Evansville 63, Creighton 61
I must have been a bad boy this year, because last night’s game feels a lot like a slab of coal. Or was it that the basketball gods tried to even the score with a Jays team that won three games on miraculous shots in the first two months of the season? Maybe it was the 40% shooting and the 16 turnovers.
Whatever the reason, dropping this game really hurts. When the Missouri Valley Conference schedule came out a few months ago, the game at Evansville looked like one of the road tilts that the Jays could win. Of the three Valley games away from the Qwest Center, the trips to Evansville, Terre Haute, and Des Moines looked the most promising. Cross the first one off that list.
The Purple Aces are a fine enough team, but they won’t be confused with a Valley champion any time soon. The Evansville starters played a combined 168 minutes out of a possible 200. They were tired. They shot a lower percentage from the field, three-point arc, and free throw line in the second half. The Jays looked to capitalize on fresh legs and potent bench scoring (31 points off the pine for the game), and Creighton went on a 22-9 run (trailing 41-33 then leading 55-50). And then they stopped. The Jays stopped attacking. They let the Purple Aces catch their breaths. Tyler McKinney tried a couple of fancy passes that would have looked impressive had they been on target. Instead, they were his only two turnovers of the game. And just like that, the Aces were back in the game.
The good news was that the Jays won the rebounding battle, with Anthony Tolliver ripping down – yes, I actually used “ripping” and Anthony in the same sentence – eight boards. The pieces of bad news were the turnovers, the disparity of points in the paint, and the woeful shooting (again). The Jays shot 36% from the field in the first half, after which they trailed by six. They finished at 40% for the game, including a distressing 35% from beyond the arc. On a team where it is becoming increasingly difficult to find points in the paint (outscored 34-14), the Jays will be in trouble if they can’t shoot better from the outside.
Which leads me to Kellen Miliner. After scoring 19 against High Point, 21 against Kent State, and 20 (including the game-winner) against Nebraska, Kellen has scored a total of 5 points in his last two games. Against Wyoming and Evansville (both losses), Kellen was 2-17 from the field, 0-9 from three-point range, and attempted only 2 free throws. It is extremely hard to believe that this type of offensive production will continue, but it illustrates just how fragile Creighton’s offense is.
Nate Funk continues to work extremely hard for his points, but when are others going to step up? With little offensive production in the paint, every one of the perimeter players needs to have solid games, or there will be slack to pick up. Jimmy Motz is a non-issue because he doesn’t create his own shots. But is young Dane Watts ready to take over the bulk of the minutes? He looked like it against Evansville. What about Johnny Mathies? He continues to provide a spark on the bench (playing an average of 22 minutes per game), but he ebbs and flows. He has four games of double-digit scoring, including an 18-point performance against Missouri. But he also has four games of scoring two points or less. Johnny has 21 steals – almost 2 a game – and the Jays need his defense on the court.
For the most part, the first two months of the season treated the Jays kindly. If you had told me that they would be 8-3 when I wrote the season preview in November, I’d have taken that. But after losses in three of their last four games, the New Year can’t come fast enough. One resolution must be that the Jays play the rest of the season with renewed passion, because they wont be able to rely solely on their talent against this year’s Valley opponents.
Happy Holidays! Go Jays!
Whatever the reason, dropping this game really hurts. When the Missouri Valley Conference schedule came out a few months ago, the game at Evansville looked like one of the road tilts that the Jays could win. Of the three Valley games away from the Qwest Center, the trips to Evansville, Terre Haute, and Des Moines looked the most promising. Cross the first one off that list.
The Purple Aces are a fine enough team, but they won’t be confused with a Valley champion any time soon. The Evansville starters played a combined 168 minutes out of a possible 200. They were tired. They shot a lower percentage from the field, three-point arc, and free throw line in the second half. The Jays looked to capitalize on fresh legs and potent bench scoring (31 points off the pine for the game), and Creighton went on a 22-9 run (trailing 41-33 then leading 55-50). And then they stopped. The Jays stopped attacking. They let the Purple Aces catch their breaths. Tyler McKinney tried a couple of fancy passes that would have looked impressive had they been on target. Instead, they were his only two turnovers of the game. And just like that, the Aces were back in the game.
The good news was that the Jays won the rebounding battle, with Anthony Tolliver ripping down – yes, I actually used “ripping” and Anthony in the same sentence – eight boards. The pieces of bad news were the turnovers, the disparity of points in the paint, and the woeful shooting (again). The Jays shot 36% from the field in the first half, after which they trailed by six. They finished at 40% for the game, including a distressing 35% from beyond the arc. On a team where it is becoming increasingly difficult to find points in the paint (outscored 34-14), the Jays will be in trouble if they can’t shoot better from the outside.
Which leads me to Kellen Miliner. After scoring 19 against High Point, 21 against Kent State, and 20 (including the game-winner) against Nebraska, Kellen has scored a total of 5 points in his last two games. Against Wyoming and Evansville (both losses), Kellen was 2-17 from the field, 0-9 from three-point range, and attempted only 2 free throws. It is extremely hard to believe that this type of offensive production will continue, but it illustrates just how fragile Creighton’s offense is.
Nate Funk continues to work extremely hard for his points, but when are others going to step up? With little offensive production in the paint, every one of the perimeter players needs to have solid games, or there will be slack to pick up. Jimmy Motz is a non-issue because he doesn’t create his own shots. But is young Dane Watts ready to take over the bulk of the minutes? He looked like it against Evansville. What about Johnny Mathies? He continues to provide a spark on the bench (playing an average of 22 minutes per game), but he ebbs and flows. He has four games of double-digit scoring, including an 18-point performance against Missouri. But he also has four games of scoring two points or less. Johnny has 21 steals – almost 2 a game – and the Jays need his defense on the court.
For the most part, the first two months of the season treated the Jays kindly. If you had told me that they would be 8-3 when I wrote the season preview in November, I’d have taken that. But after losses in three of their last four games, the New Year can’t come fast enough. One resolution must be that the Jays play the rest of the season with renewed passion, because they wont be able to rely solely on their talent against this year’s Valley opponents.
Happy Holidays! Go Jays!
posted by Creighton Otter at 9:27 AM
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