Creighton men’s basketball secured its first road victory of the season on Saturday at Butler, and ball security played a big part.
The Bluejays (10-6, 3-2 Big East) overcame 19 turnovers to pull out a one-point win against St. John’s on New Year’s Eve, with 10 of those coming from point guard Steven Ashworth. The following game at Marquette — second behind only the Red Storm in the Big East in forcing turnovers — Creighton cut that number down to 12, including one from Ashworth, which gave the Bluejays a chance against a top-10 team on the road.
They followed that up with just seven turnovers against the Bulldogs on Saturday. Ashworth accounted for four of them, although three were dead-ball turnovers that allowed Creighton to get its defense set. Five turnovers in 79 minutes carrying the heavy ball-handling load that Ashworth does is a marked improvement from the St. John’s game.
“Ten turnovers in a single game isn’t something that you love, and that’s what happened in the St. John’s game,” Ashworth said. “And so a lot of it was just self-reflective of learning from the film to see where I could be better, and at what spots could I just be a better point guard to this team. I think the next few games, limiting the turnovers has been a key toward our success and given us a chance. At Marquette I felt like we took care of the ball much better, and then at Butler did the same.
“So it’s a team effort, but at the same time, it also definitely stems from the point guard of making sure you take care of the ball, and felt like I’ve been doing a better job of that after watching some film and just learning as the season goes on.”
Coach Greg McDermott spoke after the St. John’s game about potentially lightening the load on Ashworth, but with the state of the roster, that hasn’t really materialized.
“It’s just hard to take it off his plate,” McDermott said. “We need him to do so much, and fortunately, he’s embraced that. We’re lucky and blessed that he got himself in unbelievable shape before the season started. Because if he wasn’t in great shape, and he had to do what we’re asking him to do now, it would be a tall task. But he’s an energizer bunny out there. He just never stops moving, which makes him very difficult to guard.”
Since Pop Isaacs — Creighton’s other primary ball-handler and playmaker heading into the season — had season-ending surgery, Ashworth has had to do even more for the Jays. Over the past seven games, he’s averaging 18.7 points, 7.9 assists and 4.1 rebounds in 38.0 minutes per game, up from 15.8 points, 4.4 assists and 3.9 rebounds in 32.3 minutes per game in his first eight. His 3-point percentage has plummeted as he’s had to create more of his own looks without Isaacs, from 39.7% to 30.2%, but that includes a 2-for-21 cold stretch over his past two, and he’s stepped up his scoring inside the arc significantly.
Jamiya Neal has also stepped up, averaging 13.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists since Creighton lost Isaacs.
“I feel like I’ve improved, and I can’t say enough about how much Jamiya has improved as well, just accepting his new role, being a playmaker, and you saw that in the stretch where he had a few crucial buckets in the row for us at Butler,” Ashworth said. “That was him making plays, being the primary ball-handler on those plays. So we definitely have options, which is always nice.”
Taking care of the ball will be a big key again on Tuesday when the Bluejays host a Providence team ranks 353rd nationally in forcing turnovers. The Friars visit Omaha after a pair of home wins over Butler and Seton Hall and stand 3-3 in conference play, 9-8 overall. They are ranked 83rd in KenPom and 82nd in the NET, making it a quadrant three game for Creighton.
“They struggled some early, but the way they’re scoring the basketball right now has been really impressive, and against good teams,” McDermott said. “You go to UConn and score 84, you score that many points against a good Seton Hall team defensively. So it’s hard to believe that they haven’t had a little bit more success. But I think he’s tweaked some things. Like us, you learn what’s life going to be like without Pop Isaacs, and there’s a lot of adjustments, a lot of tweaking, and I think Kim [English] probably went through the same thing with Bryce Hopkins. He wasn’t with them, and then he was, and now he’s not. So that just changes roles so much, and you have to figure out how you’re best going to play with the hand that you’ve been dealt. He’s done a really good job of that.
“They probably should have won the game against St. John’s. They really dominated that game for most of the time. They go to they go to Storrs, and lead for 32 minutes of that game before getting beat in the last six or seven minutes. So they’re playing their best basketball this season right now. Obviously, with both of us at three wins at the conference, it’s a huge game for both teams.”
Hopkins, who averaged better than 15 points and eight rebounds through his first season and a half with Providence, saw a torn ACL end his season a year ago, and he’s only played in three games this season because of continued problems with his knee. Providence has also been without center Christ Essandoko and forward Rich Barron, but they both will likely play against Creighton.
Jayden Pierre leads the Friars at 13.5 points per game while shooting 38.5% from 3. Bensley Joseph, a 6-foot-2 transfer guard from Miami, as averaging 12.4 points and 2.9 assists while shooting 39.6% from deep. Wesley Cardet Jr., a 6-foot-6 transfer wing from Chicago State, is contributing 10.2 points and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 40% from beyond the arc.
Providence ranks 70th in adjusted offensive efficiency according to KenPom this season, though the Friars have scored 84, 84 and 91 points in their past three outings. They crash the offensive glass hard (35.3% offensive rebounding rate, 36th nationally) and are a capable 3-point shooting team (34.6%, 117th nationally).
“Defense is going to be huge key,” Ashworth said. “Obviously, they played Saturday, we played Saturday, Tuesday game, quick turnaround. Going to be a lot of emphasis on execution when it comes to our defensive principles and what we want to do to try to limit their opportunities. They’ve got dynamic guards and rim threats that make a problem in pick-and-roll. So we’re going to have to be really tight with our coverages on the defensive end for sure.”
Tipoff is set for 7:37 p.m. CT on FS1 with Kevin Kugler and Nick Bahe on the call.
