It took nine straight wins to get there, but Creighton men’s basketball finally re-entered the top 25 on Monday. The Bluejays (18-6, 11-2 Big East) are 24th in the AP Poll and 21st in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Creighton will ride the fifth-longest active winning streak in the country into Tuesday’s matchup with UConn, who fell out of the polls after losing to St. John’s on Friday.
“I think it speaks to where we were and what we’ve had to do to get to this point,” Coach Greg McDermott said of the ranking. “It’s been a long road back. We’ve had it in the past; I don’t know how many years ago that was, we lost six in a row, and then kind of dug ourselves out of it. This year for different reasons, I think, maybe a little bit slower start than we all anticipated or were hoping for, but they’ve stuck together, they’ve been committed to each other, they’re really connected.”
Creighton is in the midst of its toughest stretch of the Big East season, facing the other top three teams in the conference one after the other in a nine-day span. Fresh off two grueling trips out east to secure wins at Villanova and Providence while battling illness, the Jays passed their first test of the stretch, avenging a loss to Marquette to split the season series with a 77-67 win Saturday.
McDermott said the team held a walk-through on Sunday and got after it in practice Monday, and he’s hoping the adrenaline from a packed house will get the team through Tuesday’s game against the Huskies. They’ll get a four-day break before finishing the stretch at first-place St. John’s.
“It’s one game at a time,” Steven Ashworth said. “We’re not necessarily worried about one, two and three. We’re just worried about two, and really now two is one. It’s the number one priority, the number one focus for us, and it’s one game at a time. I think that the maturity of this group has been able to showcase itself over the course of the season, because there have been highs and lows throughout this year. But as we keep it one game at a time, I feel like we’ve been able to make sure that within that game we were able to make the adjustments we need to, because we’re all a lot more focused on what that game requires of each of us.”
Creighton heads into Tuesday’s meeting 8-2 all-time against UConn, including 4-0 at CHI Health Center Arena. The Jays handed the 2023-24 champion Huskies their final loss of season in Omaha on Feb. 20 of last year, securing the program’s first win over the No. 1 team in the nation. Creighton also won the first meeting this year, 68-63 at Gampel Pavillion in Storrs.
“We’ve won a lot of close games, except both of them last year,” McDermott said. “They beat us bad at their place, we got them pretty good here. But the rest of them have been just in the mud, physical, closely contested games, and we’ve come out on the on the right end of those. Sometimes it’s a little bit of luck, and you need the ball to bounce your way, but most of the games we’ve played have been very, very competitive, and we’ve just been fortunate to win those close games.”
UConn is 4-4 over its past eight games while navigating significant health issues. However, a bright spot is the play of sophomore shooting guard Solo Ball, who took his game to a new level once the calendar flipped to 2025. Over his past 10, he’s averaging 18.1 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 50% on nearly eight 3-point attempts per game. He’s now leading the Huskies in scoring at 15.0 per game on the season while leading the Big East in 3-point percentage at 45.5%.
“Very similar to Cam Spencer last year, who was great for them, a huge focal point of their offense,” Ashworth said. “They have Solo Ball and [Alexa] Karaban, and now [Liam] McNeeley’s back — he wasn’t there when we played him last time. It’s somewhat of a different team, and even a different preparation for the pieces that they have tomorrow. It’s definitely going to be a task, but it’s all hands on deck.”
Karaban, the only returning starter from last year’s title team, has struggled in Big East play, shooting 31% from 3, but he’s still averaging 14.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists on the season. McNeeley, the Huskies’ five-star recruit, returned from an eight-game absence in UConn’s loss to St. John’s, totaling 18 points and 11 rebounds but shooting just 4-of-15 in 30 minutes off the bench. The 6-foot-7 wing is averaging 13.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists while shooting 36% on 5.0 3-point attempts per game this season.
“It’s difficult,” McDermott said of preparing for the Huskies. “McNeeley’s just played the one game since he’s back, and obviously he a top-20 draft pick if that’s what he chooses to do. He’s really sound with the basketball, makes really good decisions, gives them another playmaker off the dribble from the 3-point line, he’ll take you into the post against smaller guys and can score there. So obviously they’re a different team with him on the floor, and we haven’t seen that yet, so we’re going to have to adjust a little bit on the fly.”
UConn is 34th in KenPom — 12th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 108th in adjusted defensive efficiency. They rank first offensive and eighth defensively in conference play. The Huskies aren’t nearly as salty on defense as they were a season ago, but McDermott still expects them to a play similar in-your-face style — which has led to a lot of free throws for UConn opponents (the Huskies are 337th nationally in opponent free-throw rate).
“There’s a level of physicality you have to have when you play against UConn,” McDermott said. “Having said all that, we don’t want to put them on the foul line 25 times, so we have to be physical with intelligence, because we would like to win that analytical battle of the free-throw line every game we play, not just against UConn. But it’s hard when the games are that physical. Obviously, Marquette plays a very physical, aggressive style, very similar to what you’re going to see from UConn, especially when it comes to the ball screen coverage.”
As if Creighton versus UConn didn’t normally have plenty of juice, Tuesday will also be the program’s annual “Fan Appreciation Night” — otherwise known as “Dollar Beer Night.” Fans can purchase beverages for $1 in the 90 minutes between the doors opening and tipoff.
“I think it helps,” McDermott said. “Usually everybody’s pretty much ready to go when the opening tip goes up in the air. So it’s always fun, we’ve been doing it a long time, and it’s a way for us to thank our fans. Our fans have been incredible for us. Shaka [Smart] spoke to it the other night; after the game I saw some brief comments that he made about the connection that our crowd has with our team, and that’s what makes this community special, and this place such a hard place to play.”
Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network with Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas and Evan Washburn on the call.
