KANSAS CITY, MO. — Creighton opened the Hall of Fame Classic with an 88-65 win against Loyola Chicago on Wednesday, improving to 5-0 in front of a mostly blue crowd at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
Three Bluejays scored in double figures as Creighton shot 55.2% from the field including 51.9% (14-of-27) from 3 to advance to the tournament championship.
Here are three takeaways from the game plus a look ahead.
So Many Weapons
After one of the best starts to the season of anybody in the country, Trey Alexander finally saw his streaks snapped. No 20-point game, no poster dunk. He finished with eight points on 3-of-10 shooting, six rebounds, one assist and five turnovers.
His teammates had his back, though. After a relatively quiet yet efficient start to the season, Ryan Kalkbrenner made plenty of noise with a season-high 29 points, shooting 10-of-19 from the field and 5-of-5 from the line with five rebounds and two blocks. However, the most noteworthy stat was his 3-point line – 4-for-8. He had made 10 3s in his career heading into Wednesday and was just 1-for-4 on the season, but Loyola left him open and he made the Ramblers pay.
“He worked on that a lot in the offseason, obviously, and in practice this fall,” Baylor Scheierman said. “They were obviously giving them to him a lot, not really stepping up on him, and if he shoots 4-for-8 then he should shoot eight of them.”
Scheierman also attempted eight 3s, hitting five of them and scoring 24 points overall while grabbing 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. He set the tone early again, accounting for Creighton’s first 10 points with a 3, a lob to Kalkbrenner, another 3 and a dunk of his own. He played the whole first half, putting up 21 points to lead Creighton to a 45-37 lead. As others got going in the second half, Scheierman deferred more, attempting just two shots and hitting one of them for three more points.
One of the others who got going was Steven Ashworth, who hit double digits for the first time since the opener with 10 points on a pair of layups and 2-of-3 3-point shooting plus four assists. Francisco Farabello chipped in five points, five assists and six rebounds off the bench.
“We have a lot of guys,” Coach Greg McDermott said. “I thought Steven Ashworth hit some big baskets at a critical time. Farabello gets five assists, no turnovers, so some of the stuff he does maybe doesn’t jump off the stat sheet at you but he impacts winning in a lot of ways. We’re a team that’s based on balance and unselfishness and if they’re going to beat Trey up and really be physical with him on at every point of attack, then he’ll make plays for others and be a team basketball player like he is.
“But like I told him, he’s got probably 30 more games of this where they’re going to attack him and be physical with him and and he’s the marked man because of the start that he’s off to. So he’ll adjust to that as well, like he has everything else throughout his career.”
One Man Down, Another Steps In
The Bluejays had to shake up their starting lineup for the first time this season as starting four-man Mason Miller was absent with an illness. Isaac Traudt made his first career start, but he only played 10 minutes and hit his only shot attempt for three points.
With Loyola playing primarily a four-guard lineup, McDermott opted to match instead of playing the 6-foot-10 Traudt 30 minutes and asking him to chase smaller players around on the perimeter. Farabello played a Creighton career-high 31 minutes as the 6-foot-7 Scheierman slid to the four for the majority of his minutes.
“We’ve got a couple guys that don’t feel great,” McDermott said. “Mason, he hasn’t practiced for a few days and he’s back at the hotel now. We didn’t have him come to the arena, so I would say he’s doubtful for tomorrow and the way it worked out with them going small, we ended up playing small with them most of the game.”
While Miller didn’t play, another of Creighton’s young fours made his debut as redshirt freshman Jasen Green saw the court for the first time in his career after recovering from a preseason hand injury, packing a bucket, an assist and three rebounds into four minutes of playing time.
“It was fun to see him out there, obviously,” Scheierman said. “He had a great fall and was looking forward to the start of the year and broke his hand and has been working his way back. It was great to see him out there and obviously in his four minutes at the end there he made a big hustle play and that’s just kind of how he plays. He’s unselfish and just tries to make winning plays for the team.”
Spurtability
Perhaps the defining trait of this Creighton team so far this season has been its spurtability. When this team gets into a rhythm, the buckets come in waves and it buries the opponent.
That happened again on Wednesday.
Loyola scored early in the second half to trim Creighton’s lead to six at 45-39. Kalkbrenner tried to go up inside and missed, but he corralled his own rebound and put it up and down from the other side of the rim for the reverse slam. From that point forward, Creighton outscored Loyola 21-4 over a six-minute stretch to push the lead to 23.
The Jays shot 8-of-11 from the field including 5-of-5 from 3 and turned the ball over just one time during that stretch. Five different Bluejays scored — eight points from Ashworth, four from Kalkbrenner and 3s from Isaac Traudt, Farabello and Alexander. That run created all the cushion Creighton needed as the closest the Ramblers got the rest of the way was 14.
“The start of the second half again, they only scored on three of their first 13, and we were able to take a close game and make it a 15-point game in the first 12 or 13 possessions,” McDermott said. “So it was good to see those guys really lock in and execute some of the changes we put in at halftime.”
Creighton showed off the spurtability in the first half as well, digging itself out of an early hole. After surrendering a 15-4 run to Loyola to give the Ramblers a five-point lead, Creighton answered with a 16-3 stretch including eight points apiece from Kalkbrenner and Scheierman including three 3s and a three-point play. The push gave Creighton a lead the jays never relinquished.
Up Next
Creighton will take on Colorado State in the championship at 3 p.m. CT. The Rams took down Boston College 86-74 in the first game of the event Wednesday.
All five starters scored in double figures for Colorado State as the Rams shot 55.6% from the field including 42.9% from 3. Senior point guard Isaiah Stevens led the way with 18 points and eight assists.
Thursday’s championship should be a gift for those who are thankful for high-scoring, efficient offensive basketball. CBS Sports Network will televise the game.
