On Monday, Creighton plays for a trip to the Sweet 16 for the first time since the tourney expanded in 1985. Standing in their way is 13 seed Ohio, a tremendous team with one of the best point guards remaining in the tournament. Don’t let their teen-seed, pedestrian record and 5th place finish in the MAC fool you — COVID wreaked havoc on lots of teams this year and Ohio is one of them. They missed most of February on a COVID pause, and when they returned, they squeezed three games into four days. Then they went on another pause before the MAC Tourney, where they beat the two best teams in the league (Toledo and Buffalo) on consecutive days. All that matters to Creighton in this game is that Ohio, on March 22, is playing as well as they’ve played all year. They’re fairly seeded 13th based on their body of work, but the team taking the floor tonight is quite a bit better than that.
The Bobcats are led — literally — by point guard Jason Preston. It’s the type of story movies get made about. He played a small role on his high school team, enrolled at Central Florida as a student resigned to his organized basketball days being behind him, and joined an AAU team at the last minute because they needed a fifth player to compete. He caught the eye of a prep school coach, and he spent the 2017-18 season there instead of UCF. After a year of prep school he had two D1 offers, and wound up at Ohio. And now he’s stealing the show in March. There’s a bit of a “team of destiny” vibe happening with Ohio, and it’s because of Preston.
In his last four games (three wins in the MAC Tournament and the first round NCAA upset of Virginia), Preston has averaged 19.8 points (on 64% shooting), 7.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists. Against the ACC champion Cavaliers, he had 11 points, 13 boards and 8 assists. He can shoot from everywhere (58.5% on two-point shots, 40.0% on threes), his court vision is elite, and he makes passes most guards can’t even attempt.
All five starters average in double figures. Surrounding Preston are 6’8″ Dwight Wilson III (14.6 points, 7.5 rebounds per game), 6’8″ Ben Vander Plas (13.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists per game), 6’5″ Ben Roderick (12.5 points, 2.9 rebounds) and 6’3″ Lunden McDay (10.2 points per game). Their rotation goes seven deep, generally, with 6’1″ Mark Sears (8.5 points in 19.6 minutes per game) and 6’1″ Miles Brown (4.8 points in 18.2 minutes) the only bench players to average double figure minutes played.
Vander Plas can both make threes (36.8% with Mitch Ballock-type range), and post up inside. His quick release is what you most notice, though — defenders have to be alert every second and stay glued to him, because if you have to close out on him from a step or two away, it’s too late.
Wilson III is their primary inside scorer, and in fact, all but two of his 206 shot attempts this year have been two-pointers. But he’s made 66.5% of those two-point shots, 37th best in D1. That’s important to note because with the defensive attention you must pay to Preston and Vander Plas outside, and Wilson II inside, it often leaves room to operate for others. That’s where Ben Roderick comes into play. He’s decent off the dribble and at 6’5″ he has size to score inside when he gets there. And he’s a 40.5% three-point shooter (53-of-131). If you’re looking for an unsung hero who burns the Jays because of too much attention paid elsewhere, it’s probably Roderick. He had 15 points in the upset of Virginia.
One thing you’ll notice with those players: there’s not a ton of size or length. But they’re active, they’re quick, and their hands seem to be everywhere — they harass opponents around the perimeter as well as any team. But if you can get past their first line, you can be successful. Their block rate as a team is 5.7%, one of the lowest in D1 (314th). Their defense has allowed teams to make 51% of their two-pointers, which ranks 240th. But it’s deceiving. In their seven losses this year, opponents shot 63.9% of two-pointers. In their other games, it was 45.6%. This looks like a game where Christian Bishop and Damien Jefferson can have success in the paint — and if they do, Creighton’s chances of victory go up quite a bit.
On offense, thanks in large part to Preston and all the shooters surrounding him, the Bobcats rank 23rd in D1 in assist rate — they have an assist on a whopping 59.8% of their made baskets this year. They play relatively fast, with an adjusted tempo of 69.1.
Compared to Virginia’s defensive prowess, size, length, athleticism, and plodding pace of play — and contrasted with UCSB who shared a lot of those traits — Ohio is a much better matchup. They’ll run with the Jays. They’ll be willing to push pace. This isn’t likely to be a grinder-type of game. That typically favors CU, especially against an opponent that hasn’t seen Creighton’s pace in person. Opposing coaches often say it’s difficult to simulate Creighton’s pace-and-space in practice because so few teams do it as well as they do. On 48 hours prep time, it’s even moreso.
Opponents shoot nearly 60% in transition against Ohio. And the Jays were successful here against UCSB, with 14 of their 63 points coming in transition. In order to score in transition, of course, you have to gain possession. So the biggest key to the game might well lie on the glass and in their ability to come up with steals. Ohio is not a great offensive rebounding team (28.8% of their missed shots). And they turn it over a decent amount (17.0% of their total possessions, with 7.9% of them the result of a steal). So there will be opportunities. Creighton must capitalize.
Ohio likes to run, too. It’s likely to come down to which point guard has the better game. If it’s Preston, Ohio will like their chances. If it’s Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton is likely moving on to the Sweet 16.
- Tip: Approx. 5:10pm Central
- Venue: Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
- TV: TNT
- Announcers: Ian Eagle, Grant Hill and Jamie Erdahl
- In Omaha: Cox channel 36, CenturyLink Prism channel 1108/1109
- Satellite: DirecTV channel 246, Dish Network channel 138
- Streaming at http://ncaa.com/marchmadnesslive
- Creighton Radio: 1620AM
- Announcers: John Bishop and Nick Bahe
- No streaming or webcast allowed per NCAA regulations
- National Radio: Westwood One
- Announcers: Jason Benetti and Robbie Hummel
- Westwood One affiliates: http://westwoodonesports.com/stations
- Streaming at http://ncaa.com/marchmadnesslive
- Satellite radio:
- Westwood One feed on Sirius channel 138 and XM channel 210
- For Cord Cutters:
- TNT is available on all major streaming services including Hulu, Sling, AT&T TV, YouTube TV, and Fubo
- The Bobcats are averaging 80.1 points per game, while shooting 48.7 percent from the field, 35.9 percent from three-point range and 70.8 percent from the free throw line. The Bobcats also average 35.0 rebounds a game to go along with 17.7 assists, 6.5 steals overall and 2.1 blocks per game.
- The Bobcats’ last trip to the NCAA Tournament happened in 2012, where Ohio defeated Michigan and USF to make it to the Sweet 16, before falling to No.1 seed North Carolina.
- Head Coach Jeff Boals is one of eight coaching his alma mater in this year’s tournament.
- Hinkle Fieldhouse has been a terrible venue for the Bluejays to play — it’s been a house of horrors, honestly. Creighton is 3-8 in 11 all-time trips to Hinkle Fieldhouse to face Butler, with the first trip coming in February of 1933. Since joining the Big East in 2013, Creighton is 2-6 in its annual trip to Hinkle Fieldhouse with four straight losses. CU lost 70-66 in overtime this season on January 16th in a game where Denzel Mahoney scored a season-high 29 points. Creighton’s last win inside Hinkle Fieldhouse came on Jan. 31, 2017.
- Marcus Zegarowski is Creighton’s first player with 17 points and eight assists in the same NCAA Tournament game since Ryan Sears had 18 points and eight assists vs. Auburn on March 16, 2000.
- With 15 points and 11 rebounds on Saturday, Christian Bishop had his team-leading fifth double-double of the season and established a career-high in the rebound column. Bishop’s double-double was the first by a Bluejay in an NCAA Tournament since Doug McDermott had 30 points and 12 rebounds in a 2014 win vs. Louisiana, which also happened to be CU’s last NCAA Tournament victory. In Creighton’s last 13 NCAA Tournament games (since March 17, 2002), the Bluejays are 4-0 when it has an individual with a double-double but 0-9 when it doesn’t have a double-double.
Creighton is 1-0 all-time against Ohio, defeating the Bobcats 57-55 on December 17, 1962. In that contest Paul Silas had 20 points and 23 rebounds and future head coach Tom Apke had 16 points in his first career start. Jerry Jackson had 18 points to lead Ohio.
WBR’s Matt DeMarinis profiled Jason Preston, who has forged a friendship with Creighton’s Denzel Mahoney. Check it out.
On March 22, 2013 Creighton defeated Cincinnati 67-63 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Some reminscing courtesy of the Morning After:
“Early on, Gregory Echenique set the tone, blocking a shot and altering several others that gave Cincinnati’s guards pause before driving the lane. He brought the same intensity he showed in St. Louis during his weekend of domination, putting teeth in their interior defense and making the paint off-limits for opposing shooters. The big man even brought some offense of his own: he went 5-7 from the floor and 3-3 from the line, scoring 13 points to go along with seven boards.
Ethan Wragge got red-hot from downtown, torching Cincinnati for four 3-pointers, including a stretch of three straight that had TV analyst Reggie Miller — himself no stranger to big threes — impressed. The #wraggebombs were deadly, stretching Cincinnati’s defense and allowing Doug McDermott a little more room to maneuver down low, where he took the game over.
McDermott was brilliant offensively, scoring 27 points on 7-15 shooting, and took advantage of the Bearcats relentless defensive physicality to get to the line — where he made all 11 free throws he attempted. He scored on a dazzling array of drives to the hoop, fadeaway jumpers, circus shots, and long-range threes. Unfortunately, he also struggled when Cincinnati pressured him, turning it over five times.”
Ott’s Thoughts has the more in-depth memories.
The Bottom Line:
Ohio is really, really good. But they’re not 1991 Seton Hall, who beat the Jays in the second round and would have made the Final Four if UNLV wasn’t standing in their way in the regional finals.
They’re not 1999 Maryland, featuring three NBA Draft picks including the player taken #2 overall in Steve Francis.
They’re not 2002 Illinois, with two NBA Draft picks and playing in front of a home crowd in Chicago at the United Center.
They’re not 2012 North Carolina, a national title contender playing at home in Greensboro. They lost point guard Kendall Marshall to injury in the win over the Jays, then lost in the Elite Eight. They’re not 2013 Duke either, another Elite Eight team. And they’re not 2014 Baylor.
In the modern era of the NCAA Tournament this is not only the first Round of 32 game Creighton is favored in, its the only one that doesn’t require one of those famous March Madness upsets to win. For a Creighton program and fanbase starved for their moment, this is quite an opportunity. It’s time to seize it.
I believe they will. Vegas has them as 5.5 point favorites. ESPN’s BPI gives them an 82.2% probability of victory. KenPom predicts a 78-72 Bluejay win. Sounds like another nail biter, and another Bluejay win.
Creighton 77, Ohio 72