Sunday, February 22, 2009

Creighton 76, George Mason 63

Saturday Night Live

Three months ago, the Creighton Bluejays suffered through a week that might come to spell at-large doom for their chances of making the NCAA tournament barring a 3-win run through Arch Madness. In 2-point road losses against Arkansas-Little Rock and Nebraska, the Jays demonstrated some tell tale signs that they were akin to the not-ready-for-primetime players.

They just couldn’t put away two teams they should have beat. The loss against UALR featured their biggest lead in the season against a team to which they would eventually lose (16 points); the defeat in Lincoln featured their largest lead at halftime in a game they would eventually drop (13).

No more of that, at least not in recent weeks. They Creighton Bluejays are officially “on the bubble,” under “bubble watch,” and any other suds-related monikers that the dubious pundits from places like ESPN and CBS Sports confer on college hoops teams this time of year.

They are winning road games in which they blow out opponents (Southern Illinois). Starting at the front end of this streak, they took care of some home games against teams in the bottom half of the conference (vs. Indiana State; vs. Missouri State). They went on the road and won back to back games against a pesky Drake team and then league-leader Northern Iowa. And they survived contested efforts from Bradley and Evansville, two teams that left 100% effort on the floor in their visits to Omaha.

Three months after losing two games that are bad blemishes on their resume, the Jays have hit their stride. And last night at The Phone Booth, they had the crowd rolling in the aisles. With the lights of ESPNU shining bright off the Qwest Center floor and the TV cameras filming, it felt like Saturday Night Live.

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As we all know, the Jays are an ensemble cast. No single player averages more than 26 minutes per game, and 11 Bluejays average 10 minutes or more per game for the season. It took a few months but Dana Altman has clearly defined the roles and combinations his players now execute, and the chemistry on the court is palpable.

But if this is a talented cast of players who can all steal a scene or two here and there, then Booker Woodfox is the star of the show. His 22 points were magnificent; a dazzling array of jab-step jump shots, stagger-screen 3-pointers, and quick-release rips through the nylon nets. He missed two shots all night, hit 5 of his 6 3-point shots (now leading the nation with a 51.3% shooting percentage from long range), and threw a beautiful alley-oop pass to P’Allen Stinnett (in the video below).


Woodfox and Stinnett = perfect timing

The big guys continue to contribute. Kenny Lawson (10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 monster blocked shots) and Kenton Walker (7 points and 7 rebounds) keep getting better. Oh, and Antoine Young didn’t miss a shot last night. Speaking of getting better, right? Three months ago he wasn’t even on the radar for the Jays; now he is spelling Josh Dotzler at the point and bringing an air of quiet improvement (and a touch of offense) to Creighton’s lead guard position.

And just because you aren’t filling a stat sheet doesn’t mean you’re not doing your part. Justin Carter had an off-night offensively (1-5 from the field) but exhibited the energy and effort that CU fans have grown accustomed to during this 8-game win streak. Casey Harriman, Kaleb Korver, and Cavel Witter each came off the bench to score just a few points each but make some key plays both offensively and defensively.

And Stinnett, who didn’t have his best game offensively either (2-9 from the field), still grabbed 5 rebounds and dished a couple of assists. Twice during CU’s 8-game win streak Stinnett didn’t score in double figures; in both games (each 5-point efforts; at UNI being the other) he made other plays to help his team win.

This ensemble was ready for the glamour and the spotlight on Saturday night. And as they travel to Springfield on Tuesday and then head home for a Saturday matinee to close out the MVC regular season, they finally look like the MVC leaders many prognosticators picked them to be at the start of the year.

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