine how the fans feel seeing some of the things we do that we should have corrected by now. That’s the part that has been probably the most disappointing to me.”
Tip: 5:00pm
Venue: Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
TV: FS1
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Butler has 15 games scoring 80 or more points this season; seven of those games have come in Big East play and Butler is 5-2 in those games (with the only losses at Creighton Dec. 30 and in double-overtime at Providence Feb. 4).
The Bulldogs enter the contest off an 82-73 loss at Villanova Wednesday. Butler went to the line 27 times against Villanova, making 22. The Bulldogs average 25.9 free throw attempts per game, which ranks 16th nationally. Butler has attempted more free throws than their opponents in 25
of the 29 games this season.
Over the last five games, the Bulldogs have committed an average of only 8.6 turnovers per game. Butler has 10 games this season with single-digit turnovers.
Nik Graves has made 18-of-21 foul shots in the last two games while also dishing 10 assists against just four turnovers. He’s CU’s first player to attempt 10 or more free throws in consecutive games since Ty-Shon Alexander on Jan,. 22 & 26 of 2020. No Bluejay has done it three games in a row since Nick Porter on March 2, 3 and 4 in 2007.
Creighton has finished with a .500 mark or better in league play 29 times in the previous 30 seasons, one of six schools nationally that can say that. The only Big East teams to finish .500 or better in league play each of the previous 10 seasons are Creighton and Villanova. Creighton is also the only “Power 5” school with an active streak of six years or longer with 12 or more league wins. But all of these impressive streaks will come to an end this season, as the Jays are 8-11 in league play with just one game left to play.
Wednesday’s game in Indianapolis might be a quick one, as Creighton (14.3) and Butler (15.4) rank first and second in the league in fewest fouls per game. No other league foe fouls less than 16 times a game. Creighton is 11th in the country in that category while Butler is 36th.
Creighton is 21-12 all-time vs. Butler in a series that dates to a 27-22 Bluejay win in 1933. The home team has won 13 of the last 17 meetings not played on a neutral site, including Creighton’s 89-85 win in Omaha on Dec. 30th.
Creighton is 6-9 all-time in Indianapolis against the Bulldogs, including a 5-7 mark since the schools became Big East rivals.
On March 4, Creighton has won three MVC Tournament titles, two against Southern Illinois and one against Illinois State. The first came on March 4, 2002, a 84-76 victory over SIU in which Terrell Taylor led the way with 20 points. Junior Kyle Korver added 18 along with nine rebounds and five assists. Trailing 36-33 at halftime, Creighton opened the second half on an 11-2 run to take a 44-38 lead. Over the second half’s first 12 minutes, the Bluejays shot 60% (12-for-20), while Southern Illinois mustered only 26%, missing 14 of 19 shots in falling behind 64-53. During that stretch, the Salukis had seven turnovers.
Then on March 4, 2007, the Jays toppled top-seeded and 11th ranked SIU 67-61 in front of 22,612 fans at Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Their seniors led the way, as tournament most outstanding player Nate Funk scored 19 points, while Anthony Tolliver recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds and Nick Porter had 15 points and a team-best six assists. The Bluejays snapped an eight-game losing streak to SIU, topping the Salukis for the first time since the 2003 MVC Championship game. They controlled the game throughout, owning a 32-28 halftime lead and pushing ahead by as many as 14 in the second half.
Most recently, they defeated the Redbirds on March 4, 2012, 83-79 in overtime to capture the first MVC Tournament title of the Greg McDermott Era. Doug McDermott scored 33 points, and senior Antoine Young had 14 — including eight in an overtime period where he literally put the team on his back.
Butler is favored by 2.5 in Vegas, and by two according to KenPom. Creighton is no stranger to those types of games this year — they’ve had seven games that were decided by three points or less. They’ll get this one, and will then hope for a pair of DePaul losses to snag a top-five seed in the Big East Tournament.
Creighton 77, Butler 74