If one watched Creighton only on the offensive end or just looked at its prolific shooting and scoring statistics, they’d think the Bluejays should be in or very near the top 25 rankings as 2018 comes to an end.
There’s more to Creighton than just a prolific attack, though, and what it all adds up to is that at this point the Jays have the look of a team being on the bubble for the next 2 1/2 months, from now until Selection Sunday. Losing its four toughest tests of the non-conference season will do that, and running up scores at home against overmatched competition like an 89-53 rout of Missouri-Kansas City on Thursday-in the only game of the night in NCAA Division I-really doesn’t do much for the discerning eye for proving Creighton’s status as being worthy of the NCAA Tournament or not.
The Bluejays shot 61.8% from the field and outrebounded the Kangaroos 39-16. Everyone got involved-just three players scored in double figures but nine scored at least five points. So magnanimous and relaxed was the approach that Mitch Ballock, the Jays’ second-leading three-point shooter who averaged nearly three made triples per game coming in, didn’t even take a shot (but did hand out five assists).
UMKC trailed just 20-18 at the under 8 TV timeout in the first half before Creighton broke the game open with a 15-1 run, and the Jays then went on another 24-2 spurt in the second half to blow the doors off the barn. Creighton did what it does at home, while this one got completely away from a UMKC team that actually has played respectably most of the time out of conference even in posting a 5-10 record.
The Bluejays are shooting 52.5% on the season and 44.8% from three-point range, ranking in the top five in Division I in both categories. (Incredibly, Creighton is just a 62.1% team from the foul line.) If one said offense certainly isn’t the problem, they’d be mostly right…except it has been a problem in the team’s two true road games.
Creighton shot a season-low 43.3% in a 94-75 loss at rival Nebraska on Dec. 8, one of just two games this season that it shot under 46% (the other was a nine-point home loss to Ohio State in mid-November). And while the Bluejays shot 46% in an 83-70 loss at Oklahoma on Dec. 18, they also made just 7 of 30 from three-point range, easily season lows for triples made and three-point percentage in a game.
It’s comparatively easy to run up big numbers in the comforts of home, but Creighton showed little in its first two road games. Add in a 103-92 home loss to then-No. 1 Gonzaga, and the Jays have struck out in their four toughest tests so far, and their best wins are first over a Clemson team that looks decidedly NIT level to date, and then perhaps a neutral court blowout of Georgia State as part of three straight days of hot shooting in winning the Cayman Islands Classic.
Creighton does also have home wins over the likes of East Tennessee State, Montana and Wisconsin-Green Bay, all three who appear to be at least first division squads in their conferences, and perhaps will shake out as the favorites. All three are the type of Ws, though, that would tell us quite a bit more if they were on the road.
As it is, the Jays’ season is going to come down almost entirely to its Big East performance. Which really isn’t all that different from the norm, but there’s little question the margin for Creighton is a bit thinner than it might look at times.
Side Dishes:
- Hoopville’s Phil Kasiecki recently made a trip to see Northeastern host St. Bonaventure, and he checked in here on the Huskies and their growth while playing through a rash of injuries.
Today’s Menu:
- We start to get the ball rolling on conference play, with heavy schedules in the CAA, Horizon and Summit. The day opens with Detroit Mercy at Youngstown State in the Horizon, which also includes good ones with IUPUI against Northern Kentucky and Illinois-Chicago at Wright State, the latter one on TV (7 p.m. Eastern, ESPN2).
- CAA play includes Drexel at Northeastern and James Madison on the road in-state in Virginia against William & Mary.
- South Dakota State opens its Summit title defense at Western Illinois.
- Maybe the most interesting matchup of the night is Austin Peay at Arkansas. The Razorbacks just struggled to top a defense-minded team with a terrific lead player in Texas State, and the Governors are another one led by Terry Taylor.
- Texas-Arlington is on the road at Texas (8 p.m., Longhorn Network). The Mavericks won the most recent meeting two years ago.
- Louisiana-Monroe goes to LSU, the fourth in-state foe the Tigers have hosted already this season.
- Al Skinner and Kennesaw State are at Georgia Tech.
- The night finishes with UC Davis at Loyola Marymount, and a fantastic backcourt matchup of the Aggies’ T.J. Shorts and LMU’s James Batemon. Don’t be misled by the record discrepancy (UC Davis is 3-8, the Lions 11-2), as this is very much a pick’em game.
Have a terrific fourth day of Christmas.
Twitter: @HoopvilleAdam
