Sunday is the first day of the rest of Creighton’s season, as they return home from the Roadtrip From Hell to try and salvage what they can from the wreckage that roadtrip created. They left with a 13-9 record and a realistic opportunity for an at-large bid to the NCAA’s. After blowing late leads in all three games, they return to Omaha at 13-12 with no realistic paths to the Big Dance outside of winning three (or, gasp, four) straight games in NYC next month.
Fortunately, four of their last six regular season games are at home, giving them an opportunity to improve their seeding in the Big East tournament and/or provide themselves as favorable of a matchup as possible to try and make a run at the crown — or barring that, win enough games to get a home game or two in the NIT.
They could get Marcus Zegarowski back, as the freshman point guard practiced on both Thursday and Friday with padding on his broken shooting hand. He’s a game-time decision for Sunday, as reported by WBR’s Matt DeMarinis. His return would certainly be an emotional lift for a team that has sorely missed his feisty leadership, and a boost on the floor for his playmaking ability. The last three games have laid bare how invaluable he is to the team’s success — none of their other guards have his instinctual ability to create offense, either for himself or for someone else, late in games when the action slows down and everything compresses. He’s also a calming presence that raises the confidence level of his teammates in pressure situations, as Kaleb Joseph told us on the postgame radio show after the loss at Xavier; it’s hard to imagine the Bluejays losing three straight road games in the final minutes if Zegarowski had been on the floor.
They’ll take on Seton Hall for the second time in eight days, giving them a chance to avenge one of the three blown leads on the Roadtrip From Hell while the memory is still fresh in their minds. In case you’ve forgotten or, more likely, blocked it out, Creighton led by six late in that game but Seton Hall ended the game on an 11-2 run to win by five. That closing salvo was more or less the Myles Powell Show, as the sensational guard scored 13 of his 22 points in the final four minutes — and 13 of his team’s final 15 for the game. He’d had a frustrating and foul-plagued night, with the Bluejay defense holding him to just nine points over the first 36 minutes of the game, but they could not stop him when it counted.
Powell is one of the best guards in the Big East at getting to the line by initiating contact on dribble penetration with his quickness, using his strength to absorb the contact, and getting the refs to respond with a whistle. He’s made 25 of his last 26 free throws over the last four games, which is a big reason why he’s averaging 26.0 points during that stretch — and in turn, a big reason why Seton Hall has won three of their last four games. That’s precisely what he did at the end of the game in Newark; he drew a foul and made a pair of free throws with 1:46 to play that gave SHU the lead, then made four straight free throws in the final minute.
Creighton has done a decent job all year of keeping their opponents off the line, ranking third in the Big East in opponent free throw rate. Just twice in the last nine games have they allowed an opponent to attempt 20 or more free throws. Seton Hall was one, largely because Powell was 10-of-10 from the line all by himself.
Quincy McKnight has been the Pirates’ second-best offensive weapon all year, and the only other player to average in double-figures at 10.3 points per game. He scored 14 points in the first meeting by attacking the rim and scoring inside (5-of-12 inside the arc) and by getting to the line (4-of-5 at the line). He was limited to 26 minutes because of foul trouble, though, as the Jays were successful in driving at him and initiating contact.
Myles Cale has benefitted from opponents’ game plans focusing on Powell and McKnight, sneaking up to get open baskets when attention is paid elsewhere. He’s a 40% shooter from three-point range, and hit a pair of threes against CU in the first meeting.
Rounding out the starting five, and the primary rotation, are Michael Nzei (9.6 points per game) and Sandro Mamukelashvili (8.5 points, 7.2 rebounds per game). Nzei did a lot of damage on the glass in the first game, with seven points and 8 rebounds — six of them offensive. Oddly, just two of those offensive boards led to points, though. Mamukelashvili grabbed 10 rebounds in that game along with six points.
Those five all came up big in their decisive 90-75 win over Georgetown on Wednesday night. Powell torched them for 30 points thanks to 10-of-10 shooting at the line. Nzei had 18 points and 9 rebounds. Cale had 17 points and 7 rebounds. Mamukelashvili had 11 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks. McKnight had nine points and nine assists, while his defense on Hoyas’ point guard James Akinjo was outstanding — Akinjo had more turnovers (3) than assists and field goals combined (1 each).
During Seton Hall’s late game run in Newark, they used a full-court press to speed Creighton up. The Bluejays struggled against it, committing one turnover and nearly committing two others. The Pirates do a good job of using their length and athleticism to fill passing lanes and force turnovers. Their turnover percentage is second-best in the league. Creighton has to be sound with the ball and make smart decisions. Getting Marcus Zegarowski back would certainly help in that regard, but everyone on the floor in a Bluejay uniform has to be cognizant of where Pirate defenders are.
- Tip: 2:00pm
- 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
- Radio: 1620AM
- Announcers: John Bishop and Tyler Clement
- Streaming on 1620TheZone.com and the 1620 The Zone mobile app
- For Cord Cutters:
- Seton Hall hasn’t won away from Newark since January 2, and is 2-6 in true road games this season. One of those two wins came at Maryland, but was clear back in December.
- Seton Hall has finished strong each of the last three years, going 5-1 over their last six in 2015-16, 5-1 in 2016-17, and 4-2 a year ago.
- The Pirates had 20 assists on 30 made baskets Wednesday against Georgetown. In their 15 wins this year, they’ve averaged 15.3 assists — and in their 9 losses, they average just 10.8 assists.
- Martin Krampelj was 9-of-19 from the floor in the first meeting, scoring 25 points with 11 rebounds. The rest of his team shot a combined 11-for-47 (23.4%). Davion Mintz was 0-11 for the game. Mitch Ballock was 0-5. Ty-Shon Alexander was 3-14. Kaleb Joseph was 2-7.
- Creighton made just 6 of 22 layups in last weekend’s loss to Seton Hall, and 10 of 25 on layups at Xavier.
- In the last four games, a stretch that started with CU’s Feb. 3 victory over Xavier, Creighton has allowed 61.8 points per game while holding foes to 38.4 percent shooting from the field and 29.4 percent marksmanship from downtown. In CU’s first eight league contests, Creighton had allowed 82.5 points per game while the opposition shot 49.4 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from deep.
Seton Hall leads the all-time series with Creighton 13-6, but CU has a 3-2 edge in the five games played in Omaha including the last two, both by double digits.
The last time they met, things did not go so well.
On February 17, 2002, the Bluejays defeated Wichita State 69-67 on a buzzer-beater by freshman point guard Tyler McKinney. The Jays had blown a big lead by surrendering 30 points in the game’s final 8-1/2 minutes, turning a 51-37 lead into a tie game. Guard Randy Burns scored 14 all by himself in the final four minutes, hitting one clutch three after another — including a three with 8 seconds to play that tied the game at 67.
That set up the final possession, where the Shockers’ defense focused (probably correctly) on Kyle Korver, Terrell Taylor, and DeAnthony Bowden. McKinney brought the ball up the floor as the clock ticked down, examined the options WSU’s defense was giving him, and took advantage of their focus elsewhere to drive nearly uncontested to the rim. His shot dropped through the net with 0.4 seconds left, and the Jays escaped.
“I don’t think they really wanted to step off anyone, so they just kind of let me go and thought the guy who was guarding me was going to stay with me,” McKinney told media after the game. “That’s the only reason I got an open lane.” Shocker coach Mark Turgeon had a bit different explanation. “I don’t know if our guys thought the freshman was going to take it all the way in there,” he said. “I think a lot of our guys thought he was going to pass the ball.”
The Bottom Line:
KenPom predicts a four point win. ESPN’s BPI gives Creighton 74.9% odds of winning. Vegas favors Creighton by four, too.
Here’s the thing, though. Creighton’s either going to win this one by 8-10 points, or they’re not likely to win. If it’s a one-or-two possession game, it’s hard to have confidence that they’ll finish.
I’m not sure they have the firepower to beat Seton Hall by double digits, but I do think the return of Marcus Zegarowski lifts the team to a much-needed win. So let’s split the difference.
Creighton 73, Seton Hall 66
