People are probably celebrating in the streets of Cedar Falls after Northern Iowa won their first ever outright MVC championship and proving why they have been the team to beat this season. And they should be celebrating. The Panthers took the Bluejays out to the back of the wood shed for their second consecutive road beat down 70-52. The Bluejays now sit at 2-12 on the road this season and do not look like they will be able to win another road game this season with Southern Illinois yet to come.
Things looked great early as the Jays jumped out to a 7-0 lead and had some spring in their step. But after UNI took a timeout to regroup, that was all they needed to go on a 28-5 run and some unbelievable shooting by UNI from the outside. Ali Farokhmanesh hit three consecutive three-pointers back in Omaha to get things going. By the midway of the first half, the game looked already over to me and you could see it on the faces of the players. Northern Iowa finished 13-of-27 from three. You shoot like that and hold you opponent to 50 points, you will win every game I don’t care who you play.
UNI didn’t need Jordan Eglseder who was out for the first of three games due to a DUI suspension. The Panther defense basically packed things in on the inside so the Bluejays could not get the ball inside to Kenny Lawson, but played active and aggressive defense to keep the Bluejays from driving in and even getting good looks from the outside.
On the other hand, UNI had no problems slicing through the lane to try for a layup and if they missed were fouled and Lucas O’Rear had no problems using his tough body to push his way to the basket against the Bluejay defenders.
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In the murky waters of the game there were a couple of bright spots which hopefully are a part of the Bluejay future. Andrew Bock got into the game right before the 8 minute timeout of the second half and saw his first action since Wichita State over a month ago. He quickly got involved in the game and had a couple passes. He then drove to the basket and made it but was called for an offensive foul (which could have been called either way in my mind) But that didn’t deter him from coming back from the under 8 minute timeout and draining a three pointer, getting fouled and hitting both free throws and getting a nice defensive rebound. For his limited number of minutes (6), he had some great play out there and it left in my mind and probably several others out there why he has not gotten more play this season. But instead of rewarding him for his hard work and play out there, he was pulled to sit the final 3+ minutes of the game. This has had to be a tough season for this kid, especially for all of the leadership skills and great player for one of the top high school teams in California last season.
The other glimmer of hope is the continued play of Ethan Wragge as far as shooting goes. He hit two three pointers tonight to extend his streak to 14 consecutive games with a three pointer. Why there are not more plays ran for him to try and get him points like they have in the past for Dane Watts or even Kyle Korver at the same position baffles me. Watts and Korver were big contributors for the Jays as freshman.
As much as some would like to think that if the Bluejays win out in St. Louis, get to the NCAA Tournament, and all would be well, it won’t. Salvaging the season and any consecutive record streaks should be secondary at this point. I think it is time to start looking to the future and developing the young players on this team that will be looked upon to be bigger contributors next season. I don’t think you want to be in a situation like Southern Illinois who is headed for their second consecutive losing season.
There has been a shortage of 4-year leaders on the Bluejays in recent history and I think it is really hard to rely on JUCO or transfer players to be the leaders of this team who did not originally pick Creighton while at the same time getting themselves acclimated to Division I basketball. It has been unfair to put players like Booker Woodfox and Justin Carter to be the leaders of the Bluejays and expect them to be the glue that holds the team together. It is time to go back to the Creighton roots and develop those 4-year players again that can bring leadership to this team heading into next season. With Bock, Wragge, Antoine Young and Josh Jones, these guys are the foundation to the Bluejay future. If you can build them around Kenny Lawson, Casey Harriman and Kaleb Korver heading into next season, this core could be part of what UNI is now and what Creighton used to be. Kenny and Casey will be in year 5 of the program and Korver has family history to bring. Sprinkle in the Ashford’s, Runnels’ and Echinique’s to enhance things.
This is at least a start. What else is there to do? The rest of the league has passed Creighton by. It is time to pick up our ball and leave the playground and come back when we are ready to compete. Northern Iowa is head and shoulders above the rest and here I thought Ben Jacobson was on the hot seat going into last season. However, his core was built around the young players in the program and things happened a year earlier than expected. It’s time for Creighton to do that again.