Creighton 68, Wichita State 56

Sweet 16

Yesterday evening’s game at the Qwest Center served as a nightcap to a wild and wacky opening weekend in Missouri Valley Conference play. From Indiana State starting its second season 1-0 with a double overtime win at Northern Iowa to Bradley soundly spanking Southern Illinois in Peoria, the MVC results left fans throughout the Valley scratching their heads and throwing their arms up in jubilation.

The CU-WSU game also served as a cap to my extended holiday weekend, spent partially in Omaha and Ankeny, Iowa. The time with family and friends culminated at the Q, with the in-laws and my family sharing some pizza and pressure-heavy basketball with other close friends and more nearly 18,000 at The Phone Booth.

We saw a few things from our seats in section 123, including:

• A miffed Gregggggg Marshall further endear himself to the Bluejay faithful by repeatedly engaging officials in less-than-graceful behavior. He backed up recent bad attitude targeted toward the Bluejays (and all other MVC teams, for that matter) with a false accusation following the game via the local Wichita radio broadcast of Dana Altman trying to run an alley-oop with less than a minute to play and the game decided.
  
  Apparently Greggggg hasn’t watched Dana’s “hold ‘em and fold ‘em” offense lately. The Jays took the air out of the ball last night with about 4 minutes left. I highly doubt that Altman would call for a lob play. Maybe Marshall should worry about his own team’s shots looking like they are all lobs off the backboard, and not Creighton’s late-game execution. Which reminds me, we saw …
  
  
• A cold-shooting Wichita State team pound on the backboards and rims of the Phonebooth baskets. WSU shot 35% from the field and 25% from the 3-point arc.
  
  
• Another solid, if not exceptional, effort from Justin Carter. The junior college transfer from Maryland marked his first MVC game with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, his first collegiate 3-point basket, and an absolute monster blocked shot. He sized up 7-foot freshman Garrett Stutz’ jump shot and sent it flying into the backcourt. As Panon said, “he got up and spiked that like the Penn State volleyball team left him here.”
  
  
• Booker Woodfox pick up where he left off in Vegas. The senior sharpshooter dropped 16 points on the Shox, including 2 more 3-pointers. The Woodfox Watch will be in effect all season, as the former Lewisville Farmer looks to etch his name in the Creighton record books by compiling one of the most impressive and efficient offensive seasons in the recent history of the Hilltop.
  
  How’s this for efficient: through December 29, Booker had the fifth best shooting percentage in the Valley while attempting the most field goals of anyone in the top 15 of performers on the list. Oh, and he’s the only non-post player (i.e. he’s the furthest from the basket) in the top 10 of the list. And don’t get me started on 3-point percentage, where Book has no equal efficiency-wise.
  
  
• Josh Dotzler record another “Dotzler-esque” stat line. In just more than 25 minutes, the senior point guard gathered 6 assists, 4 steals, 6 points, and committed just 1 turnover. He was perfect from the free-throw line and stingy on defense, even though many of the men he was asked to guard were noticeably quicker than the crafty Valley veteran.
  
  On the last Sunday of the NFL’s regular season, CU’s win over Wichita was a great example of a team using its starting and “change of pace” running backs successfully. In Creighton’s case, this means the point guards. While “Carvel” Witter and Dotzler play together at some points each game, the junior Witter is used as a quicker, faster, more offensively gifted compliment to Josh, the composed court leader with a knack for poking the ball free and converting opponents’ turnovers into points via his teammates’ sweet shooting strokes.
  
  
• The “Tall Three” put forth a commendable effort on both ends of the court. I won’t call them the “Big Three,” because that moniker seems better suited for players with more raw statistical production, but Kenny Lawson, Kenton Walker, and Chad Millard performed admirably in the paint against the Shox. While they only combined for 10 points, Lawson (2 points and 1 rebound in 16 minutes of play), Walker (8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, zero turnovers in 12 minutes) and Millard (zero points, 1 rebound in 12 minutes) played with increased vigor and held the Shocker post players to just 3 field goals all evening.
  

While this contest lacked much of the nail biting and splendor associated with past CU-WSU matchups in Omaha, the result was the same: the Shox lost in the Big O for the 16th consecutive visit. That, my friends, is domination. A mighty fine way to end the holidays and start conference play, indeed.