Creighton’s 105-54 win on Tuesday over Florida A&M saw all 10 Bluejays score at least five points and grab at least one rebound. They shot 56.7 percent (38-of-67) from the field, including 47.4 percent (18-of-38) from behind the arc and 68.8 percent (11-of-16) from the free throw line. Oh, and Creighton outrebounded the Rattlers, 53-21. No matter where you looked, it was a complete and thorough domination.
“It’s going to get a little tougher starting Saturday,” Greg McDermott said after that win. “North Dakota State has a bunch of older guys, and they had a good win at Western Michigan last night in overtime. As I told the guys, the level of competition is going up a little on Saturday,”
North Dakota State actually comes into Saturday’s matinee in Omaha with not one but two games under their belts: a 93-66 drubbing of Mount Marty (NAIA) on Wednesday night, and the aforementioned 80-76 overtime win over Western Michigan on Monday. And though they lost star forward Grant Nelson to Alabama in the offseason, they return eight — yes, eight — players who started a game last year. They bring back the 16th most minutes of any team in D1.
For a team that’s played in the Summit League championship game seven times in head coach Dave Richman’s nine seasons, including five in a row, that kind of roster continuity has been key to the success they’ve built.
It showed in the overtime win on Monday, as a quartet of veterans carried them to victory. Boden Skunberg, a 6’5″ senior, had 25 points in 39 minutes of action with six rebounds and three assists. 6’3″ junior Jacari White added 15, including making 4-of-6 from three-point range. Andrew Morgan, their 6’10”, 245-pound center, had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds — 11 of them offensive.
Another upperclassman, junior Jeremiah Burke, sent the game to OT with this putback off a would-be game winner from the corner — flying through the lane, grabbing the miss, and laying it in at the horn. He did it a second time in OT, giving them the lead for good at 74-73 with 1:17 to go.
Skunberg is their leading returning scorer at 15.1 points per game a year ago. He was also tied for the team high in rebounds at 5.3. In two games this year he’s scored 42, and grabbed 10 boards. He’s at the top of the scouting report, without a doubt.
Interestingly, Skunberg played against the Jays in both 2020 and 2021 off the bench; he had two rebounds and no points in 14 minutes of their 2020 loss, and two points with no boards in 2021. That’s not an accurate representation of the player CU will see this time, as his emergence came last season when his numbers exploded across the board and he became an Honorable Mention All-Summit League player.
White has scored 24 points through two games, and his 4-of-6 performance from behind the arc against Western Michigan was no fluke. He shot 41-of-109 from three-point range last year (37.6%) and had eight games where he made three or more. And he made 39% the year before as a freshman JUCO player.
Morgan dominated the post for them a year ago, and his 11 offensive rebounds on Monday night are an eye-opening statistic no matter what level you’re at, or who you’re playing. He’s currently #2 in the entire country in offensive rebound rate (grabbing an absurd 34.6% of his team’s missed shots when he’s on the court). That’s likely to drop by playing against Creighton’s frontline, but he’s a formidable rebounder that the Jays will have to box out on every play.
NDSU seems highly likely to be at or near the top of the Summit League standings at the end of the year, and vie for another NCAA Tournament bid. They have that magic mid-major mix of proven veterans, young developing talent, and great coaching that leads to success. They’re a big step up from the level of competition the Jays saw on Tuesday, and while CU should win handily they had best be ready for a battle. Look for a 20-25 point win instead of a 51-point win.
- Tip: 1:00pm
- Venue: CHI Health Center Omaha
- TV: FS2
- Announcers: Sloane Martin and Nick Bahe
- In Omaha: Cox channel 216 (SD), 1216 (HD); CenturyLink Prism channel 621 (SD), 1621 (HD)
- Outside Omaha: FS2 Channel Finder
- Satellite: DirecTV channel 618, Dish Network channel 397
- Cable Cutters: Available on all major streaming platforms
- Streaming on the Fox Sports app and website
- Radio: 1620AM, 101.9FM
- Announcers: John Bishop and Taylor Stormberg
- Streaming on 1620TheZone.com and the 1620 The Zone mobile app
- 6’4″ sophomore Tajavis Miller has made just 3-of-18 shots (and 2-of-8 from three-point range) through two games.
- The Bison have a rotating cast of backup center/forwards behind Morgan, including 6’10”, 245-pound freshman Noah Feddersen (12 points and four rebounds through two games) and 6’9″, 245-pound junior Joshua Streit (14 points and 10 rebounds through two games)
- Other players of note include Damari Wheeler-Thomas, a 6’0″ guard who’s averaging 7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3 assists; Jeremiah Burke, who hit two clutch shots in the OT win over Western Michigan and is averaging 6.5 points and 7.5 rebounds through two games; and 6’3″ guard Lance Waddles, who had 12 points in their win over Mount Marty.
- Steven Ashworth’s 17 points on Tuesday were the most by a player in their Creighton debut since Marcus Foster had 19 points in a 2016 win vs. UMKC
- Former Bluejay John Christofolis, who transferred to Seattle University after last season, had a huge game in his debut: 18 points and five rebounds.
- Tuesday’s 105-54 score was, remarkably, not a Creighton Scorigami (the name for unique scores, either for a team or a league). According to SID Rob Anderson’s research, they also won by a 105-54 score over Northern Colorado on December 3, 1959, in Red McManus’ coaching debut:
Creighton has won all 11 games between these two schools historically, including wins in 2020 (69-58) and 2021 (80-55). Greg McDermott also beat them twice while coaching at Iowa State.
Two years ago when they last met, CU led 40-32 at the half and then buried North Dakota State in the second half in an avalanche of offense. A 12-5 run out of the locker room pushed the lead to 52-37, with all 12 points coming in the paint. Six came on dunks from Kalkbrenner. And then over a six minute stretch, they outscored NDSU 19-2 and built a commanding 74-44 lead. It began with a three from Rati Andronikashvili, the first of his career — he was left all alone in the corner, and a driving Trey Alexander turned down a decent look at the rim to kick it out to him. Moments later, Alexander hit his own three from the opposite corner.
Creighton defeated the UMKC Kangaroos 96-70 on November 11, 2013, in a game that saw Doug McDermott score 37 points, just another ho-hum, pedestrian offensive game for the most prolific scorer in school history. From Ott’s wrap-up:
“Creighton’s All American scored the team’s first 9 points and 14 of the team’s first 18 points. His CU teammates were feeding the school’s all-time leading scorer, facilitating the type of night that could have knocked Bob Portman out of possession of the single-game scoring record (51 points in December 1967).
McDermott finished the first half with 25 points after playing nearly the entire first stanza. He was needed on the floor because despite his scoring outburst the Bluejays allowed a 12-3 run that turned an 18-11 CU lead into a 23-21 deficit with 7:35 left in the first half.
No worries. McDermott went to work again, tying the game with a layup and then grabbing a defensive rebound during the Kangaroos’ next possession. He hit a triple on Creighton’s subsequent trip down the court to give the Jays a lead they would never relinquish.
All told, McDermott captained a 32-8 run, one that he capped with a layup and a three-pointer within the first minute of the second half. Just like that, the Bluejays were up by 22 points and could play the rest of the evening out testing various personnel combinations.
Please, Creighton fans. Never take Doug McDermott for granted.”
The Bottom Line:
ESPN’s BPI gives Creighton a 97.0% chance of victory, and KenPom predicts a 22-point win. Take the over.
Creighton 90, North Dakota State 65