There was one thing I learned today in Creighton’s 90-80 loss to Dayton–I think we will be ok. Yes, the defense was a little suspect and Creighton did get out rebounded (only 39-33), but with several frontline players out of the game, the Jays were not intimidated and the new guys looked like they have been in these situations before.
Creighton had five players in double figures including the newcomers Darryl Ashford, Wayne Runnels and Ethan Wragge who went a combined 15-20 from the field. Ashford and Runnels scored 10 of the first 12 points of the game for the Jays and Wragge hit two big three pointers down the stretch to keep Creighton in the game. Runnels was also able to pull down 9 rebounds in his 21 minutes of play.
Everyone contributed in their own way today. With Antoine Young’s questionable knee, Cavel Witter started at the point and ran the team calmly and worked hard to find his teammates dishing out 4 assists while scoring 11 points of his own. Young still played and dished out 4 more assists. P’Allen Stinnett let the game come to him again like he did in the exhibitions and quietly led the team with 18 points. Josh Jones had the opportunity to hit several big shots but went 0-5 from the field, but did grab 5 rebounds.
The Flyers are a tough team and deservedly in the top 25. I think with the home crowd, the top 25 pressure and the first game of the season, they experienced some nerves that were to be expected. Chris Wright woke up from the duldrums of playing Creighton and had an amazing second half basically trying to show the Bluejays that he wasn’t afraid of them anymore. Wright actually looked like his game was going to be like his performance against Creighton last season. Last year, Creighton shut him down and Dayton didn’t look for him. Today in the first half, Wright again was out there and scored some early points, but he didn’t look any different than last season. So I don’t know if Dayton’ coach or someone else told Wright at halftime to wake up or what, but between him and Chris Johnson who grabbed 15 rebounds and scored 18 points of his own, they basically took Dayton on their shoulders to the win. Unfortunately, after a couple of strong drives to the basket by Wright, the Creighton defense looked a little intimidated and couldn’t stop him.
The one thing I will say that I hope improves is the defense. At times, and I saw this in the exhibitions, is that the game seemed more of a “who can score more faster” tempo, which is kind of fun at times, but then hurts your defensive intensity when you need a stop. When the Jays needed a stop in the last 4-6 minutes of the game today, they could not get one. Without the defense intensity up, you can’t get stops. I also never expected to see Dayton score 90 points, especially since they could barely get over 80 last year. That was really the only thing I felt could have been a little better today and could have made the difference for Creighton that they could have walked away with a win.
Creighton was up by 10 at one point in the first half. After reading fan boards and talking to people, I don’t think anyone thought Creighton would have been up at all in this game. Yet the game was still in check with under 2 minutes to go and the heart and effort was there. They probably learned a lot more about themselves today than they will Tuesday night against Florida A & M. With the performances put in by Runnels, Ashford and Wragge, I’m excited to see what this team can be like when Harriman and Carter return. I think we will be OK. It will be nice to see a home game on Tuesday night at the Qwest.