More than any loss in recent memory, Creighton’s inexplicable 99-98 loss to Butler two weeks ago has stuck with Bluejay players upset at how it happened. CU has a defense ranked 29th by KenPom in adjusted efficiency, giving up just 97.3 points per 100 possessions — over eight points better than the average D1 defense. Yet Butler torched them for 99 points in a 40-minute game, with an effective field goal percentage of 64.5%.
They made 13-of-22 from three-point range (59.1%), and have spent the next three games regressing to the mean in a huge way: they made just 4-of-18, 7-of-19 and 9-of-25 from deep over those games, resulting in two losses and a tight three-point win.
“Obviously I’ve been through the film several times, right after the game and really studied it the last couple of days,” Greg McDermott said. “There were many possessions where Butler just made really good plays, made what we would consider shots that we want them to take. Now, the challenge for us is to eliminate some of the other ones. We fouled two 3-point shooters, we got beat on a couple of back cuts, we got refused on a couple of screens. Those things can’t happen. But it’s a very talented team, as you can see by how competitive they’ve been in virtually every game.”
While the three-point shooting was off the charts, it was the midrange game of 6’7″, 225-pound senior Jahmyl Telfort that proved hardest to stop. He averages 14.3 points per game, but scored a season-high 26 points on 10-of-14 inside the arc and 2-of-3 outside, repeatedly hitting tough shots. The Jays tried both Mason Miller and Baylor Scheierman on him defensively, and neither could do much to slow him down. Could Jasen Green, the 6’8″ Bluejay freshman who did not play in that game but has inserted himself into the rotation in the two weeks since with hard-nosed defense and a knack for snatching contested rebounds, make a difference in that matchup?
“What’s going through my mind is we’re not going to let them drop 99 points on us again, obviously,” Green said on Thursday. “We’ve got to step up defensively and do a little better job there. I feel like we’re all taking it personally just because of the amount of points that they put on our head at our house. We took it personally and we just have to come back and give them what they gave us.”
Green was still on the scout team ahead of the first Butler game, and was charged with playing as Telfort in practice. He said their scouting report on the Northeastern transfer wasn’t entirely accurate, but that they have a better read on him now that they’ve seen him in person.
“When I emulated him the first time, I didn’t do as many things as he did during the game because we thought he was more like a downhill floater type of guy,” Green commented. “But he was hitting all types of shots on us. I feel like we learned a lot from our game against him, so it’ll be a little different scout this time.”
6’1″ guard DJ Davis also lit them up, scoring 22 points (5-of-7 inside the arc, 3-of-5 on threes) with five assists. The huge games that Telfort and Davis had obscured the fact that CU did a good job on Butler’s leading scorer, Pierre Brooks. He scored 14, under his average of 15.8 points per game, making just 3-of-10 on two pointers and 2-of-5 on threes.
All of that might have been survivable if not for crazy games from a pair of freshmen. 6’11” backup center Boden Kapke stretched the defense by making 2-of-3 from three point range — half of his output for the entire season (he’s 4-of-10 from long range). Kapke shot so well he played 12 minutes in that game; he’s played 28 combined minutes in all other Big East games, including five where he never got on the floor at all.
The other? 6’4″ Finley Bizjack, whose 40-foot three-pointer at the buzzer in the first half was perhaps the most maddening play in the game. Bizjack had not done a lot before making 3-of-3 from three-point range in Omaha, but has used it as a jumping-off point to become a pretty deadly shooter off the bench in the games since, carving out a role for himself in the process. He made 2-of-3 from three against Providence and 3-of-7 from outside against Marquette, while making 6-of-8 at the line against the Golden Eagles as well.
One wrinkle to the rematch: Posh Alexander did not play in the first game due to injury, but he’ll be back in the lineup Saturday. Alexander is their best on-ball defender, coming up with a steal on 4.1% of opponent’s possessions while he’s on the floor (37th best in the country). He’s also their best distributor, with an assist on 28.3% of their made baskets while on the floor. What he’s not is a good jump shooter; Alexander has made just 16-of-59 from three-point range (27.1%).
Aside from defensive lapses (combined with some tough shotmaking that seems unlikely to repeat itself), Creighton did a lot else right in the first meeting. They had just nine turnovers (on 12.0% of their possessions), keeping Butler from getting out in transition. They kept the Bulldogs off the glass, with Butler grabbing an offensive board on just 12% of their missed shots — well below their season average of 28.7%. And they kept the Bulldogs off the free throw line, with a free throw rate of just 18.8 (10-of-13 from the line), their second-lowest in Big East play and one of just two games where they were under 25.
“Transition defense is huge,” McDermott said. “Davis and Brooks shoot it so well in transition, so you have to get back and get it put together, especially in their building. We did a good job rebounding the basketball here, I think we did a good job of getting to the free-throw line and keeping them off it. I think those are things that are really important to winning on the road and the things that we’ll focus on moving into this game.”
Taking a step back, this will be Creighton’s 200th regular season Big East game, if you can believe that. They were 51-49 over their first 100, and are 67-32 over the last 99. That latter number is remarkable because it’s practically identical to their marks over their last 200 games in the Missouri Valley: they were 66-34 over their final 100 MVC games, and 69-31 in the 100 before that. That they’ve managed to more or less replicate their conference record while stepping up into a power league is something that shouldn’t be taken for granted.
- Tip: 11:30am
- Venue: Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
- TV: FOX
- Announcers: Kevin Kugler and LaPhonso Ellis
- In Omaha: KPTM-FOX 42
- 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
- Creighton Radio: 1620AM, 101.9FM
- Announcer: John Bishop
- Streaming on 1620TheZone.com and the 1620 The Zone mobile app
- Simulcast on SiriusXM channel 137 or 201 as well as on the SiriusXM App
- Butler Radio: WXNT 1430AM
- Announcers: Mark Minner and Nick Gardner
- Streaming on the Varsity Network app
- Simulcast on SiriusXM channel 384 as well as on the SiriusXM App
- Saturday’s game will conclude a five-game stretch for Butler that included four Top 25 opponents. KenPom ranks Butler’s schedule so far this season as the nation’s 15th-toughest slate.
- The Bulldogs are coming off a narrow 78-72 loss to No. 4 Marquette Tuesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Freshman Finley Bizjack led four Bulldogs in double figures with a career-high 19 points; 16 of them came after halftime. He set or matched his career-highs in field goals (five), three-pointers (three) and free throws (six).
- Creighton leads the nation with just 11.36 fouls per game, and Butler averages just 13.76 fouls per contest, 10th-best nationally. Creighton leads the nation with 10 games this season of 10 fouls or less, while Butler is tied for third with seven such contests. With that said, in the first meeting Butler was whistled for 21 fouls and CU was called for 11.
- Baylor Scheierman is working on a streak of five straight games with 10 or more rebounds and a streak of five straight double-doubles, making him Creighton’s first player to do either of those feats since Benoit Benjamin in 1984-85. He has 11 double-doubles this season, just two behind Bob Harstad (and Scheierman last season) for the most by any Bluejay in the last 35 years.
- In the last 10 games, Baylor Scheierman is averaging 18.9 points, 9.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. That makes him the only player in the Big East since at least 2005-06 to average those figures over any 10-game span.
- Creighton is 18-7 this season through 25 games. It’s the eighth time in 11 years as a member of the Big East that the Bluejays have started 17-8 or better. The only other league school to start 17-8 more than six of the last 11 years is Villanova (9 times).
Creighton is 17-12 all-time vs. Butler in a series that dates to a 27-22 Bluejay win in 1933. The home team has won 11 of the last 13 meetings not played on a neutral site. Butler is 9-4 all-time in Indianapolis against the Bluejays, including a 7-3 mark since the schools became Big East rivals.
On February 17, 2002, the Bluejays defeated Wichita State 69-67 on a buzzer-beater by freshman point guard Tyler McKinney. The Jays had blown a big lead by surrendering 30 points in the game’s final 8-1/2 minutes, turning a 51-37 lead into a tie game. Guard Randy Burns scored 14 all by himself in the final four minutes, hitting one clutch three after another — including a three with 8 seconds to play that tied the game at 67.
That set up the final possession, where the Shockers’ defense focused (probably correctly) on Kyle Korver, Terrell Taylor, and DeAnthony Bowden. McKinney brought the ball up the floor as the clock ticked down, examined the options WSU’s defense was giving him, and took advantage of their focus elsewhere to drive nearly uncontested to the rim. His shot dropped through the net with 0.4 seconds left, and the Jays escaped.
“I don’t think they really wanted to step off anyone, so they just kind of let me go and thought the guy who was guarding me was going to stay with me,” McKinney told media after the game. “That’s the only reason I got an open lane.” Shocker coach Mark Turgeon had a bit different explanation. “I don’t know if our guys thought the freshman was going to take it all the way in there,” he said. “I think a lot of our guys thought he was going to pass the ball.”
The Bottom Line:
ESPN’s BPI gives Creighton 68.6% odds of victory, but KenPom is much less confident: his predictive metrics consider it more or less a tossup (a 76-75 CU win).
I think Creighton exacts revenge for the home loss two weeks ago, and wins a close one.
Creighton 80, Butler 74