Pregame Primer: Creighton Looks to Snap Losing Skid as they Take on Suddenly Resurgent Georgetown
Creighton comes into Wednesday’s game at Georgetown having lost two consecutive games by 20 or more points, the first time that’s happened since early in Dana Altman’s first season (1994-95). That both losses saw them struggle to make three-pointers isn’t surprising (7-of-34 against Marquette, 5-of-21 against UConn) — that’s often been one of the main ingredients when they get beat soundly.
That their defense has also struggled is not surprising, either. But the level at which their defense has been blown apart is. Hurrdat’s Jacob Padilla dove into some of these same numbers in his pregame piece, and as always, it’s a must-read. I went back one game further, mostly to get a full month of data and to sync up with the day their adjusted defensive efficiency ranked highest. But they both tell the same story of a defense that has no answers for what ails them.
On the morning of Wednesday, January 7 as the Jays prepared to play Villanova, Creighton’s adjusted defensive efficiency was a season-best 42nd (100.1). Exactly four weeks later, it ranks 123rd (107.3) — because in the seven games during this stretch, their adjusted defensive efficiency ranks 315th (118.0).
In those seven games, their opponents have made 58.4% of their two-pointers (350th), 40.9% of their threes (341st), and their effective field goal percentage is 59.5% (359th). Keep in mind, there’s 365 teams in D1 — so they’ve been one of the 10-15 worst teams in the country defensively across the board, for a full month.
Five of the seven opponents shot better than 50% from the field; only Villanova (43.9%) and Providence (44.9%) made fewer than half of their shots. And to illustrate the depths of the problem and the lack of an obvious solution, three of their opponents during this stretch scored 50 or more points in the paint; three others made 10 or more threes.
The collapse has been complete and total. They have very little rim protection, they can’t defend the perimeter, and their poor communication leads to too many breakdowns. They’ve experimented with various zone schemes (toying with both a 2-3 and a 1-3-1 zone at times) and tried to go back to drop coverage. They’ve changed the starting lineup, tinkered with the rotation, and prioritized giving playing time to guys who are more bought in defensively versus more gifted offensive weapons. At some point, there’s only so many buttons you can push as a coaching staff to squeeze more out of a roster, and after 22 games, there’s not much they haven’t tried with this group.
So what can you do?
“You just keep working — that’s all you can do,” McDermott said Saturday night after the loss to UConn. “As I told them, you want your goal to be, as a teammate, what can I do to make my teammates’ job easier? Can I talk a little better? Can I talk a little earlier? Can I talk a little louder? Can I make sure he understands what we’re supposed to do next? Can I demand more of him on the practice floor so that when the game starts, we’re better?”
Tonight’s opponent is one of the teams that lit up the Bluejay defense over the last month. Georgetown shot 61.9% on two-pointers in that game (26-of-42) but even that undersells it — the Hoyas were 2-of-2 on dunks and 18-of-23 on shots at the rim. They got to the rim a lot (25 of their 58 shot attempts), and made 80.0% of them. Jasen Green struggled to defend their frontline without fouling, and was limited to 21 minutes.
Their pair of 7-footers were particularly hard to defend, as Vincent Iwuchukwu and Julius Halaifonua combined to make 12-of-14 on dunks and shots at the rim. Halaifonua scored 16 points with six rebounds and three assists in that game; Iwuchukwu scored 11. Meanwhile, 6’7” forward Caleb Williams had 12 points, five rebounds and four assists in the first meeting, making a pair of threes.
Leading scorers KJ Lewis (14.9 points per game) and Malik Mack (13.9 points) have taken turns shouldering the scoring load, and both are capable shooters. Mack is the smaller and craftier of the two guards, and had 17 points in the first meeting (3-of-3 at the rim, 3-of-4 on midrange twos, 1-of-3 from three) along with four assists. Lewis was forced into tough shots and struggled inside — he made just 2-of-7 on two-pointers — but made up for it by making 3-of-4 from three for 14 points.
“Georgetown probably feels like we stole one when they were here, which we did,” McDermott said. “They’ve won three in a row and had a two-point loss to UConn right before that. So we’re going to get their best shot.”
queue_play_next How Can I Follow Along?
Tip: 6:30pm
Venue: Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.
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sports_basketball Scouting the Opponent
Georgetown grabbed its third win in a row with a 77-64 victory on the road against Butler on Saturday. Vince Iwuchukwu and KJ Lewis led the Hoyas in scoring with 17 points each. Iwuchukwu knocked down six field goals and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line, while Lewis made five made field goals,
including 3-of-5 from three. Malik Mack rounded out the Hoyas in double figures, recording 14 points on five made field goals, including a pair of 3-pointers.
In their win over DePaul midweek, Mack led a quartet of Hoyas in double figures with 16 points on three made field goals and a perfect 10-for-10 performance from line. Halaifonua chipped in 11 points on a perfect 5-for-5 performance from the field, while Iwuchukwu came off the bench to add 11 of his own on an efficient 4-for-5 effort from the field.
ravenravenraven Three Birds
Creighton has not lost three straight Big East games since February of 2019. That team actually lost four in a row two separate times between January 5 and February 17 (including three in overtime).
Creighton’s first meeting this season against Georgetown saw the Bluejays pick up an 86-83 win in overtime over the Hoyas.
Hard as it may be to believe, there’s only been one instance that has seen Creighton play an overtime game against the same team twice in the same season. That came against Tulsa in the 1983-84 season. Creighton lost 82-80 on Feb. 16 in Omaha and 70-68 at the MVC Tournament in Tulsa roughly a month later on March 10th.
Nine different Creighton players have started four or more games this season, and seven of those men have started at least 10 times. Josh Dix has started each contest, the only Bluejay that can say that. It was the fifth different starting line-up combination that Creighton has used this season. In Greg McDermott’s 16 years patrolling the Bluejay sideline, this year’s five different line-ups are tied for the fourth-most he’s used over the course of an entire campaign.
calendar_clock The Last Meeting & Series History
Creighton is 18-10 all-time versus Georgetown and has won 15 of the last 19 meetings in the series. Creighton is 6-6 all-time in Washington, D.C., against the Hoyas, including a 4-1 record in its last five visits. Ten of the last 11 Bluejay wins, and 10 of the last 11 series meetings regardless of victor, have been decided by double-digits. The lone exception was Creighton’s 86-83 overtime win on Jan. 13th.
Greg McDermott is 14-14 in his career against Ed Cooley, including a 4-1 mark since Cooley was hired at Georgetown.
fast_rewind This Date in Bluejay History
On February 4, 1988, Creighton defeated Tulsa 94-92 in a double-OT thriller at the Civic. Senior Rod Mason scored a career-high 33 points, including a three-pointer with 26 seconds left in regulation to tie the game and four free throws in the final eight seconds of the second overtime to clinch the win.
Tulsa led by five with 1:03 to play in regulation, but missed the front end of three straight one-and-ones, giving CU the opportunity to mount a comeback. First freshman Chad Gallagher hit a bucket to make it 68-65, then fellow freshman Bob Harstad tipped in a missed jumper to cut the deficit to 68-67. Tulsa finally hit a pair of free throws on the next possession, but Mason’s three send the game to OT.
The tables turned in the first overtime. Leading 81-79, CU’s James Farr missed the front end of a one-and-one with seven seconds left to give Tulsa a chance. Then Farr compounded the mistake by fouling the Golden Hurricane’s Tracy Moore with one second to play, and he made both free throws — the second a high-bouncing shot that added a flair of drama to the moment — to send the game to a second overtime.
Duan Cole started the second OT with a strip-steal and fast break layup to put CU ahead, where they’d stay. In the final minute, Mason hit a pair of free throws and following a quick basket from Tulsa’s Brian Loyd, they called a timeout they didn’t have. The technical foul gave CU two more free throws, which Mason hit to give them a 92-89 lead. Cole followed with a pair of free throws to make it 94-89, and they’d need both as Moore nailed a three at the buzzer to make the final score 94-92.
troubleshoot The Bottom Line
Georgetown is favored by 1.5, with 52.6% odds of winning according to ESPN’s BPI. KenPom predicts a two-point Hoya win; Torvik predicts a three-point Hoya win. More depressingly, both KenPom and Torvik predict the Jays to win just three more games the rest of the season.
Given how the first game went in Omaha, it feels like Georgetown is likely to pick off the rematch.
Georgetown 74, Creighton 71
