During the 2023-24 season, Creighton men’s basketball ranked 355th nationally in bench minutes.
Francisco Farabello was the team’s sixth man, scoring 3.8 points in 21.9 minutes per game. Everyone else averaged less than nine minutes on the court. Isaac Traudt, Jasen Green and Fredrick King (sixth, seventh and eighth in the rotation) combined to score 7.1 points per game.
That season was Creighton’s fifth straight ranking outside the top 300 in bench minutes; the Jays’ average ranking during that span was 335.6.
This year has been a different story as Creighton’s depth has become an asset, especially during the team’s recent hot streak. The Bluejays rank 182nd with the bench accounting for 31.6% of the team’s minutes. That is the highest ranking since the 2017-18 season when the bench playing 35.5% of the minutes (71st nationally). That team featured Mitch Ballock, Ty-Shon Alexander and Jacob Epperson seeing significant minutes as freshmen.
This year, three different players are averaging more than 14 minutes per game off the bench. Jasen Green has joined the starting lineup, but Traudt and King have both improved significantly and are averaging 9.6 points per game between them. Add Fedor Žugić coming on, Mason Miller’s positive plus/minus streak despite his shot not falling and the duo of Ty Davis and Shane Thomas contributing situationally and Coach Greg McDermott has options he can turn to beyond the first five.
“We have relied on them,” McDermott said. “Fedor is playing more, Ty’s gotten out there a little bit, we’ve kind of continued with the rotation with Jackson [McAndrew] and Isaac and Jasen and Mason. Fedor can steal a few of those minutes here and there, and maybe we can give Jamiya [Neal] a few breaks here and there. I’ve been pleased with the development of our bench. Young guys are going to get better as the season goes on, and Ty’s made great strides, Fedor’s made great strides. That’s why they’re playing a little bit more.”
Traudt has been on a tear lately after a slow start to the season — particularly at CHI Health Center Omaha. He’s made his last 12 second-half 3-point attempts, dating back to the UNLV game on Dec. 7, and has scored in double figures in four of his last five games. He’s shooting 51.7% from 3 in conference play. He also hasn’t missed a shot inside the arc since that UNLV game, converting his last eight attempts including a pair of put-back dunks against Xavier on Wednesday.
“He’s been huge for us, especially recently,” Green said. “Throughout the whole year, we always knew that he was going to be good, and now he’s just really showcasing it. He’s hitting a lot of shots. He had a couple and-one 3s too. He’s been used for us recently. If we ever need a couple buckets, he’s in the corner and he’s guaranteed to make it right now the way he’s been shooting.”
Traudt and Žugić has provided a potent one-two punch off the bench for Creighton in recent games as the latter has seen his playing time rise steadily. After seeing single-digit minutes in his first five games as a Bluejay, the Montenegrin guard took advantage of Creighton’s blowout wins at DePaul and against Seton Hall, totaling 17 points, four rebounds and four assists in 32 minutes on the court.
“It was good for him,” McDermott said before the Xavier game of the additional playing time. “We’re seeing some of the things that we’ve seen in games in practice on a more consistent basis. I thought yesterday was one of his best practices of the year, and he wasn’t feeling the best. If he can keep stacking those days — he’s made so much progress defensively since the first of the year. I was afraid to put him in just because of how lost he was defensively, but his physicality on the ball and fighting screens has improved immensely, so hopefully he can just continue down with that same trajectory.”
His playing time raised even further in the win over Xavier as he logged 20 minutes despite totaling three points, one assist, one turnover and one key block. Žugić becoming a viable rotation player is big for Creighton’s ability to match up with more guard-oriented teams.
“They played four guards,” McDermott said after the game. “We needed more guards on the floor, and they were playing Ryan [Kalkbrenner] one-on-one in the post. As you saw, Fedor is really good at entering it to the post, so I needed him on the floor to throw those passes. He was dead tired. He shot a 3-point shot like 15 feet there when the game was on the line. But he’s getting better. He’s making good plays. He’s making winning plays. He had a big 3 when they had cut it to two when they ran after Ryan and double-teamed him.
“You’re constantly tinkering throughout the game, depending on what that particular game calls for, and today we needed more guards on the floor.”
“Trust” is a common buzzword when discussing McDermott’s teams and his rotations. The head coach said the best way to earn his trust is to simply stack days in practice.
“They understand by now the expectations of our program, my expectations in terms of here’s what we’re going to do defensively, here’s what we’re going to hold you accountable to, and then every position is a little bit different on the offensive end in terms of what the expectation is,” McDermott said. “Ty is coming in to run the team. Fedor, we’re going to run him off some screens, but he’s going to be involved in some decision-making situations where he’s going to have to decide, is it a shot for me? Is it a bounce pass or a lob to Kalk? Is it a throwback for a 3? All those things he has to read, and he’s gotten better at that. It’s ongoing, and it’s certainly based in large part on how you practice.
“Fedor didn’t practice great leading up to UConn, so I didn’t have a real warm, fuzzy feeling about putting him in that game, because against the pressure in practice, he didn’t do too well. He’s practiced really well leading up to DePaul and Seton Hall, so he’s played.”
Creighton will need all hands on deck on Saturday as the Bluejays visit Villanova (12-9, 5-5 Big East), one of the top offensive teams in the Big East. The Bluejays beat the Wildcats 86-79 in their conference home opener back on Dec. 21.
The game features the top two 3-point shooting teams in the Big East as the Wildcats are connecting at a 39.4% clip through 10 conference games while Creighton (15-6, 8-2) is at 37.9%. Eric Dixon continues to light up the scoreboard for a league-leading 24.6 average. He dropped 27 in the first meeting, but Creighton’s balance won out with Steven Ashworth and Neal dropping 20 points apiece and the Bluejays hitting 14 3-pointers as a team.
Tipoff on Saturday is set for 12 p.m. CT on FOX with Tim Brando and Donny Marshall on the call.
