Creighton 89, Evansville 84

Sounds Like Madness

After climbing the stairs from the bottom of the lower bowl to the Qwest Center concourse hallway following an intense, nail-biter against Evansville, I heard a familiar sound.

No, it wasn’t the incessant whistle blowing from the (clueless) referees that controlled the game (in the most annoying way possible) all night long (seriously, from like the second or third possession of the game).

And no, it wasn’t the roars from a crowd of more than 16,000 Jays fans, a crowd that put up with inconsistent calls from the refs and some phenomenal individual performances from a few Purple Aces.

The sound I heard was a clap and chant – clap / clap / C U! / clap / clap / C U! – echoing through the concourse in a way that only seems to happen every March, in St. Louis. It was fitting because Creighton’s 5-point win over the Aces was reminiscent of so many efforts in Arch Madness that happen each and every year. And at the end of each season, for about the past 10 years, more times than not Creighton fans have streamed out of their seats and into the concourses of the Kiel/Savvis/Scottrade Center and unleashed the same clap and chant.

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Let’s get the Aces out of the deck first. Jason Holsinger (30 points) and Shy Ely (26) combined for more than half of Evansville’s 84 points. Two totally different players – Holsinger is a gunslinger unafraid to take any shot on the court, the further the better; Ely is long, lanky, and a potent scorer from anywhere inside the 3-point arc – but the same results: a tough matchup for the Jays last night.

But the other Aces were just as focused, if not as deadly offensively. Marty Simmons had his team energized and focused on pulling off the upset; for 39 minutes and 25 seconds, it looked like they could do it too. But in the end, the Jays just had too much depth and were solid yet again from the free throw line.

Still, kudos to UE. They’ve been riding seniors, Ely, Holsinger, and Nate Garner (8 points and 9 rebounds) all season, but they’ve suffered some close losses and are now in a three-way tie for 5th in the MVC with two games to go.

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But back to our guys. The Jays have won 7 straight and are positioning themselves for a great late-season run heading into St. Louis in a few weeks. After a mid-January swoon of sorts, Dana Altman’s team is firing on all cylinders (at least offensively) and following tonight’s last-second loss by Northern Iowa against Drake is in position to win the MVC regular season title. Raise your hand if you honestly thought this was possible with 10 days left in the season?

How are they doing it?

Things seem to be spreading out nicely for the Jays on the offensive end of the court. Altman’s rotations and substitution structure seems to be playing out in a way that is beneficial for the combinations of players on the court and for the ultimate goal of keeping everyone fresh and focused through the stretch run.

• 5 players in double figures, 2 more within one hoop of double figures vs. Evansville.
• 5 players in double figures, 1 more within one basket of double figures at SIU.
• 5 players in double figures, 1 more within a basket of double figures vs. Bradley.
• 2 players in double figures, 3 more within one hoop of double figures at Northern Iowa.
• 2 players in double figures, 2 more within a basket of double figures at Drake.
• 4 players in double figures against Missouri State.
• 4 players in double figures against Indiana State.

As we’ve seen during this streak, it isn’t just Booker Woodfox and P’Allen Stinnett carrying Creighton. And down the stretch against Evansville, the two tiniest guys in White and Blue came through the tough plays.

Antoine Young missed his first 6 shots of the game yet finished with a career-high 15 points (in just 16 minutes). He scored in a number of ways – some nice drives to the paint, a 3-pointer, and 2 clutch free throws in the final minutes – and put an exclamation point on the win with a two-handed dunk as time expired.

Cavel Witter, Young’s partner on the perimeter, also had a team-high 15 points. In his previous 6 games he scored 18 points. In those 6 games he took only 10 free throws; last night against UE he was 7-8 from the free throw line. Creighton’s been on this 7-game run without many good nights from Witter, who remains tied with Justin Carter and Kenny Lawson for the third best scoring average on the team (8.5 ppg).

Those two younger lead guards stepped in on a night when Josh Dotzler attempted 6 shots from the field (his second highest total this season), including 3 3-pointers (the most this season; he missed them all), and fouled out near the end of the second half. Still, he had 4 assists and just 1 turnover. That pushes his numbers to 32 assists and 4 turnovers during the 7-game win streak (that’s an 8-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, right?). For the season Dotzler posts a 3.16-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, good for 5th best in the nation.

So some people might look at his missed shots as being a negative last night, but I’m fine with them. We have enough guys who can score (see above); teams need to at least think Josh might shoot the ball. By attempting some shots from the perimeter it hopefully will keep teams from creeping up closer to Woodfox and Stinnett on the outside of the offense, or maybe even open up some passing lanes.

Speaking of Stinnett, he once again played a controlled, balanced game. I hate to sound surprised, but the way the Aces were bodying him up and pushing him around led me to believe he might revert to some past frustrations. But whether it is the new undershirt or just a new attitude toward that type of play, he picked his spots and provided some nice attempts for his teammates.

11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block in a team-high 31 minutes (on a bum knee) is a great, if not outstanding, night for Stinnett. Better still, though, is that he has 2 or more assists in 8 of his last 9 games; like I’ve said in the past couple of recap blog posts, he will always be a focal point for opposing defenses. If he can continue to find the open man and make smart decisions with the ball, this team will continue to roll. Book it.

Speaking of unselfish play, Casey Harriman was on the positive end of some nice assists from Dotzler, Witter, and Kaleb Korver on his three 3-point baskets. From the beginning of 2009 to the middle of January Harriman struggled with his outside shot, going 0-6 in those two weeks. But since the loss at Wichita State, a game during which Altman rewarded his hustle and rebounding effort during a lost cause for the rest of the team, he has made 10 of 20 3-pointers, rediscovering the stroke that made him a crowd favorite as a freshman last season. He has really settled into his role on this team nicely.

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Speaking of nicely, that’s how I’m going to treat Josh Young and the rest of the Drake Bulldogs when we see them in St. Louis in a few weeks. They were able to go into Cedar Falls and pull out a win against the Panthers at Northern Iowa tonight. Down 1 with 5 seconds to play, Jordan Egelseder missed 2 free throws for UNI.

Sound familiar, Panther fans? I’m sure Booker Woodfox and the rest of the Jays don’t feel bad that poor shooting at the line cost you a home game.

With 2 conference games left Creighton and UNI are tied at the top of the MVC standings. That’s nice.