Creighton 84, Fresno State 65
If a Bluejay beats a Bulldog…
… and there’s no one around to see it, does that mean it didn’t happen? As Dana Altman’s Jays pulled away from Fresno State shortly after halftime last night, and as they opened up a 21-point lead in the second half, it was all I could do to try and count the number of people actually in the seats at the Orleans Arena. The good news: it didn’t take long.
Looking at the box score last night, I noticed that the officials at the Orleans must have been too busy preventing a Danny Ocean-type heist on the casino floor to count the crowd; the “Attendance” line in the box is noticeably blank. Not blank, however, was the scoreboard, as for the sixth time this season Creighton put up more than 80 points for the night. And although the crowd was sparse, and solid contingent of Jays fans decked in The White and Blue turned out to cheer on the 9-2 Bluejays.
How’d I know this? Because I forked over $8 for the live webcast of the game, hooked Mrs. Creighton Otter’s laptop (now on vacation from CU law school) to the LCD TV in the living room, and watched the Jays in (not so) crystal clear (online) video. All kidding aside, the broadcast was decent (and a bit cheaper than a plane ticket to Vegas and drinks/gambling for three days — sorry people, but we’re in an economic downturn!).
(Side note: Last night I was 1980’s “Showtime” Lakers Pat Reilly-esque with my remote control and the input buttons as I flipped/paused/caught up between the Jays game live-streaming from my CPU to the TV and the Chicago Bears’ unexpected playoff push game against the Green Bay Packers. I was pushing all the right buttons, stopping and starting at just the right times; it was a thing of beauty. The gym in Vegas was empty and Sin City was a bit cooler than average for late December. The crowd at Soldier Field last night was crazy, experiencing the coldest game on record for the Bears franchise. And I saw both from the 68 degree-goodness of my apartment.)
ANYWAY… I won’t spend a bunch of time recapping the game. FresYes and Creighton spent the first half exchanging scoring spurts, with sophomore Casey Harriman getting the last 5 points of the first stanza on a 3-pointer and a jump shot as time expired. The score knotted at 38 headed to the break, it looked like CU and FSU would be locked in a close one for the rest of the evening.
But the Jays went on a 26-12 run during the first 10 minutes of the second half, and the lead wouldn’t slip below 12 points the rest of the game. It was a complete team effort, highlighted by a few outstanding (and some slightly concerning) stat lines:
… and there’s no one around to see it, does that mean it didn’t happen? As Dana Altman’s Jays pulled away from Fresno State shortly after halftime last night, and as they opened up a 21-point lead in the second half, it was all I could do to try and count the number of people actually in the seats at the Orleans Arena. The good news: it didn’t take long.
Looking at the box score last night, I noticed that the officials at the Orleans must have been too busy preventing a Danny Ocean-type heist on the casino floor to count the crowd; the “Attendance” line in the box is noticeably blank. Not blank, however, was the scoreboard, as for the sixth time this season Creighton put up more than 80 points for the night. And although the crowd was sparse, and solid contingent of Jays fans decked in The White and Blue turned out to cheer on the 9-2 Bluejays.
How’d I know this? Because I forked over $8 for the live webcast of the game, hooked Mrs. Creighton Otter’s laptop (now on vacation from CU law school) to the LCD TV in the living room, and watched the Jays in (not so) crystal clear (online) video. All kidding aside, the broadcast was decent (and a bit cheaper than a plane ticket to Vegas and drinks/gambling for three days — sorry people, but we’re in an economic downturn!).
(Side note: Last night I was 1980’s “Showtime” Lakers Pat Reilly-esque with my remote control and the input buttons as I flipped/paused/caught up between the Jays game live-streaming from my CPU to the TV and the Chicago Bears’ unexpected playoff push game against the Green Bay Packers. I was pushing all the right buttons, stopping and starting at just the right times; it was a thing of beauty. The gym in Vegas was empty and Sin City was a bit cooler than average for late December. The crowd at Soldier Field last night was crazy, experiencing the coldest game on record for the Bears franchise. And I saw both from the 68 degree-goodness of my apartment.)
ANYWAY… I won’t spend a bunch of time recapping the game. FresYes and Creighton spent the first half exchanging scoring spurts, with sophomore Casey Harriman getting the last 5 points of the first stanza on a 3-pointer and a jump shot as time expired. The score knotted at 38 headed to the break, it looked like CU and FSU would be locked in a close one for the rest of the evening.
But the Jays went on a 26-12 run during the first 10 minutes of the second half, and the lead wouldn’t slip below 12 points the rest of the game. It was a complete team effort, highlighted by a few outstanding (and some slightly concerning) stat lines:
- I’ll just say this now: this team will go as far as Booker Woodfox will take them come the end of the year. I might be biased, and I may need some statistical help to prove my point, but there might not be a better shooter percentage-wise and points-wise per minute in college basketball right now than Woodfox.
The sharpshooter from the Lone Star State scored 24 points in 26 minutes last night, going 8-13 from the field (61.5%) and 4-6 from 3-point range (66.6%). He’s more aggressive off the bounce, can hit shots from any distance, and is flying to the ball on defense and on the boards (even if the stat lines don’t show a ton of steals or rebounds). In short, he’s playing like a senior leader with one year of college ball left. - Three other Jays scored in double figures last night, but it was Cavel Witter’s overall stat line and on-court effort that paced the Jays. He scored 6 points, dished 9 assists, grabbed 6 rebounds, recorded 5 steals, and turned the ball over just once in 26 minutes. That’s about as good as it will get for a CU point guard. On a night when his shots weren’t falling (3-11 from the field), he showed the ability to contribute in other ways (and at a high level).
- One of those Jays in double figures was P’Allen Stinnett (11 points). But it took 11 shots to get him there, along with a weird technical foul in the first half (as Mrs. Creighton Otter said, “don’t you think they’re picking on him a little bit?”) and a missed dunk on a breakaway in the second half. His individual results were mixed in his first game back home, but he settled down in the second half and most importantly his team got the win.
That win propels the Jays into the championship game of the Las Vegas Classic tonight, we’re they’ll face off against DePaul (they beat SLU 65-60 last night). Justin Carter (11 points, 7 rebounds) and Kenny Lawson (15 points and 4 rebounds) will need to play as good or better against the Blue Demons as they did last night for the Jays to come out victorious.
posted by Creighton Otter at 9:19 AM
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