Fresh off a pair of double-digit wins over outmatched, mediocre opponents, Creighton is about to embark on the toughest portion of their schedule: a home game with Oklahoma, a road game at Arizona State, and a brutal opening gauntlet from the Big East that sees them face Marquette, #18 Butler, #20 Villanova and #23 Xavier in the span of just 11 days. One final tuneup against D1 opposition remains — Friday night against the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, or UTRGV for short. If you’ve never heard of UTRGV, you’re not alone. But you have an excuse: they’ve only been a thing for four years.
The school is the successor to the University of Texas-Pan American, which ceased operations in 2014 and merged with the University of Texas-Brownsville (which also ceased operations) to form a new school named UTRGV, on the campus of the former UT-Pan American. The newly combined institution inherited the UTPA athletic department, but changed mascots from the “Broncs” to the “Vaqueros”.
Whew. Got all that?
The Vaqueros come to Omaha ranked 351st out of 354 teams according to RealTimeRPI.com thanks to a 1-5 record against a schedule that ranks 344th toughest. Other, better, more respected computer metrics are kinder — KenPom ranks them 268, Bart Torvik’s T-Rank has them at 283, Massey’s composite ranking has them at 291 — but the general idea is the same. The Vaqueros have not been very good.
They do own three wins over non-D1 teams which skews their overall record, but make no mistake — this is exactly the type of opponent that the word “cupcake” was meant to describe. Though they’re on the road for most of December, as teams from their level typically are, at least they’ve cut down on their travel a little bit by spending the weekend here. They head across town to battle Nebraska-Omaha on Sunday before traveling back home to Edinburg, Texas.
A year ago, UTRGV was 20-17 and earned a trip to the CIT, where they advanced to the second round. Their computer rankings were generally in the 170s and 180s depending on which one you looked at. They returned three of their top five players, and eight lettermen — including the defending WAC Defensive Player of the Year — from that team and were picked fourth in the preseason WAC coaches’ poll. They talked about contending for the WAC title during preseason practice. Instead after a third of the season, they’ve been quite a ways from that.
The reason for their unexpected struggles? WAC Defensive Player of the Year, and Preseason First Team All-WAC standout, Javon Levi missed four games with a calf injury. They lost three of four games while he was out. And since returning, they’ve won two straight.
Levi is averaging 10.6 points and 8.4 assists per game, and despite missing time, has 42 assists on the year — in just five games played. He had 13 against Sam Houston State and 10 against North Dakota State, two respectable D1 opponents, and has assisted on 53.1% of his team’s made field goals. That gives him the best rate among all Division 1 players. And it’s no fluke. He ranked #21 a year ago with a full season of stats, assisting on 39% of his team’s made shots, and #84 as a freshman with an assist on 29.5% of his team’s buckets. He’s an elite playmaker, and knowing where Number 14 for UTRGV is at all times is Job One for the Bluejay defense.
Jordan Jackson leads UTRGV with 16.2 points per game and ranks third on the club in both steals (13) and assists (21). Roughly two-thirds of Jackson’s shots come inside the arc; the 6’3″ senior will take three-point shots if he’s given space, as indicated by the fact that nearly 95% of his three-point shot attempts the last two seasons have been assisted by a teammate, and statistically that’s a smart bet. He’s made just 21.9% of them this year, and under 30% for his career. He’s pretty effective when he can get to the rim — he makes 65% from the field when he shoots near the rim, and is a 85% free throw shooter, so cutting off his dribble and making him shoot jumpers will likely be the gameplan. Doing that without fouling will be the trick; Jackson ranks 33rd in the country in fouls drawn per 40 minutes, attempting 55 free throws through nine games.
Lesley Varner II (12.3 ppg.) also averages in double figures, and is primarily a jump shooter with two-point jumpers accounting for over half of his total shot attempts. He’s their best three-point threat, too, making 36% of his threes so far this year.
UTRGV appears to be a much, much different — and much better — team with Javon Levi on the floor, so discount their atrocious computer rankings. This is a pretty solid team that can hang around and make the Jays work for a win if they come out flat, as sometimes can be the case at the end of Finals week. By the same token, if the Jays come out engaged and ready, they should win comfortably by nights’ end.
To that last point, Creighton could get not one but two players back in action Friday night, which would certainly give them a jolt of energy. Both Kelvin Jones and Davion Mintz were full participants in practice this week — full speed drills, contact drills, live 5-on-5, the whole deal. If they return, even in short spurts, it adds an element of depth to the roster that hasn’t been available so far this year.
And Tuesday night, Denzel Mahoney becomes eligible, further deepening the roster and adding a potential game-changing player. Then things get interesting, because with Mahoney and Mintz as part of the rotation this is a very different ballclub.
- Tip: 7:00pm
- Venue: CHI Health Center Omaha
- TV: FS1
- Announcers: Mike Monaco and Nick Bahe
- In Omaha: Cox channel 78 (SD), 1078 (HD); CenturyLink Prism channel 620 (SD), 1620 (HD)
- Outside Omaha: FS1 Channel Finder
- Satellite: DirecTV channel 219, Dish Network channel 150
- Streaming on FoxSportsGO
- Radio: 1620AM
- Announcers: John Bishop and Brody Deren
- Streaming on 1620TheZone.com and the 1620 The Zone mobile app
- For Cord Cutters
- Check the availability of FS1 on your streaming service
- Former Omaha Westside (2013-16) and Omaha Burke (2017) star Anthony Bratton returns to Omaha as a member of the Vaqueros after two years in junior college. He’s coming off his first career double-double in D1, 12 points and 14 rebounds, against Sam Houston State and is averaging 5.4 points and 3.7 boards in around 16 minutes a game.
- The Vaqueros have scored 79 points or more in their four victories, but have averaged just 58.4 points in its five losses
Marcus Zegarowski had 30 points, nine rebounds and six assists in Creighton’s 95-76 win over Nebraska. He’s the first Bluejay with at least 30 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the same game since at least 1979-80.
Zegarowski is currently leading Creighton with 19.2 points and 4.4 assists per game. Creighton hasn’t had a player average more than 15 points and 3.5 assists per game for a full season since Vernon Moore (21.0 ppg., 5.0 apg.) in 1984-85.
Ty-Shon Alexander is tied for the Creighton team lead in rebounds per game (5.9) and second on the team in points per game (16.6). Since 1992-93, only three Bluejays (Doug McDermott, Rodney Buford and Kyle Korver) have finished a season averaging at least 16.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game
Creighton played UTRGV back in 2014, when they were known as Texas-Pan American. In that game, played December 19, 2014, Creighton never trailed, rolling to leads of 7-0 and 21-7 en route to a 41-27 halftime edge. The Bluejays were led by 20 points from Texas native Austin Chatman, while Avery Dingman supplied 11 points, six rebounds and six assists in 21 minutes. Shaquille Hines led UTRGV with 16 points.
It was the last win for that 2014-15 team for nearly six weeks, as they lost at North Texas two days later and then lost their first eight Big East games.
On December 13, 2003, Creighton played a BracketBusters return game on the road at Fresno State. Down 52-44 with five minutes to play, the Jays held the Bulldogs scoreless for over four minutes while they cut into the lead, and trailed 54-51 after two free throws by Fresno’s Mustafa Al-Sayyad. Dana Altman subbed in four guards for the final possession, and drew up a play to get Nate Funk a shot. He used a screen from Kellen Miliner to get open, took a pass from Tyler McKinney near the right corner, and drilled a 21-footer to tie the game at the buzzer.
In overtime, CU outscored the hosts 16-8 and won 70-62. “We played the overtime like I hoped we’d play the entire game,” Altman told the media after the game. “But, oh my gosh, we were a different team. Nate’s shot started a fire. After we hit that first shot in overtime, you could just see the fight and bounce our guys had. The defensive intensity picked up. We were very fortunate to win this one. Hopefully this one shows us you can never give up.”
Fun fact: UTRGV – slash – UT-Pan American has sent a lot of players to the NBA over the years. One of the most famous?Lucious Jackson, whose number 54 is retired by the school. He won a gold medal in the 1964 Olympics, an NBA title in 1967, and inspired the name of the 90s alt-rock band Luscious Jackson (true story). So now I guess this needs to happen.
The Bottom Line:
KenPom favors the Jays by 18. I think they win by 20.
Creighton 80, UTRGV 60