Creighton

[stormspencer]

Just wanted to provide a brief summary and statistical run down.

They are #60 in Kenpom with their best win being over #110 Nebraska at home. They have three losses:
@ #26 Indiana by 21
at home to Arizona State by 2
@ # 184 Loyola Chicago by 3.....ouch!

The only two good teams they have played, they've lost to. Like recent years, they seem to play noticeably better at home (like most teams).

• • They are 30th in adjusted offensive efficiency, but they are #138 in adjusted defensive efficiency. I was surprised to see that they play at a fairly quick pace (#66 in adjusted tempo). By comparison, OU is #40 in tempo.
  • I was also surprised to see that they only shoot 64.6% from the FT line....I would expect a "jump-shooting team" like Creighton to be a little better from the stripe.
  • They don't get too many offensive rebounds off misses (#198) and they are so/so on the defensive glass (#98).
  • Appx 38% of their FG attempts are from 3....and they make just under 40% of their 3 attempts.

Thus, you can deduce that if they are making their 3's, then they will probably hang around for most of the game. But if they aren't hitting 3's, then they are in trouble because they don't get many offensive boards on average. They can get some steals, but they also get the ball stolen from them quite a bit as well.

For those of you having nightmares from last year....you really shouldn't worry. OU is a better perimeter defensive team this year (ask Villanova) and should be able to cover the floor because of better athleticism. Barring a horrendous shooting night or foul trouble to key players, OU should win this game by 15-20.

 

[TINY]

Nice job storm.

I wonder if the jay fans will come around this time? Me thinks not.

 

[BigTime]

Thanks for the breakdown

 

[AdaSooner]

Nice breakdown on our next opponent, stormspencer! The loss to Creighton last year was tough to take. That was definitely a game we should have won.
Not that our returning players have needed it so far this season, but I have a feeling that loss will give them a little extra incentive to keep the hammer down until the final buzzer sounds this time. If it does, I think your prediction of a 15 to 20 points OU win is about right. We owe 'em one!

This game will also break a 2 and 2 tie in our series with the Bluejays, counting our first meeting with them in 1921. OU has won 2 of the last 3 since that time.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

Great stuff Storm! Here is some information form SoonerSports.com.

http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArt..._LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=31000&ATCLID=210591945&KEY=

SCOUTING THE BLUEJAYS

• Creighton is 7-3 after picking up home wins last week over Nebraska (83-67) and IUPUI (90-65) in which the Bluejays never trailed.

• The Bluejays return nine lettermen and one starter (Toby Hegner) from last year’s team that finished 14-19 and tied for ninth in the BIG EAST with a 4-14 league mark. The Bluejays are scoring 85.5 points per game and have five men scoring in double-figures.

• Boston University transfer Maurice Watson Jr. leads Creighton with 6.2 assists per contest and is second with 11.7 points per game, while Isaiah Zierden tops the club with 12.0 points and 1.9 steals per game.

• Also in double-figures is freshman Khyri Thomas (10.8 ppg.), a guard who has made 16-of-19 field goals over the past three games and averaged team-bests of 14.0 points and 7.3 rebounds in that time. This year’s team, with five double-figure scorers, is the only time since 1994-95 that Creighton has had more than three players scoring in double figures after 10 games.

• CU’s Dec. 9 win over Nebraska was the 127th on the Creighton sideline for head coach Greg McDermott. The triumph helped McDermott pass Eddie Hickey for fifth in Creighton history in wins.

• The Bluejays got a head start on the season last summer with 10 practices in Omaha in July and three games in Italy in August.

• OU and CU have split the all-time series, 2-2. Most recently, Creighton claimed a 65-63 home win over OU last season on Nov. 19. The first meeting between the two schools dates back to the 1920-21 season, when OU fell at CU by a 27-16 final. The Sooners recorded victories over the Jays on Dec. 8, 1973 (73-70) and on Dec. 21, 1986 (106-89).

 

[Larry72]

Nice information
I saw Creighton on TV. What impressed me was:
Excellent Passing
Good Team D
Smart players

 

[usedtobe1]

I saw an early season article on Creighton that described some of their players:

MEET THE BLUEJAYS

Creighton finished last season just 14-19 overall and 4-14 in conference play, but it wasn’t as if the Bluejays weren’t competitive. Greg McDermott’s team had to adjust to losing his son and 2014 national player of the year, Doug, and struggled to finish out close games. Overall, Creighton lost 10 games by five or fewer points.

There’s reason for some optimism this season in Omaha as McDermott welcomes a pair of transfers in Cole Huff and Maurice Watson Jr. and a freshman in Khryi Thomas who should all make immediate impacts.

Through two games, McDermott has started a three-guard set with Watson Jr., Thomas and junior Isaiah Zierden. The 6-foot-3 Zierden had to be shut down for the final 13 games last season after suffering a knee injury, but is leading the team in scoring thus far at 19.5 points per game. He hit 39.6 percent of his 3s last season and ranked in the top 40 nationally in turnover rate (just 9.6 percent).

Watson Jr., a 5-foot-10 point guard who transferred from Boston University, has 12 assists in two games and averaged 13.3 points and more than seven assists as a sophomore before arriving at Creighton. His assist rate of 49.9 was second in the country during the 2013-2014 season at Boston U.

Thomas, a 3-star recruit who is originally from Omaha but played a year of prep school in Virginia for his final high school season, averaged 13.7 points on Creighton’s three-game preseason trip to Italy.

Senior guard James Milliken has come off the bench the first two games, but averaged 9.6 points and shot nearly 39 percent on 3s last season. JUCO guard Malik Albert is expected to provide backcourt depth and has a team-high 13 assists through two games.

In the frontcourt, Huff, who was a highly sought after transfer from Nevada, is the headliner. At 6-foot-8, he shot better than 40 percent on 3s as a sophomore at Nevada and finished in the top 15 in the Mountain West Conference in scoring.

7-foot senior Geoffrey Groselle starts at the five and finished close to 65 percent of his 2s last season, but isn’t much of a shot blocking presence.

Toby Hegner, a 6-foot-10 sophomore, averaged 6.7 points last season and has hit 4-of-9 3s in 21 minutes off the bench through the team’s first two games. In a somewhat surprising move, five-star recruit Justin Patton, who is from Omaha, is redshirting this season to work on his strength and to also put on weight.

 

[stormspencer]

Nice breakdown on our next opponent, stormspencer! The loss to Creighton last year was tough to take. That was definitely a game we should have won.
Not that our returning players have needed it so far this season, but I have a feeling that loss will give them a little extra incentive to keep the hammer down until the final buzzer sounds this time. If it does, I think your prediction of a 15 to 20 points OU win is about right. We owe 'em one!

This game will also break a 2 and 2 tie in our series with the Bluejays, counting our first meeting with them in 1921. OU has won 2 of the last 3 since that time.

I was at the game in Omaha last year. I was feeling pretty confident at half-time, but I wasn't so jovial in the end. The only thing good about the game last year is that they serve beer and alcohol at their arena up there....and I needed it afterwards.

 

[sperry]

They were bad last year and beat us, so can't take anything for granted. That being said, I dont' think this team will. I don't see this team losing any games to vastly inferior teams, and this is a vastly inferior team.