NIT Game #1 Preview: vs. Rhode Island

Let’s take a look at tonight’s game from a few angles.

First, we’ll start with a couple of highlights/interesting facts (courtesy of the Creighton Athletic Department’s game notes).

• Is this Bradley? As stated in this morning’s Omaha World-Herald article by Steve Pivovar, the URI Rams more than slightly resemble the Bradley Braves. Some stats to back that up: The Rams average 80.8 points per game and shoot 47.1 percent from the field, 38 percent from three-point range and 69.5 percent at the line while outrebounding teams by 2.5 caroms per contest. URI allows 74.4 points per contest.
  
  
• Postseason Party: Creighton has made either the NIT or NCAA in 11 consecutive seasons, the longest streak of postseason bids in MVC history. It is one more than the 10 straight from 1966 to 1975 by Louisville.
  
  The only 12 schools to make the postseason in each of the last 11 years are Arizona, Creighton, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Stanford and Syracuse.
  
  
• Inside Threat Looms Large: Though it’s often overlooked by the school’s traditionally strong perimeter game, Creighton’s inside game continues to be a focal point that often dictates CU’s success. When scoring 28 or more points in the paint this season, Creighton is 13-2 this season. Since the school started tracking points in the paint five years ago, CU is 52-8 when scoring 28 or more in the paint.
  
  
• Lots of Watts: Senior Dane Watts has played in 128 games as a Bluejay, which puts him tied for second in Creighton history (behind Nate Funk’s 135) with Bob Harstad and Kyle Korver. Tonight’s game will give him sole possession of second place.
  
  
• P’henomenal P’hreshman Scorer: Freshman P’Allen Stinnett has taken over the team scoring lead, with 28 more points than Dane Watts to date (385-357). Should Stinnett’s scoring average lead (12.4 ppg.) hold up, he’d become the first Bluejay freshman to top the team in that category since Rodney Buford (14.5 ppg.) in 1995-96.

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Next, let’s take a look at Rhode Island’s road to Omaha (and not the good CWS kind of “Road to Omaha”).

The Rhode Island Rams …

… finished the regular season 21-11.
… finished tied for 9th place in the 14-team Atlantic 10 Conference (7-9 record).
… started the season 20-4, with wins at Syracuse and versus Alabama-Birmingham.
… lost 7 of their last 8 games, beginning with an overtime defeat against Temple on Feb. 13.
… lost to Xavier by 4 points (CU lost to XU by 13 points).
… lost to St. Joseph’s by 7 points (CU beat the Hawks by 6 points in overtime).

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Finally, let’s rattle off the names and stats for some of the players who will catch your attention tonight in the road jerseys (hopefully they’re powder blue road jerseys, but I’m not 100% sure of that).

Projected Starters (per www.GoCreighton.com):

PG Parfait Bitee

No, that isn’t a typo. That’s the dude’s name. Pretty cool, right? He and Booker Woodfox should go out tonight after the game and hit up the bars. I’m sure the bouncers preparing for the flood of out-of-state IDs in the Old Market this weekend during the NCAA tournament games need some practice spotting completely fake monikers.

ANYWAY, let’s get to the guy’s stats. He is third in the A-10 in assists per game (4.81), first in 3-point percentage (51%), and just outside the top 10 in 3-pointers made per game (2). He’s a 6-2 senior guard who Dana Altman says resembles Bradley’s Daniel Ruffin (Uh oh).

SG Jimmy Baron

He put the “shooting” in “shooting guard.” He’s the coach’s son, a junior, and a kid who has never met a long-range shot he didn’t like. He is the fifteenth-highest scorer in the A-10 (14 points per game), he’s making 3 long-range bombs per game (fourth best in the conference), and he’s just outside the top 10 in 3-point shooting percentage (41%).

In a word, he’s to URI what Jeremy Crouch is to Bradley. If you don’t believe me, just take it from Coach Altman. Whoever guards him will need to shut him down if the Jays want to win this NIT game.

1F Will Daniels

This guy is the real deal. A 6-8, 225 senior forward who can score (19 points per game – 4th best in the A-10), rebound (7 boards per game – 10th best in the A-10), and make the most of his touches (shooting 50% from the field, which is 3rd best in the conference).

He is a first-team all-Atlantic 10 performer, and Dane Watts is going to have to step his game up to stop this potent scorer.

2F Kahiem Seawright

This guy is a 6-8 junior who scores 9 points a game and rips down 8 rebounds per game – good enough to make him the second-most prolific rebounder in the A-10 this season. He also averages more than one blocked shot per game, which will make it difficult for the Jays to get many clean looks at the hoop close to his position down low.

3F Delroy James

This sophomore has only started 3 games this season; previous starting privileges went to 6-9, 280 lbs Jason Francis, but he looks to be out of the equation minutes-wise based on a quick look at recent box scores. James only scores 3 points per game.

Keith Cothran, Lamonte Ulmer, and Joe Mbang look to be the other key contributors for this Rams squad.

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REMINDER: Tonight’s game is on ESPNU at 9 p.m. Central time. Late start at The Phone Booth tonight. We’ll see you at The Old Mattress Factory tonight before the game for some Bud Lights and a little Bluejays talk before the big game.


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