After a three-game winning streak inserted some much-needed optimism into Creighton’s season, they’re in need of a test to see how much they’ve really improved since late November. This week, with games against a pair of physical teams in Butler and Seton Hall, should tell us a lot.
The Bulldogs are 10-3 and sit at #51 in the latest KenPom rankings. The concerning stat for CU is that they rank 21st nationally in offensive rebounding rate, collecting 38.5% of their misses. Defensive rebounding, and giving up second chance points, were two of the biggest problems in losses to Baylor and Iowa State, and contributed to losses to Gonzaga and Nebraska. They’ve appeared to improve in that area since then, so this game will show whether that’s true or just a mirage.
“That’s a challenge for us, because (Butler) really has some positional strength that is concerning at a couple of positions for us,” Greg McDermott said. “We’re going to really have to fight tooth and nail. I think our first-shot defense, while it’s going to be important, the ability to get that rebound is going to be critical.”
Speaking of Gonzaga, Michael Ajayi transferred from GU and instantly become Butler’s top player. The 6’7”, 235 pound forward is averaging a double-double with 16.6 points, 12.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. Ajayi is their engine, an elite rebounder, and a matchup nightmare. He’s relentless on the glass, can score inside and out, and must be boxed out on every possession.
“He’s a monster,” McDermott said more bluntly. “He’ll take it off the glass and lead the break and obviously draws a lot of fouls with his physicality and ability to get to the rim. He’s one of the better offensive rebounding players in the country.”
Monster is a pretty good description, actually. 10 days ago against Northwestern, he had 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting inside the arc, with 20 rebounds (six offensive). Granted it was a double overtime game where he played 44 minutes, so the total numbers are skewed, but against Providence on Dec. 13 he had 28 points and 15 rebounds (six offensive) while going 11-of-15 from the line. And against Virginia last month, he had 17 points and 14 rebounds (four offensive).
Ajayi has had multiple offensive boards in all but one game, and three or more in nine of their 13 games. It’s likely Butler will post up Ajayi repeatedly against Isaac Traudt, Jasen Green and Owen Freeman, and the Jays might not be able to defend him straight-up. If they have to send double-teams, it will open up perimeter shots — and Butler has several shooters who can take advantage.
6’4” Finley Bizjack is one of them. Their second leading scorer, Bizjack is averaging 16.3 points per game and making 35.5% from three-point range (33-of-93). In his junior year, Bizjack has developed into a primary scoring option after spending the last two seasons as a three-point specialist.
He’s been mired in a month-long slump, though, making only 7-for-36 from three-point range over the last five games. Included in that stretch was a clunker against Providence where he was 2-of-10 from three, 2-of-9 against Northwestern, and 2-of-7 against NJIT. That he’s still at 35.5% after that stretch shows how well he was shooting before. It seems likely that Josh Dix draws the defensive assignment here, and if he’s able to keep Bizjack in his slump for one more game, Creighton’s odds of victory go up.
“He’s fearless,” McDermott said. “He’ll come flying off screens and shoot it, and he’s creative going to the rim. He reads screens extremely well, so if you make a mistake, oftentimes he makes you pay for it. We’ve got to make his looks at the 3-point line as difficult as possible and try to turn him in a little bit more of a driver.”
6’6” wing Jamie Kaiser is third in scoring, averaging 10.3 points per game. Almost half of his shots have been threes, and he’s made 39.5% (15-of-38). Like Bizjack, Creighton will try to make him put the ball on the floor and run him off the perimeter. Both players are much less efficient shooting off the dribble inside the arc than they are on catch-and-shoot threes.
Kaiser did not play in their last game before Christmas with a sprained ankle suffered in the 2OT win over Providence. Grad transfer Yame Butler started in Kaiser’s place, and finished with six points, three assists and zero turnovers in 29 minutes.
They lost starting point guard Jalen Jackson to a season-ending injury in November, and 6’2” freshman Azavier Robinson took over at point. Robinson has averaged 7.4 points and 2.6 assists, while shooting 47.6% (10-of-21) from three.
Other players of note include 6’4” sophomore guard Evan Haywood, who’s made 43.9% from three off the bench (29-of-66), and 6’11” center Drayton Jones, who is also a skilled offensive rebounder and scorer around the rim (35-of-58 on two-pointers, while not taking a single three).
Defensively, Butler primarily plays man-to-man, rarely fouls and tries to force opponents into contested jump shots. They don’t turn teams over very often (16.4% of possessions, 241st in D1) and are roughly average in coming up with steals (10.1% of possessions vs the D1 average of 9.8%). The challenge is executing against their set defense in the half-court, as they’re fundamentally sound and excel at making shots difficult if you allow them to get set. The key is to push tempo when you can and score in transition, either by turning them over or grabbing defensive rebounds.
That’s easier said than done on both counts. Butler turns it over on 15.9% of possessions, ranked 96th, with just 9.0% of them live-ball steals. And of course, their offensive rebounding is terrific.
Butler is also really solid at defending the three, as their opponents have only attempted 32.1% of their shot attempts from deep (15th fewest in D1) and only shot 30.8% on the ones they do take (76th). Again, that’s where the transition game comes into play — if you’re forced to run offense against Butler’s half-court defense, it’s going to be a long night.
The game could likely come down to how much Ajayi is able to dominate (or not). If he grabs five or six offensive boards and scores double-figure points on second chance shots, the domino effect is likely to unravel the Jays — double-teams leading to open threes, and an inability to run in transition leading to tough offensive execution. On the flip side, if they can contain him somewhat and take advantage of any steals they get by turning them into points, they could push the tempo to a place where Butler is uncomfortable given their lack of quality depth.
One thing that could help on the rebounding front? The return of Hudson Greer. He averaged 8.0 points and 4.3 rebounds in 17.3 minutes per game in four appearances after pulling his redshirt. He’s missed the last six games due to injury, but has been slowly ramping up his time on the practice floor and McDermott’s official comment on Sunday was that Greer would be a game-time decision.
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6’6” freshman Efeosa Oliogu-Elabor scored a career-high 13 points in the win over NJIT, adding seven rebounds and four assists.
Butler’s roster includes 11 newcomers in addition to Jamie Kaiser Jr., who missed all of last season due to an ankle injury. They returned only 15.3% of their scoring from a season ago (400 of their 2,616 points during the 2024-25 season). Finley Bizjack accounted for 350 of those 400 points.
Butler has committed 10 or fewer turnovers in five of the last six games. The Bulldogs only had one game among the first seven contests this season with 10 or fewer turnovers.
Dating to last season, Creighton’s won each of its last four conference games by 13 points or more, tying a program-record first done from Feb. 7-21, 2001 when it was in the Missouri Valley Conference. It’s the first time any men’s basketball team has won four straight Big East games by 13+ points since Villanova from Jan. 25-Feb. 7, 2015.
Creighton outscored Xavier by 41 and Marquette by 21 to open Big East Conference play. No team has won each of their first three league games by 20+. And only five teams have ever won three straight Big East games (at any point of the season) by 20+ points, most recently Marquette from Feb. 21-28, 2024. The only times Creighton has won three straight conference games by 20+ points were Jan. 5-15, 1991 as well as Feb. 28, 1942 – Jan. 9, 1943. Both of those streaks took place in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Josh Dix is coming off one of the top all-around performances of his career, as the senior guard had 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and a career-high five steals in CU’s Dec. 22 win over Utah Tech. Dix was the first Bluejay in the last 30 years to have a line with at least 15/5/5/5 in the same game without a turnover
Creighton is 20-12 all-time vs. Butler in a series that dates to a 27-22 Bluejay win in 1933. The home team has won 12 of the last 16 meetings not played on a neutral site. Creighton is 12-3 all-time in Omaha against the Bulldogs, including a 10-2 mark since the schools became Big East rivals.
In the most recent meeting, Creighton won 87-74 on Senior Night a year ago. Steven Ashworth made seven 3’s in the first half alone; the first five of his 3’s in the first half single-handedly kept them in the game and helped them withstand an early explosion from Butler. The Bulldogs started 11-of-15 for the game, including 7-of-9 from three, all in the first eight minutes. All seven of the Bulldogs who had been on the floor scored, and five of them hit threes. But Ashworth was 5-of-6 from three all by himself, a one-man dam against Butler’s flood of threes. And when Butler cooled off, Creighton pulled away for the win.
CU lost 72-67 to Marquette on December 30, 2023. Before that, you have to go back to 2006 to find the last time they played on this date — a 77-74 win over Missouri State in the MVC opener. Seniors Nate Funk and Anthony Tolliver combined for 13 points during a game-ending 18-4 run, leading the Bluejays to a 77-74 win in front of a national television audience on ESPN2.
But it’s not the ESPN2 feed that is preserved for posterity on YouTube. It’s the in-arena scoreboard feed, complete with T. Scott Marr on play-by-play and gratuitous crowd shots. And awesomely, at the 1:59:39 mark, the training montage from Rocky IV makes an appearance.
Creighton is favored by 4.5 points in Vegas and by four on KenPom; ESPN’s BPI gives them 61.8% odds of winning. If they can contain Ajayi and offset his damage with points in transition, the Jays should win.
Creighton 79, Butler 73