Over the past few decades the Creighton men’s basketball team has had its share of Iowans on their team. It used to be that if hoopsters in the state of Iowa couldn’t go play for the University of Iowa or Iowa State, they would need to look at some smaller schools to continue their basketball career. Dana Altman used to take advantage of that and recruited a lot of players from the state of Iowa during his tenure.
From Nate Funk to Pierce Hibma, or from Kyle Korver to Grant Gibbs, there have been several Iowans that have made their mark on Creighton basketball, especially against Drake. That continued on Wednesday night with their 77-69 win.
Everyone has talked about Doug McDermott all season, so it should be no surprise that he had 30 points and 9 rebounds. The sophomore from Ames, Iowa continues to make his impact for the Bluejays. Another Iowa native, Grant Gibbs, had a solid night as well. He had 4 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists. But we have seen that all year too.
The surprise of the night was the play of Waukee, Iowa native Will Artino against the Bulldogs. The freshman played 16 big minutes as Gregory Echenique was saddled with foul trouble. Artino’s line of 6 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists may not seem like much, but it instrumental down the stretch opening the floor a little more for McDermott to go on a streak scoring 12 of 13 points from the 5:59 mark until 52 seconds left in the game. Artino’s play is just another in a string of a player from the state of Iowa coming out of no where to have a career performance Drake in Des Moines:
- 1/30/2010–Casey Harriman had a career high of 14 points and 5 rebounds in a 79-74 loss against Drake
- 2/3/2007–Pierce Hibma came off the bench to shoot 4-of-5 from three and had a season high 12 points in a 67-62 victory against Drake. Nate Funk also had 21 points.
- 2/4/2006–Pierce Hibma came off the bench to shoot 4-of-5 from the field and 3-of-3 from behind the arc with 11 points in a 72-67 overtime win.
- 1/5/2005–Nate Funk led the way with 16 points as Creighton got a 61-58 win over the Bulldogs
Those are just a few examples of players from Iowa stepping up against Drake in Des Moines. Players from Iowa love playing back in their home state even though Omaha is right on the border. Creighton needed every bit of that last night. What was also great to see was the increased trust head coach Greg McDermott has in Austin Chatman. Chatman was on the floor with Artino during that late game stretch and played well once again. Again, his stat line doesn’t show it, but he looked controlled on the floor and did not turn it over. It also gave Antoine Young some great rest.
Jahenns Manigat stepped up on Wednesday night draining five three-pointers at key times quieting the Knapp Center crowd as Drake would try and make a run. The combination of Manigat and Josh Jones has been a great one-two punch with some offensive and defensive sparks. They both compliment each other really well from game to game.
Although he was saddled with foul trouble, Gregory Echenique also had a great night still scoring 11 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. He also chipped in a couple of assists and a steal.
It was a team effort again on Wednesday night as Creighton had 17 assists on 25 baskets and they found a way to win as the target on their back continues to grow. The Bluejays will get everyone’s best shot from here on out, but it appears this team has the confidence and toughness to fight through that.
With Chatman and Artino in the game down the stretch, what Creighton fans got to see on Wednesday night was the future of Creighton basketball. It is kind of exciting to think what this team could be like over the next few seasons. It was as though the Bluejays knew they weren’t going to lose and it was also a chance for Greg McDermott to experiment to see if guys like Artino and Chatman were ready for a game like this. They stepped up pretty nicely.
The Bluejays return to the CenturyLink Center on Saturday night against Bradley. It will also be a Pink-Out to support the fight against breast cancer. Be sure to wear your pink and cheer on the Jays as they continue with their amazing season.