Following a thrilling come-from-behind win and a last-second game-winner last Saturday against Providence, and a comfortable double-digit road win at DePaul, the Bluejays return to Omaha in third place in the Big East. Their “bye week”, such as it is, is right around the corner but before they get there, they have the first rematch of the conference slate as the Xavier Musketeers visit.
Two weeks ago when Creighton and Xavier met, the Jays packed the paint, cut off passing and driving lanes, and forced the Musketeers into taking jump shots. That’s a smart strategy on paper, because Xavier has proven itself to be one of the worst shooting teams in the country, and it was a smart strategy in practice too — Xavier took 26 three-pointers in that game, and made just five. CU wasn’t the first team to pack the paint and essentially dare Xavier to beat them from the perimeter, and they won’t be the last, because it’s proven to be a pretty successful strategy.
Compounding matters, they’re not great decision makers with the basketball, either. It’s rare that you see a high-major team this far along into a season where the head coach is calling set plays on nearly every possession, but that’s precisely what Travis Steele is doing. For good reason: the X-men have scored better than 1.0 point per possession in a game just once in the last month, and even then just barely at 1.01 in a 83-71 loss to Seton Hall. Until they prove they can make teams pay for giving up open looks on jump shots, that will be how teams defend, and with a group of players who don’t make plays for one another, it can be difficult to score.
And so Steele has made a change. Talking to the media after their 66-57 win over Georgetown on Wednesday, he said, “We have to stop fighting who we are. We have to play towards our identity. When we’ve had success this year, we’ve really defended in the half court. We’ve gotta be able to dominate the glass. That will give us a chance to win the game.”
Senior point guard Quentin Goodin’s pregame knee injury forced the issue, perhaps, but reading reports out of Cincinnati it sure seems like Steele was prepared to field a four-forward/one-guard lineup even before the injury. Regardless, their lineup against the Hoyas was 6’4″ Paul Scruggs, 6’9″ Tyrique Jones, 6’8″ Jason Carter, 6’7″ Naji Marshall and 6’9″ Zach Freemantle. It’s essentially Bizarro Creighton, with four forwards instead of four guards, grinding games to a halt in the half court instead of running in transition. Given how much Goodin has struggled — he’s missed 20 consecutive three pointers (!), and he’s down to 25% for the year from behind the arc, 39% inside of it, and 62% from the line with a 24% assist rate — I’m guessing Xavier won’t be in any rush to get him back.
That four-forward lineup presents issues for opponents, and Creighton fans are right to be concerned about how the Jays match up with it. The opposite is also true: Creighton’s pace, quickness and ability to score from three-point range presents issues for Xavier too. It did in Cincinnati, as eventually the Musketeers big men got tired of chasing guards around the floor and CU’s shots became a little more uncontested.
CU largely dictated tempo and pace in that game, and if they get this game into the 70s, it’s hard to see a path for Xavier to win. They simply don’t make enough baskets. But if the Musketeers use that big lineup to slow things down, crash the glass, and limit possessions they can absolutely win, too. Creighton has the homecourt advantage; Xavier is in desperation mode. So like it typically does between these two, this has all the signs of a close affair decided late.
- Tip: 3:00pm Sunday
- Venue: CHI Health Center Omaha
- TV: FS1
- Announcers: Kevin Kugler 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
- Note: the TV broadcast will be commercial-free as one of FOX Sports’ “All Access” games. Greg McDermott and Travis Steele will both be mic’d up from the locker room to the huddle, and cameras will allow viewers into places they normally don’t get to see — from pregame and halftime locker room strategy sessions to behind-the-scenes conversations.
- Radio: 1620AM
- Announcers: John Bishop and Josh Dotzler
- Streaming on 1620TheZone.com and the 1620 The Zone mobile app
- For Cord Cutters
- Naji Marshall leads Xavier in scoring at 16.8 points per game. He had 21 in the first meeting on 9-of-17 shooting, with nine rebounds and seven assists.
- Paul Scruggs averages 14.2 points per game and tops the team in three-pointers (28) and steals (23). He had 19 points in the first meeting on 9-of-13 shooting, and also had nine rebounds.
- Tyrique Jones (13.4 ppg., 9.7 rpg.) is trying to become Xavier’s first player since to average a double-double since David West in 2002-03. CU limited his touches in the first meeting, and he had 12 points with five boards.
- Xavier has hoped that freshman guard KyKy Tandy could provide them with instant offense off the bench, and he finally delivered on that promise Wednesday. He scored 18 points against Georgetown on 4-of-8 from three point range and 3-of-5 inside the arc. If he becomes a consistent scoring threat Xavier becomes much more difficult to defend.
- This year will mark Creighton’s 10th Pink Out, which coincides with the arrival of head coach Greg McDermott. The Bluejays are 7-2 in the first nine Pink Out games. More importantly, including the $31,803.18 raised this year so far, CU has raised $266,714.88 benefitting the Hope Lodge facility in Omaha and the guests it serves at the Pink Out games.
- Mitch Ballock leads Creighton with 61 three-point baskets this season, which gives him exactly 200 in his Bluejay career. That puts him in a tie for seventh place in program history in that category. He’s joined Kyle Korver and Ethan Wragge as the only Bluejays to reach that milestone as juniors.
- Ballock leads the Big East with 35.95 minutes per game, a number that soars to 38.14 minutes per contest in league play, as he’s played all but 13 minutes in CU’s first seven league games.
Xavier owns a 17-14 lead in the series with Creighton, but the teams have split 10 all-time meetings in Omaha. With a win on Sunday, Creighton would secure its first regular-season sweep of the Musketeers since both teams joined the Big East in 2013.
On January 26, 1991, Bob Harstad broke Creighton’s all-time scoring record in a 83-68 win over Indiana State at the Civic. The record-breaker came courtesy of two pump-fakes in traffic in the lane; after the second, an Indiana State defender knocked the ball loose, but Harstad regained control and tipped it in.
“I got it hit out of my hand, so I just tipped it in. It’s probably the luckiest shot I ever made,” Harstad told the media after the game.
The game was stopped momentarily so the sold-out crowd of 9,504 at the Civic could salute the senior for toppling Bob Portman’s record of 1,876 points, which had been the gold standard since 1969. His teammate Chad Gallagher would also wind up surpassing Portman’s mark later that season, finishing his career with 1,983 points. Harstad’s mark of 2,110 points lasted eight years before Rodney Buford broke it; Doug McDermott shattered it 15 years later.
The Bottom Line:
While Xavier is motivated, CU’s firepower at home will be too much to overcome.
Bluejays 75, Musketeers 67