On Dec. 19, after a blowout loss at Georgetown, Creighton men’s basketball looked to be in trouble. Sitting at 7-6 with Pop Isaacs done for the season, the Jays were firmly on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Since then, Creighton has won six of seven and finds itself not only back in the NCAA Tournament field projections but squarely in the hunt for a Big East title, sitting at 6-2 through eight games.
“What’s stood out the most to me is probably just the way we’ve been able to adapt,” Jamiya Neal said of the turnaround. “I think we’ve just been able to figure it out. Nobody’s given up or held their head, no matter if it’s a bad performance, or Pop going down or injuries or even Steven and Kalk throwing up before the Butler game. We just keep going and just keep pushing, and I think that’s just our biggest trait right now. We don’t give up. We just keep fighting and we keep believing in each other.”
Coch Greg McDermott called the Bluejays’ win over a top-10 Kansas team an affirmation of their process and proof that the work they had put in would pay off. That win featured 27 points from Pop Isaacs, however, and it also proved to be his last game of the season. Since losing the Texas Tech transfer to a hip surgery, the reconfigured Bluejays have secured wins over three of the top five teams in the Big East, including Saturday’s victory at UConn. They have also won three in a row on the road after a 0-3 start to the season.
“I think it grows with any piece of success you have, whether it’s winning at home against Villanova or St. John’s, understanding that those are really good teams, or going to Butler, a place where we haven’t had a lot of success,” McDermott said. “I think anytime you put together a plan and they execute the plan and they see the fruits of their labor, I think it just helps you for the next time.
“They were really locked in against DePaul. Obviously, that’s a game you look at and it worries you, coming off an emotional one at UConn, but they were mature enough to make sure they were ready, and we’re going to have to have the same approach for Saturday.”
The Bluejays will be back at home on Saturday to host Seton Hall (6-13, 1-7 Big East). The Pirates are the lowest-ranked team in the conference on KenPom (174th) and feature the worst offense by far, ranking 230th in adjusted offensive efficiency. Seton Hall also has the worst defense in adjusted efficiency in conference-only games. The lone conference win came at home against DePaul in overtime, which is the Pirates’ only win over a high-major team this season.
What Seton Hall does best is force turnovers, doing so on 20.9% of opponents’ possessions (41st nationally). Their strength on offense is rebounding, corralling 34.1% of their misses (66th).
“They want to cause chaos — offensively with their ability to attack the rim and attack the offensive glass, and then defensively, just a lot of different looks, full-court pressure, quarter-court pressure, some trapping,” McDermott said. “They take a lot of chances, and if you can take care of the basketball, you can make them pay for those chances. Oftentimes they get the other team a little bit out of rhythm because of how they play. Shaheen [Holloway] has had to deal with some injuries and different things with his program this year, but he always has his team ready to play.”
Sophomore guard Isaiah Coleman has emerged as the Pirates’ best player following the departure of four starters from a season ago. He’s averaging 15.8 points and 5.1 rebounds (both team-highs) and is shooting 35.8% from 3.
Old Dominion transfer Chaunce Jenkins is the only other double-digit scorer at 11.4 points per game, though he’s been out with a hamstring injury. Dylan Addae-Wusu, the only returning starter for the Pirates, will also likely miss Saturday’s game with an injury.
Despite Seton Hall’s record, Saturday is a big day for Creighton. It will be the program’s 15th Pink Out game, honoring and aiding those in the fight against cancer.
“I’m really appreciative of the people from the beginning, community members and obviously the athletic staff 15 years ago,” McDermott said. “They wrapped their arms around this thing and allowed it to take off, and then our fans have turned it into something that I would have never imagined. So it’s been fun to watch it grow, and it’s really cool that it’s kind of become the can’t miss game of the year regardless of who we’re playing on that day.”
With this year’s auction complete, the Creighton athletics department’s overall Pink Out efforts over the past 15 years have surpassed $1 million in donations. This year’s men’s basketball auction raised $43,995.92, the second-highest total since the fundraiser began during the 2011-12 season. Doug McDermott’s senior season held on to the top spot at $48,247.11.
“It’s become everything we wanted and more,” McDermott said. “Where the money has gone has changed a little bit with the Hope Lodge opening in Omaha. The money is now impacting people that are going through cancer. I get emails and notes all the time from families that have benefited from staying at the Hope Lodge. It’s been a great addition to our community, and we’ve done our part to try to support it the best we can through this event.”
Neal is gearing up for his first Pink Out at Creighton and said he’s looking forward to seeing what it looks like in the arena. The Pink Out hit close to home for Steven Ashworth last year as his family won the auction for his jersey and put the name of his sister-in-law, a cancer survivor, on his shooting shirt. The moment during a timeout when the fans in the arena stood up to honor their loved ones was an emotional one for him, even in the midst of the competition.
“It’s obviously a vivid memory and recollection to be able to play in this game, and Saturday is going to be no different, I think,” Ashworth said. “For an opportunity to play for my uncle Wayne, who has passed from cancer, and play for his memory, and then also the other family members that have battled cancer and so many more. Everybody in this world knows somebody who’s either battled cancer or is going through cancer treatments right now, and it’s a great time to reflect and remember that things are so much bigger than basketball. I’ll definitely be thinking about that when we stand up and honor all those.”
The Creighton men won’t be the only ones raising money for the fight against cancer on Saturday. Jim Flanery’s squad will join in as Creighton hosts a men’s and women’s Pink Out double-header at CHI Health Center Omaha.
After the men take on Seton Hall, the women will host No. 6 UConn in a battle of Big East unbeatens.
The Huskies are 18-2 overall and 9-0 in Big East play, including a 96-36 win over Seton Hall on Sunday. They’ve won their conference games by an average of 36.1 points.
UConn star Paige Bueckers is playing the best basketball of her prolific career and recently surpassed 2,000 career points. She’s averaging 19.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists while shooting 56.9% from the field, 43.4% from 3 and 82.4% from the free-throw line.
Sarah Strong, a 6-foot-2 forward, has been one of the best freshmen in the country, averaging 17.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 59.2% from the field including 37.5% from deep. Azzi Fudd is back after missing most of the previous two seasons with injury and is pouring in 11.3 points in 21.1 minutes per game.
UConn is first nationally in field goal percentage (51.8%) and 2-point percentage (61%) and 11th in 3-point percentage (37.1%). The Huskies are also third in the country in assists per game (21.7) while boasting one of the 10 lowest turnover averages in the country. UConn looks every bit the part of a national title contender once again.
Flanery’s team is no slouch, however. Creighton is 16-3 overall and 8-0 in Big East play. Morgan Maly (17.9 points per game, 47.6% from 3) and Lauren Jensen (17.7 points and 4.2 assists per game, 38.2% from 3) is a formidable duo, and fellow senior Molly Mogensen is playing some of the best basketball of her career, averaging 16.7 points on 51.3% shooting (42.9% from 3), 5.0 assists and just 1.0 turnover over her past three.
“It’s super fun for the community to be able to have a back-to-back double-header like there is on Saturday at CHI, and to also be playing for a cause so much bigger than ourselves is something that is super special,” Ashworth said. “The community always rallies behind it, and I know that we as players are super excited for it.”
The men’s game will tip off at 12:30 p.m. CT on FS1 with Kevin Kugler and Nick Bahe on the call. The women’s game will follow at 4:30 p.m. on FOX with Sloane Martin and Kim Adams.
