Despite three games in Las Vegas, Creighton has yet to play a true road game in a season that is now six weeks old. That changes in a big way on Saturday when they take on #7 Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Head coach Nate Oats took Alabama to their first Final Four last season, and thanks to the return of star guard Mark Sears, the Crimson Tide were among two consensus favorites, along with Kansas, to win the national championship this April. CU already beat Kansas; can they do the same to Alabama?
“I think Alabama, from a talent perspective, is one of the top two or three teams in the country,” Greg McDermott said this week. “They just keep bringing guys at you off the bench, and they’ve done an unbelievable job of assembling that roster. They’re a heck of a team.“
The Crimson Tide are 7-2, with their losses coming at KenPom’s 17th ranked team, Purdue (87-78) and to KP #21 Oregon (83-81) in the same Vegas tourney as the Jays competed in. Among their wins? An 85-80 overtime victory over #4 Houston and a 100-87 win over #16 Illinois. And 10 days ago in their most recent game, they knocked off #31 North Carolina 94-79 in Chapel Hill.
“It’s amazing to see what they have built there, obviously,” North Carolina coach Hubert Davis said after that game. “They play outstanding as a unit, run high-level modern offense, are terribly difficult to guard. They have a great team again, which is a testament to the consistency they are building.”
They’re a team who gets out and runs; Alabama’s adjusted tempo is sixth fastest in the country. They make 60.3% of their shots inside the arc, a number helped by their ability to outrun opponents down the floor. But even when you stop their dribble, you’re still in trouble: they make 37.5% of their threes in transition versus 33% overall. No wonder their offense ranks fifth best in adjusted offensive efficiency.
“You’ve just got to have your antennas up at all times,” Ryan Kalkbrenner said this week. “I mean on a turnover, on a made basket, they’re pushing it. So you can’t make a three or make a good play and then celebrate — you’ve got to make a good play and then run back on defense. Obviously they’re really good at playing fast, so they’re going to get you a few times, but not panicking and staying with the system is going to be big.”
Any discussion of Alabama begins with Sears. He was a second team All American a year ago after averaging 21 points, four rebounds and four assists per game, but his legend was made in March. Sears had 121 points during the 2024 NCAA tournament, averaging 24.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game while shooting 53.2% from the field and 45.5% from three-point range.
This year, his role is a little different — opposing defenses are building their game plans around stopping him. So he’s focused on making plays for teammates and not trying to force shots that aren’t there. He had zero points in their win over Illinois, but all the attention he drew opened things up for everyone else. The defensive attention had frustrated him at times, especially on the perimeter; a career 38% three-point shooter, he’s just 17-of-58 (28%) so far this year. Making 1-of-11 against Oregon and 2-of-9 against Rutgers in Las Vegas are a big part of that slump. But he was also 2-of-7 from three at UNC. He’s going to break out at some point. Here’s hoping it’s after Creighton leaves Tuscaloosa.
6’11” Grant Nelson is second in scoring at 13.1 points per game, and leads them in rebounds with 7.8 boards per game. He’s been lethally efficient inside the arc, making 32-of-47 two pointers this year. He’ll stretch defenses by taking the occasional three, and makes enough that you have to defend the shot (8-of-27, 29.6%). And he can turn offensive boards into quick offense for others. How Creighton’s 4’s guard Nelson could well be the key to the game.
Beyond those big two, what’s different about this year’s Crimson Tide?
“I think Cliff [Omoruyi] inside gives them some rim protection that maybe they didn’t have last year,” McDermott said. “But [Mark] Sears is still playing at a high level, and we fully anticipate seeing Chris Youngblood, who could end up being one of their better players that hasn’t played yet. We played against him when he was at Kennesaw as a freshman and sophomore before he transferred to South Florida, and he was a player of the year in that league last year. So we’re anticipating that he’ll be healthy and ready to play, and that provides another challenge.”
Omoruyi, a 6’11” transfer from Rutgers, is averaging 8.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 18.3 minutes per game. But it’s the backcourt where Alabama is likely to do the most damage against CU.
Freshman guard Labaron Philon is the team’s third double-digit scorer, averaging 11.0 points, 4.0 rebo8nds and 4.0 assists. The 6’4” freshman is outstanding at getting downhill and putting pressure on defenses inside the arc; he’s made 33-of-53 (62.3%) of his two pointers.
Omaha Central alumn Latrell Wrightsell Jr., son of former Creighton guard Latrell Wrightsell Sr., had some big games before a season-ending Achilles injury. And he was their best three-point shooter; Wrightsell hit 19-of-45 before his injury and was above 50% from 3 in each of the last six games he played in.
As McDermott noted, getting Youngblood back will help the Tide replace that perimeter threat. He averaged 15.3 points and made 41.6% from three last year at South Florida; he’ll make his Alabama debut Saturday, though Oats said Youngblood will be on a minutes limit.
For the Jays, it’s a homecoming for freshman Ty Davis, a native of Mountain Brook, AL. It’s about an hour from Tuscaloosa, and Davis collected tickets from teammates so that he can have around 20 friends and family at the game.
“I’m very excited,” Ty Davis said on Thursday. “Obviously they recruited me a little bit out of high school, so I’m familiar with their coaching staff and some of their players. It’s just going to be surreal playing in front of my high school friends who will be in the student section for them, and my family members who are coming to the game. It’ll be really fun.”
Davis also alluded to the Creighton/Alabama “rivalry”, such as it is.
“I know that they’re not they’re not big fans of Creighton,” Davis said. “For some reason I think it is a little bit of a rivalry, and I think we’re 3-0 against them, so hopefully we keep that going.”
Finals week took Creighton out of their routine this week, and with seven players having final exams on Friday morning they had to wait until late afternoon to depart Omaha. They got in one last practice early Friday afternoon before leaving, but took a rare break to watch the end of the volleyball team’s Sweet 16 win over two-time defending national champ Texas. It was an awesome moment, as the players were every bit as excited as Jays fans watching the final point were.
Then it was wheels up for Tuscaloosa ahead of the ice storm that hit Omaha Friday night.
Tip: 7:30pm
Venue: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, AL
TV: SEC Network
Announcers: Tom Hart and Dane Bradshaw
In Omaha: Cox channel 214
Outside Omaha: SEC Network Channel Finder
Satellite: DirecTV channel 611, Dish Network channel 404
Cable Cutters: Available on all major streaming platforms
Streaming on Watch ESPN (Paid subscription required)
Radio: 1620AM, 101.9FM
Announcer: John Bishop
Streaming on 1620TheZone.com and the 1620 The Zone mobile app
Simulcast on SiriusXM channel 160 or 201 as well as on the SiriusXM App
Auburn transfer Aden Holloway averages 9.7 points per game off the bench, and in Wrightsell’s absence is their best three-point shooter. He’s made 18-of-47 (38%) and scored in double figures each of the last two games — and made five 3’s at UNC.
Forward Jarin Stevenson had six points, three rebounds, one assist and a block against the Tar Heels, which followed back-to-back double-digit scoring performances.
Five-star freshman Derrion Reid, at 6’8” 220 pounds, is strong enough to post up bigger defenders, and can also create and score off pick-and-roll actions like a traditional guard. His minutes have gone up with Wrightsell out, too, and is a matchup nightmare.
Creighton is 7-7 under Greg McDermott in its first true road game of the season heading into Saturday. The road opener has been the barometer for Creighton’s postseason plans in the previous 14 years. Creighton has made the NCAA Tournament all seven times it has won the road opener, and missed the NCAA Tournament four of the other six years where a postseason was contested.
The season is just 10 games old, but Creighton has already used six different starting line-up combinations thanks to a variety of injuries and other circumstances. In McDermott’s 15 years patrolling the Bluejay sideline, this year’s six different line-ups are the most he’s used in a season’s first 10 games, and tied for second-most he’s used over the course of an entire campaign.
Alabama leads the nation with 1,856 three-pointers made and three-pointers attempted (5,407) since Nate Oats was hired six years ago. In that same span Creighton is seventh in three-pointers made (1,623) and eighth in three-point attempts (4,571).
Creighton is 3-0 all-time against Alabama, having won a regular-season game in Omaha, a 2016 NIT game in Omaha and a 2012 NCAA Tournament contest.
Last year Creighton won 85-82 in Omaha thanks to a combined 61 points from Trey Alexander (22), Baylor Scheierman (20) and Ryan Kalkbrenner (19). The Crimson Tide were paced by 19 points from Mark Sears, though Bama made just 4-of-22 three-pointers.
Greg McDermott is 3-1 in his career against Alabama, including a 3-0 mark as Creighton coach. He is 2-0 against Nate Oats, having beaten him last year in addition to a 2016 win over Oats’ Buffalo team (93-72) in Omaha.
On December 14, 1989, Creighton had a thrilling 86-83 win over Nebraska. In front of a smallish-but-rowdy crowd of 6,696 at the Civic Auditorium, and a national TV audience on ESPN, the Bluejays rallied from a nine-point deficit over the final six minutes to pull out the win.
Trailing 77-68, they rattled off an 11-0 run starting with a free throw from Chad Gallagher, and then a three from Matt Roggenburk. After a defensive stop, Duan Cole stuck a three-pointer, and moments later scored on a drive to the rim that tied the game at 77. Though Nebraska re-took the lead, Darin Plautz put the Jays on top 82-81 with a minute to play on a three-pointer. And then clinging to a 84-83 edge with just 17 seconds left, a controversial call went the Jays way to help clinch the win.
Cole was trying to ice the game at the line, but missed the front end of a one-and-one. NU’s Rich King grabbed the rebound, and Bob Harstad — who had 24 points and 13 rebounds in the win — knocked the ball loose. It flew out of bounds, but the officials ruled it had touched King last, and awarded CU the ball. Danny Nee went ballistic; King was more diplomatic, but disagreed with the call.
“I think I got fouled,” he said after the game. “I should have been shooting a one-and-one for a chance to win the game.”
Harstad disagreed. “I just hit it out of his hand,” he said. “It was just kind of a reaction. I hit the ball, and it was clean. Then he reached for the ball, and it hit his hand and it went out. I think the ref had a bird’s-eye view of the whole situation.”
The Bottom Line:
KenPom predicts an 11-point Alabama win, and ESPN’s BPI gives the Tide 77.2% odds of victory. Vegas favors the Tide by 11.5. Creighton has a punchers chance with their shooting and Kalkbrenner’s presence inside, but at home it’s hard to pick against Alabama in this one.
Alabama 77, Creighton 70