It’s just the second week of January, but we’ve already arrived at what feels like Must-Win Sunday. In the midst of an unforgiving opening stretch to Big East play, Creighton has dropped two of their first three, with a road trip to St. John’s (and the spectacular Shamorie Ponds) and Georgetown (where they’ve won just once since entering the league) coming up. Hitting the road at 1-3 would put their postseason hopes on the brink of evaporation.
The opponent for Must-Win Sunday is the defending national champion Villanova Wildcats, who feature a roster of new faces but who enter the game as the only undefeated team in the league at 3-0. That’s hard enough on its own, but Creighton might very well be facing another opponent as well — Marquette. Large swaths of the fan base have yet to move past Wednesday night’s monumental collapse, and it would only be human nature for the players to feel the same way. In some respects, it might be harder for them to move past it than it is for the rest of us.
“We cannot allow this loss to define us. Too many good things happened,” Greg McDermott said in his postgame radio interview. “It’s going to take some work on my staff’s part to make sure that this doesn’t cost us more than one game.”
Villanova lost four stars off of the national champion team of a year ago: Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo, and Omari Spellman. Seniors Eric Paschall and Phil Booth are still around and are their two leading scorers; the rest of the roster is comprised of four freshmen and three sophomores, plus senior Joe Cremo who plays a limited role. The underclassmen are highly regarded, but Brunson, Bridges, DiVincenzo and Spellman are an awfully tough quartet to replace.
The Wildcats went through some growing pains in November and December, which is to be expected. They were blown out by Michigan at home 73-46 in the Gavitt Games. They lost at home to Furman 76-68 in overtime later that week, the first time they’d lost back-to-back games since the end of the 2012-13 season — which is so long ago that it was before the reconstituted Big East was formed. That 2-2 start was the worst for a defending national champ since UCLA in 1995-96, though it matched Villanova’s start to the 1985-86 campaign after their ’85 national title. And it was the first time under Jay Wright that they’d started a season 2-2 or worse.
Six straight wins followed, including victories over Oklahoma State, Florida State, and Temple, all among the Top 75 in the latest NET rankings. But then two more losses — a surprising defeat at Penn, and a not-so-surprising loss at Kansas — raised question marks again. They answered those questions emphatically, and since that two-game losing streak, they’ve looked like the Villanova of old, blowing out UCONN, and beating DePaul, Providence and St. John’s to begin league play in a familiar spot. Namely: undefeated, and atop the standings.
Booth leads the team in scoring at 17.6 points per game, and Paschall is close behind at 16.3 points. They’ve leaned an awful lot on their two most experienced players; they’ve combined to take 43% of the team’s shots and score 45% of their points, and they both average over 34 minutes a game.
Booth has scored 20 or more points six times already this season, and been in double figures in all but two. He’s been particularly solid of late; in the last six games, he’s averaging 21.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game. In Big East play, he scored 15 points with four rebounds and six assists in the win over DePaul, and had identical lines of 23 points with seven boards and four assists against both Providence and St. John’s. How he got there, especially the identical lines in the last two games, highlights his versatility — he was more of a jump-shooter against St. John’s and made six 3’s, and more of a slasher against Providence, getting to the line eight times and scoring more in the paint.
Paschall, the 6’8″, 255-pound senior, is equally versatile. 26.9% of his shots come at or near the rim, 29.1% come on mid-range jumpers, and the other 44% are three-pointers. He’s average-to-above average from all three levels, and therefore hard to shut down. He made six 3’s against Oklahoma State, and four against both UCONN and DePaul. He did damage in the paint against St. John’s and Providence. And his 6.3 rebounds per game are buoyed by huge nights like he had against the Friars — 13 points and 14 rebounds — and St. John’s, who he had 25 points and eight boards against.
While Booth didn’t do much against the Bluejays a year ago, Paschall scored in double figures in both meetings (11 points and six boards in Omaha, 11 points and 8 boards in Philly).
Sophomore Collin Gillespie is the only other player averaging in double figures (10.7 points) and also contributes 2.8 boards and 2.6 assists a game. Fellow sophomore Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree averages just 5.4 points per game, but leads the team in rebounds (both by average, 6.7, and by total, 107). They’ve both established themselves in the starting five, and as big contributors in the rotation.
Freshmen Saddiq Bey, Jahvon Quinerly, and Cole Swider have been solid secondary pieces — Bey is fourth on the team in scoring at 7.8 points per game, and is third in rebounds at 4.6 per game. Quinerly is the prototypical spark plug off the bench at this point in his career, getting around 10 minutes a game and asked to provide energy when needed. And Swider is capable of being an offensive weapon off the bench, though he’s not been very good from behind the arc so far in his career (11-for-40, 27%).
As tough as Villanova is, Creighton’s also playing with the specter of that Marquette loss still lingering. But obscured by the ending was a lot of positive developments. “This was a much better Creighton team than the one that played Saturday at Butler,” McDermott said after the game. “We did things on both ends of the floor better than we did in that game, and better than we did against Providence, for that matter.”
If the Jays play with the same intensity they did on Wednesday, and continue shooting the ball well, this is a game they can win. Villanova is good but far from the seemingly invincible juggernaut they’ve been in the past.
- Tip: 11:01am
- Venue: CHI Health Center Omaha
- TV: FOX
- Announcers: Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson
- In Omaha: 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
- Radio: 1620AM
- Announcers: John Bishop and Nick Bahe
- Streaming on 1620TheZone.com and the 1620 The Zone mobile app
- For Cord Cutters:
- Villanova went 36-4 last season and won the national title, ending the year on an 11-game win streak. The Wildcats final loss last season came in Omaha, as Creighton topped Villanova 89-83 in overtime on Feb. 24, 2018. The loss was Villanova’s only setback last season at full strength, as the Wildcats were missing Collin Gillespie, Eric Paschall or Phil Booth in each of their other three losses.
- Villanova is a nation-best 177-25 record since the start of the 2013-14 season, which coincides with the reconfiguration of the Big East. Of the 68 different schools to play Villanova in that time, only 18 have actually beaten the Wildcats. Creighton is one of four schools to post multiple victories over the Wildcats in that time. Creighton, Butler and Seton Hall all have three victories over Villanova, while Providence has two in that span.
- After being out-rebounded by a combined 77-60 in its first two Big East outings, the Wildcats were vastly improved on the glass in the win over the Red Storm. Villanova enjoyed a 39-28 advantage on the backboards on Tuesday night.
- Creighton has won each of its last 32 home games played on a Sunday, a streak that is more than a dozen years old. Creighton’s last Sunday home loss was on January 9, 2005 to Southern Illinois. Creighton is 33-1 all-time at CHI Health Center Omaha in games played on a Sunday, and has won 38 of its last 39 Sunday home games since Feb. 4, 2002.
- Ty-Shon Alexander is one of four players in the Big East to make a three-pointer in every team game this season. He’s joined by Markus Howard (Marquette), Myles Powell (Seton Hall) and Phil Booth (Villanova). Powell owns a trey in a league-high 40 straight games, just ahead of Alexander (20), Howard (20) and Booth (16).
- Davion Mintz had the best offensive game of his career on Jan. 9 vs. Marquette. He was 4-for-4 in the first half, and wrapped up the game shooting 8-for-14 overall. He finished with career-highs in points (21), three-pointers (5), field goals (8), field goal attempts (14), three-point attempts (8) and minutes played (39). Mintz is now averaging 12.7 points per game in Big East play and has just two turnovers in those contests.
Villanova leads the all-time series with Creighton, 11-3, including a 3-2 record in games played in Omaha. Creighton swept the regular-season series in 2013-14 with a pair of victories by 20+ points, but the Wildcats won the next eight meetings before CU topped Nova in overtime last February.
The last meeting was an all-time classic. Here’s WBR’s coverage of the win:
“Down on the scorecards late, Creighton rallies to upset Villanova in Big East slugfest”
“Morning After: Creighton Stuns #3 Villanova in Overtime Thriller, 89-83”
VU Hoops.com writes of this game in their preview, “Since styles of play rarely change, it should come as no surprise that Creighton is again an offensive juggernaut that doesn’t play much defense. Their KenPom offensive efficiency rating is No. 6 in the nation, while their defensive rating is No. 148. Over the years, Villanova has seen the Jekyll and Hyde nature of Creighton on full display, knowing full well that when the shots fall, watch out, but when they don’t, it gets ugly.
On offense, Creighton leads the Big East in several categories — 84.9 ppg, 51.5 percent from the field, 44.2 percent from 3-point range, and 12.1 3-pointers made per game. While Alexander leads the way, sophomore Mitch Ballock is a dangerous 48 percent shooter from deep, while freshman Marcus Zagarowski buries half of his 3-point attempts. And that’s the Bluejays game. They don’t really have an elite point guard or interior presence. They just shoot and keep shooting.”
They’re right.
On Friday the 13th, 2012, Creighton and Illinois State played a game befitting of that date. It featured double technical fouls, debris tossed from a sold-out crowd to the arena court, the Bluejays blowing most of an 18-point lead, a near triple-double for a Jay, and another standout performance from Doug McDermott. From Ott’s Thoughts:
Doug McDermott was on his game again, somehow finding a way to make 9 of his 14 shots from the field against a front line peppered with size and athleticism. He scored 20 points or more for the thirteenth time in seventeen games, and he did so on just 14 attempts.
Couple a star like McDermott who can convert inside and out with guys like Ethan Wragge (14 points on 4-6 shooting from three) and Jahenns Manigat (14 points on 4-5 shooting from long range) who can stretch the defense, and offensively things should be fine. Add outstanding lead guard play and this team goes from good to great. Antoine Young took a few head-scratching shots, but converted more than he missed en route to a 13-point, 5-assits, 1-turnover line. Grant Gibbs was everywhere, putting up nearly a triple-double of points (12), assists (10), and rebounds (7) in a team-high 37 minutes.
Plus Gregory Echenique took care of the low blocks against Illinois State, providing what at times was dominant defense and rebounding against a formidable Redbirds frontcourt. He snared 10 boards and scored 7 points (3-5 from the field), marking his third consecutive double-digit rebounding effort. And aside from giving up some uncontested shots that fell for Illinois State, the Creighton defense did a good job of forcing perimeter jumpers — the Redbirds attempted 32 three-pointers, the most by a CU opponent this season.
…
So how did the game become, well, a game late in the second half? How did the Bluejays burn through an 18-point lead in less than 10 minutes? Stop me if this sounds eerily familiar. Another bench/role player (this time, Bryant Allen) put up a career night against the Jays (29 points; 8.5 ppg this season). With a chance to put the game further out of reach, the Bluejays missed five free throws in the final two minutes, including the front end of a one-and-one. Add in an absolutely mind-boggling miscue by the officiating crew (a phantom ten-second backcourt violation that defied the laws of mathematics) and a jacked up home crowd desperate to make their use of cheap tickets on a Friday night worth the trip, and once again the Jays couldn’t bury a team when they had the chance.
But what about those double technicals?
Gibbs had his performance of the season, scoring 12 points and adding 10 assists and 7 rebounds in 37 minutes against Illinois State. Two points came on technical foul free throws late in the game after he was thrown to the ground by Illinois State’s Johnny Hill. But the calm and collected Gibbs, who actually picked up his own technical foul after questioning Hill’s motives rather loudly and closely to Hill’s face, finished the game just as he had played it all night; under control and deadly in its precision.
The Bottom Line:
Creighton turns the page and heads out on a pivotal road trip at 2-2 in the league.
Bluejays 83, Wildcats 79