No. 8 Creighton bounced back on Saturday night to secure a big 85-82 win over Alabama at CHI Health Center Omaha as a big second half from Ryan Kalkbrenner keyed the victory.
The Jays rebounded from the loss against UNLV on Thursday to finish nonconference play 9-2.
Here are three takeaways from the win.
“A Heck of a Half”
If they didn’t already know, Creighton fans saw how valuable two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year Ryan Kalkbrenner is to the Bluejays in this game.
Kalkbrenner played just five and a half minutes before stepping on Mohamed Wague’s foot in transition and rolling his ankle. He spent the rest of the first half back in the locker room getting his ankle looked at and taped up.
With Kalkbrenner out, Creighton surrendered 36 points in the paint as the Crimson Tide shot 16-of-23 on layups and dunks. Alabama, one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country, went 1-for-11 from deep but still found itself tied at 44-44 at the break. The Kalkbrenner replacement consistently got stuck in no-man’s land on defense as the guards attacked and threw up lobs with little resistence. Creighton also gave up 10 offensive rebounds and nine second-chance points.
With Kalkbrenner out, Greg McDermott tried out a few different lineups when Fredrick King needed a break. Redshirt freshmen Isaac Traudt and Jasen Green both spent time at the five in small-ball looks. Nothing really worked in terms of slowing down Alabama’s offense, but Creighton found a way to stay afloat.
“You can always feel the difference when Ryan Kalkbrenner isn’t out on the court,” Trey Alexander said. “Obviously he’s an elite shot-blocker. He cleans everything up when they’re going into the paint. So obviously in the first half when he went down they were able to get into the paint a little bit easier. Just having his presence out there deters a lot of shots. For him to not be out there and for us to hold it together, it just shows the grit and the toughness and the next-man-up mentality of this team.
“Obviously when Ryan Kalkbrenner was out there in the second half, he was able to block some shots, get some big-time seals, get some guys open and do what he does.”
Kalkbrenner tested his ankle at halftime then returned for the start of the second half, playing all but 72 seconds and putting the team on his back. He finished with 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting, eight rebounds and three blocks in just 24 minutes of action, with all but two points and one rebound coming after halftime.
“That was a heck of a game,” Coach Greg McDermott said. “For us to hold it together with the No. 1 offense in the country in the first half without our rim protection really speaks volumes of this team and what they’re made of. Obviously we had a hard time rebounding; Alabama’s elite chasing those shots down. And Ryan had no business playing. I told him at halftime ‘You’re going to show everybody just how tough you are because you’re going to have a heck of a half,’ and he had a heck of a half.”
Game of Grit
It was probably fair to question this team’s toughness coming off the loss to UNLV. Twice the teams has really struggled to hit shots, and twice it has crumbled for double-digit losses. The defense didn’t offer much resistance and the Bluejays struggled to handle intense ball pressure on offense.
Some of those problems popped up again on Saturday night. Creighton got crushed in the paint, giving up 62 points to the Crimson Tide (though Kalkbrenner’s absence certainly play a big part in that). The Jays turned the ball over frequently early on against Alabama’s pressure.
The Tide dominated the offensive glass, grabbing 17 rebounds and doubling Creighton up in second-chance points, 17-8.
Alabama’s athleticism caused Creighton problems in a lot of different ways throughout the game, and the Jays couldn’t overcome that with accurate perimeter shooting, hitting just six triples at a 33.3% clip.
Yet the Bluejays found a way to tough it out in the end. After giving up 16 offensive rebounds in the first 32 minutes, Creighton gave up just one more in the last eight. The Jays got a couple key stops at the rim when they made their push to surge ahead in the second half.
Additionally, Alexander didn’t leave the floor, playing the full 40. Baylor Scheierman played 38, including the last 4:05 with four fouls. Steven Ashworth hit a huge 3 plus two clutch free throws at the end, finishing with 12 points. Creighton made a lot of plays in the second half that showed physical and mental toughness.
Nobody was tougher than Kalkbrenner, though, who gutted it out on a bad ankle and was the best player on the floor in the second half.
“I think, at times, people unfairly question his toughness, and that’s a bunch of B.S.,” McDermott said. “There’s a reason he didn’t come back in the first half — that ankle was not good. He was limping around at halftime, and said he’d try it.”
Bounce-Back for Alexander, More of the Same for Scheierman
Alexander had been mired in a shooting slump for Creighton heading into Saturday night. After a brilliant first four games, he shot under 40% from the field in five of his next six, with his homecoming game at Oklahoma State the only exception.
Alexander has struggled to hit shots from all three levels during this slump and he finished 2-for-13 from the field in Creighton’s loss to UNLV on Thursday.
On Saturday night, Alexander’s trademark mid-range game was back. He consistently got to his spots for the pull-up or turnaround, shooting 5-of-9 on 2-point jumpers and 8-of-15 overall with a 6-for-8 mark at the line for 22 points.
“Mac and I talked about ways that we could improve the team and how I could just stay positive in terms of shot-making and things of that sort,” Alexander said. “Just trying to find different ways I can impact the game when I’m not playing at my bets is the biggest thing that I wanted to do and getting back to the defensive toughness that I like to have.
“This was a big game for me in terms of defense; I knew that [Aaron] Estrada was going to be my matchup and I knew that he was going to come out there and take some shots. That was just big for me to see a couple shots go in and have this home crowd and just be able to play behind that.”
Estrada, Alabama’s second-leading scorer, finished with eight points on 3-of-14 shooting.
Meanwhile, Scheierman — who has been Creighton’s rock all season — had another terrific game despite not shooting well from deep (2-for-7) and dealing with foul trouble.
Against heavy ball pressure, he was Creighton’s primary initiator much of the night, dishing out nine assists with just three turnovers. He also scored 20 points, shooting 3-of-6 inside the arc and 8-of-9 from the foul line. He tied Kalkbrenner for the team-high in defensive rebounds with six. He also fouled out Alabama’s Nick Pringle (15 points, 7 rebounds in 24 minute) with a couple of well-timed pump fakes.
This season, Scheierman has expanded his game to the point where he can control the action even when the 3-ball isn’t falling.
Creighton’s big three combined for 62 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists to lead the Jays to a much-needed victory.
“Any time we can have Kalk, Trey and Baylor out there, there’s a synergy between them.,” McDermott said. “They understand it, they communicate well amongst each other and do a good job with whoever’s on the floor with them.”
