Creighton 82, Drake 67

California Dreamin’

Two weeks ago, my boss asked me to spend a week working in our California-based office. There were obvious perks attached to this request: 80-degree weather, the chance to indulge in some choice seafood, and a break from the norm. However, the negative drawback to the trip was missing Creighton’s home game against Drake.

For the record, I have only missed a handful of home games since I started going to game at the Civic with my dad as a young kid in the 1980s. And to make it worse, every time I miss a home game something spectacular seems to happen. My senior year in high school, when I went to my ex-girlfriend’s winter formal instead of Creighton’s home game against Wyoming, I missed one of Ryan Sears’ first big games as a Jay – a double-digit scoring night against the Cowboys. Even when I was too little to remember the year or the opponent, I missed an overtime game due to a raging cold.

So for two weeks, I dreamt about what big night I was going to miss. Would it be a 100-point game? Could I miss one of the big fellas down low recording a double-double? How about a great defensive effort from the opening tip to the final buzzer? Or maybe I would miss something REALLY special: Jeffony Tolliday making every free throw attempt on the night.

Well, I got one of them right (the free throws). But more importantly, I missed Nate Funk’s breakout game. I have been trumping Funk as an all-Missouri Valley Conference player and possible Player of the Year all season. And as I sat in my West Coast office, staying later than of my colleagues in order to follow the game, I listened as Funk put together a Kyle Korver/Rodney Buford-type night – a career high in points, another solid game on the boards, and a few blocked shots for good measure. Half way through his junior year, as he leads a team still searching for an identity, he is the one constant positive on this squad – he is good for more than 15 points and five rebounds almost every night, and he plays above-average defense game in and game out. And I keep reminding myself that he’s only a junior.

Funk’s superb night wasn’t the only highlight for the Jays. In fact, while Drake defenders paid extra attention to Funk’s offensive ability, it allowed other Jays the opportunity to step up and provide some help to the All-MVC guard-in-waiting. While a couple of Nate’s backcourt mates struggled, Johnny Mathies once again proved how important his style of play is to this year’s squad. Mathies hit double figures in scoring again, and has asserted himself as the only other consistent scoring threat in the offense besides Funk. Mathies is not afraid to dribble-drive through the paint amongst the power forwards and centers looking to put a hip or an elbow on him, and he also isn’t hesitant to pull up in transition for medium-range jump shots or 20-foot threes. And remember too that jukin’ Johnny is only a junior, as well.

And all of the help didn’t come from the backcourt, mind you. Small forwards (or shooting forwards, or smooth forwards: whatever you want the “S” in “SF” to stand for in the box score) Jimmy Motz and Dane Watts stepped up in the first and second halves, respectively, to lend some Funk and Mathies some assistance. Motz was able to hit a couple of open shots, including a baseline jumper, as he recorded seven points in the first half. And then it was the freshman Watts’ turn. He ended the first half on his back, the recipient of an Aliou Keita elbow to the face, and began the second half with a couple of free throw attempts and then some long-rang bombing from three-point land. While the radio broadcast made the elbow sound heinous, I had to ask my dad how bad it really looked. “I’m surprised he got up,” he said. He also said it could have easily been a flagrant foul.

So with Funk leading the way offensively, with some solid efforts by Mathies, Watts, and Motz, the Jays cruised for the final 30 minutes of the contest. They built a lead that hit 25 points at its apex, but struggled in allowing some easy hoops down the stretch and won by 15. One guy whose contributions might get lost in the box score is Jeffrey Day. Not long before the lead stretched to double digits, Day replaced Anthony Tolliver with a renewed sense of rebounding and defense. Tolliver was completely ineffective, picking up a couple fouls early and allowing Bulldogs to score in the paint at will to start the second half. Day blocked a couple of shots (as did Watts), grabbed almost 10 boards, and got to the free throw line. If Day can put together two good halves in one game, this Jays team can be dangerous.

Tonight’s game was far from a dream, and Creighton will have to put together a couple more efforts like tonights if they want a solid second half of the season to become a reality.