Jays Open Valley Play at Northern Iowa Wednesday
12/2/2002 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Next Game
The Creighton men’s basketball team (4-0) returns from an eight-day layoff with its conference opener at Northern Iowa (2-1). Tip-off at the UNI-Dome (10,000) is set for 7:05 p.m.
Broadcast Information
KOMJ (“Magic” 590 AM) will broadcast all of Creighton’s men’s basketball games during the 2002-03 season. The games are also webcast live at www.magic590.com. T. Scott Marr and Kevin Sarver will call the action.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton returns 10-of-12 letterwinners and all five starters from last season’s 23-9 team that reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Bluejays have been picked to win their third consecutive Missouri Valley Conference title and will be led by the senior trio of DeAnthony Bowden, Larry House and reigning MVC Player of the Year Kyle Korver. Korver, Joe Dabbert, Brody Deren, Mike Grimes and Michael Lindeman give CU plenty of returning depth in the frontcourt, while Nate Funk, Tyler McKinney, Kellen Miliner and Brandon Sims will share time on the perimeter with House and Bowden.
Creighton has opened its season with four wins to claim the Guardians Classic championship, defeating Notre Dame 80-75 in the final. The Jays have shot an incredible 58 percent from the floor this season, including 56 percent from three-point range.
Korver has hit five or more treys each of the first four games and leads the team in scoring (20.5 ppg.) and assists (3.3 apg.). Deren scores 11.0 points and pulls down a team-best 6.8 rebounds per game.
Scouting Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa comes into Wednesday’s game looking to rebound from a 69-58 setback at Siena on Saturday. The Panthers opened with a 77-71 win at Montana on Nov. 22 before trouncing Wayne State (Neb.) 71-40 in its lone home contest on Nov. 25.
The Panthers have three players averaging in double-figures to date, led by Morningside transfer Matt Schneiderman’s 16.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest. David Gruber averages 14.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game while shooting 70.4 percent from the floor, while Ben Jacobson is scoring 11.0 points per game in his freshman season.
Chris Foster, who averaged 12.8 points last season, is shooting just 28.6 percent thus far and scoring six points per game, but he does dish five assists per contest.
The Coaches
The dean of Missouri Valley Conference coaches, Creighton’s Dana Altman (Eastern New Mexico, 1980) is in his ninth year as head coach of the Bluejays. He owns a 150-95 (.612) mark at CU and a career record of 233-162 (.590) in his 14th year as an NCAA Division I head coach. Altman has been named conference coach of the year eight times in his 17 years as a head coach, including recognition in 2001 and 2002 from the Missouri Valley Conference. Altman has led Creighton to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments and his teams have played in the postseason in eight of the past 11 years. He’s assisted by Greg Grensing, Len Gordy and Darian DeVries.
Greg McDermott (Northern Iowa, 1988) is in his second season as head coach at his alma mater, owning a 16-16 record in that time. Prior to returning to UNI, McDermott was a head coach at Wayne State (1995-2000) and North Dakota State (2001). He owns a 147-80 career record in nine years as a head coach overall. McDermott is assisted by Ron Smith, Ben Jacobson and Kyle Green.
Series History
Creighton owns a 14-10 lead in the all-time series, but Northern Iowa has won 8-of-11 contests in Cedar Falls. The Bluejays have won five of the last six meetings in this series, including 2-of-3 games last season. Northern Iowa upended Creighton 85-79 in overtime last year in Cedar Falls.
Last Game Recap
Tournament MVP Kyle Korver had a career-best seven three-pointers and a season-high 24 points while leading Creighton University (4-0) to a 80-75 victory over Notre Dame (4-1) in the Guardians Classic championship game Tuesday night.
Creighton led the first 11 minutes before Notre Dame steadily built a 35-28 lead with three minutes left in the first half. Creighton answered by scoring the final 10 points of the first half to take a 38-35 lead at intermission, then used a Korver trey to open the second half and complete the 13-0 run. Though Notre Dame came within two on five occasions, they never led in the second half. Tyler McKinney made three clutch plays down the stretch and finished with a career-best 14 points.
Recapping Last Season
Creighton finished last season with a 23-9 record, a fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament and a share of a second straight MVC title.
Some of last season’s highlights included a win over #17 Western Kentucky in double-overtime, an eight-game winning streak in MVC play in January, and the team’s third MVC Tournament crown in the last four seasons. Creighton then knocked off #14 Florida in double-overtime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to #16 Illinois in the second round.
Dana Altman was named MVC Coach of the Year, Kyle Korver was named MVC Player of the Year and Terrell Taylor was named the MVC’s Sixth Man of the Year.
Shooting Stars
Creighton’s been shooting the lights out this season, making a collective 57.6 percent of its shots from the field and 55.8 percent from three-point range. The Bluejays have shot 50 percent or better in all eight halves of play this season and have now won 28 straight games when shooting 50 percent or better from the floor.
Of Creighton’s 13 active players, 11 are shooting better than 50 percent overall, including six from long-distance. In the first half against IUPUI on Nov. 25, Creighton had eight different players make a three-pointer.
20/20 For #25
Senior Kyle Korver has scored 20 or more points in each of his last three games, matching the longest stretch of his career (also Jan. 30 -Feb. 6, 2002). Korver now has 20 career games with 20 or more points. The last player with four straight games of 20 or more points was Rodney Buford, who had eight straight from Jan. 27-Feb. 17, 1997.
Valley Openers
Creighton coach Dana Altman is 6-2 in Missouri Valley Conference openers, including last year’s 70-46 win over Indiana State in Omaha. As a program, Creighton is 25-18 all-time in MVC openers, but just 12-13 since rejoining the Valley prior to the 1977-78 campaign.
First Time For Everything
According to available records, Creighton had never won three games in the same regular-season tournament before last weeks’ 4-0 run to the Guardians Classic title. That’s not to say they haven’t been successful in postseason action, as they’ve won three of the last four MVC Tournaments.
Getting Better With Experience
The 80-75 win over Notre Dame was Dana Altman’s 150th on the Creighton sideline. Altman won his 50th game at CU in his 105th game in Blue & White. It took him just 73 games to win his next 50 to get to 100. Impressively, it took Altman just 67 games to reach his next 50 wins.
All-Tournament Honors
Kyle Korver and Brody Deren were both named to the all-Tournament team for the Guardians Classic championship rounds in Kansas City. Korver averaged 22 points and 5.5 rebounds to earn tournament MVP accolades, while Deren averaged 11 points and seven rebounds to earn his spot. Rounding out the all-Tournament team were Chris Thomas and Matt Carroll from Notre Dame and Karim Souchu from Furman.
Homeward Bound
Creighton’s 2002-03 roster boasts five Iowans, four of whom start. Tyler McKinney (Urbandale), Michael Lindeman (Iowa Falls), Kyle Korver (Pella) and Brody Deren (Harlan) all have Iowa ties, as does reserve guard Nate Funk (Sioux City). In addition, Creighton assistant coach Darian DeVries is a native of nearby Aplington and played collegiately at Northern Iowa from 1994-98.
Sioux City’s Finest To Meet
Wednesday’s game figures to be the first of many collegiate encounters between of a pair of high school rivals. Creighton guard Nate Funk and Northern Iowa guard Ben Jacobson both hail from Sioux City, but the two were also enemies as preps. Funk went to attended Heelan High, while Jacobson attended East. The teams shared the Missouri River Activities Conference title last season and Heelan handed East its only loss of the season.
Korver Shotless, But Bluejays Rolled
In Creighton and Northern Iowa’s second meeting last season, UNI coach Greg McDermott designed an array of defenses designed to limited Kyle Korver’s touches and shot opportunities.
The plan worked to near perfection, as Korver played 24 minutes without as much as a field goal attempt. His only two points came after he converted a pair of free throws following a technical foul.
Korver didn’t let his lack of offense affect his total game though, as he still managed nine rebounds, three assists and three steals. With all the focus on Korver, five other players reached double-figures as Creighton cruised to an easy 83-56 victory.
DeAnthony Dominated
One player who played well against Northern Iowa in three meetings last season was DeAnthony Bowden. Bowden had 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the second meeting vs. UNI and followed that up with 14 points in 18 minutes at the Valley Tournament. Bowden averaged 12 points on 11-for-17 shooting (64.7 percent) from the floor and 8-of-13 accuracy (61.5 percent) from three-point range last season vs. the Panthers.
Beware Guardians Hangover
Last season the University of Iowa picked up three straight victories and reached the finals of the Guardians Classic. Less than two weeks later they played a road game at Northern Iowa in the UNI-Dome. Northern Iowa shocked its in-state rival with a 78-76 win over the #11 Hawkeyes. Wednesday night will mark the one-year anniversary of that upset.
They’re Baaaaaack!
With all five starters back, it’s no surprise that nearly all of CU’s production returns as well, as seen below:
Stat Returners (Pct.) Departures (Pct.)
Games Started 159 (99.4) 1 (0.6)
Minutes 5,255 (80.2) 1,295 (19.8)
Points 1,874 (77.4) 547 (22.6)
Rebounds 881 (84.3) 164 (15.7)
Assists 368 (75.4) 120 (24.6)
3-0 The Way To Go
Creighton has started 3-0 for the fifth season in a row. Each of the four previous 3-0 starts under Dana Altman have culminated in an NCAA Tournament appearance at the end of the year.
With a win over Northern Iowa, Creighton will start with a 5-0 record for the 20th time in 85 years of basketball.
Grimes Produces In The Paint
Junior Mike Grimes has had a productive start to the season off the bench. Grimes had a career-high 14 points in 15 minutes while also adding five rebounds against Texas-Arlington. Grimes hit 5-of-6 shots from the floor and was 4-for-6 at the stripe.
Grimes then was 4-for-4 to score nine points, grab four rebounds and post a career-high three steals in just 14 minutes.
In Kansas City last weekend, Grimes was 3-for-4 and scored seven points vs. IUPUI and followed that with two points and four rebounds in eight minutes vs. Notre Dame.
For the season, Grimes is 13-for-15 from the field (86.7 percent) and is CU’s third-leading scorer with 8.0 points per game. His 15 rebounds are also third on the squad. He’s done all this in just 12.5 minutes per game.
The Pella Cannon
Senior forward Kyle Korver continues to throw in three-pointers with astounding accuracy. Korver has made 23-of-34 three-pointers (67.6 percent) in his first four games. He’s made at least one trey in each of the eight halves he’s played this season and five or more in each contest.
It’s Up....And It’s Good
Kyle Korver started the season with a bang, making his first eight three-point attempts, including a CU-record 6-for-6 effort from long-range in the opener vs. Texas-Arlington.
Korver, who also made his last trifecta attempt last year, had a streak of nine snapped with a miss vs. Furman. The NCAA record for conseuctive three-pointers made is 15, set by Todd Leslie of Northwestern over four games in 1990.
More Perfection
Before Kyle Korver’s 6-for-6 display from long-range vs. UT-Arlington, the last Creighton player to shoot 5-for-5 from three-point range was Ben Walker, who did it on Feb. 28, 2000 vs. Evansville. Creighton has had a player make six or more three-pointers 22 times (four times by Korver) in school history, but Korver is the first to ever make all his 3-pt. attempts on such a night.
Wasted Charity
Creighton shot an uncharacteristically low 8-for-21 (38.1 percent) at the free throw line in its 80-75 win over Notre Dame in the Guardians Classic championship contest. The Bluejays hadn’t been below 40 percent at the stripe since shooting 33.3 percent (3-of-9) vs. Hawaii on Dec. 22, 1999, a span of 90 games.
Don’t Blink
Creighton has posted impressive starts in each of its last four regular-season games.
Against Texas-Arlington, CU led 10-0 with 17:32 left and ended up on the victorious side of a 106-50 contest.
Then against Furman, Creighton used an early four-point play from Kyle Korver to take an 8-2 lead, which was later extended to 19-5.
Maybe its most complete first half was on Nov. 25 against IUPUI. Creighton owned leads of 17-4, 33-7 and 48-13 before settling on a 56-19 intermission lead.
Against Notre Dame, Creighton held the Irish without a field goal for more than three minutes to start the game and owned a 14-7 lead early.
All About The Bench-amins
With the outcome already decided, Dana Altman cleared his bench in the second half vs. Texas-Arlington, as all 13 players in uniform played four or more minutes. Eleven of those players played 11 or more minutes, and no one played more than 21 minutes. The Creighton bench contributed 61 points, 24 rebounds and 11 assists vs. the Mavericks.
Creighton’s 61 points off the pine was their most since the bench had 62 points in a 91-52 win over Grambling on Dec. 6, 1999.
All 13 players also played three or more minutes and scored two or more points in CU’s 99-52 rout of IUPUI on Nov. 25.
The Bluejay bench has now scored 159 points this season (39.8 ppg.) and contributed three double-figure scorers.
Everyone Plays, Everyone Scores
Creighton played all 13 players in uniform vs. Texas-Arlington, and each of those players scored. Before this season, the last time Creighton had more than 13 players score in the same game was when all 14 players who got in scored against Western Illinois on Nov. 20, 2000.
Bombs Away
Creighton’s 15 three-pointers against UT-Arlington were one shy of the school and Civic Auditorium record set vs. Evansville on Jan. 4, 1999 in a 84-79 loss. In that game CU was 16-for-30. That Evansville game was the only previous time Creighton made as many as 15 three-pointers in a game. Creighton also made 15-of-25 three-pointers vs. IUPUI.
Jays Break 60 In A Half
Creighton’s 63-point second half vs. Texas-Arlington was the first time they scored that many in a half since outscoring Indiana State 68-46 in the second half of a 115-80 win on Jan. 19, 1985.
Creighton’s 24 second-half field goals were their most in a half since a 25-for-41 first half against Nebraska-Kearney on Nov. 24, 1984.
Nothing But Nets
Did you know that Creighton is one of four schools nationwide to qualify a team for the NCAA Tournament in men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s basketball and women’s basketball in 2002 They are joined by Notre Dame, Connecticut and Stanford in this elite group.
Of those four, Creighton is the only school to win its league tournament in all four sports.
Good Luck Charm
Dan Bresnahan played just five minutes against Texas-Arlington but the sophomore walk-on made the most of his minutes. In addition to his tip-in at the buzzer, Bresnahan had four rebounds, a steal and an assist, all career highs. Bresnahan played a career-high seven minutes against IUPUI. Creighton is now 12-0 all-time when Bresnahan plays.
House Party
Senior Larry House continues to showcase his improvement from last season. House averages 8.0 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game. By comparison, last season House’s numbers were 6.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game.
Altman Top MVC Coach Back-to-Back Years
Not only did Dana Altman clinch a second-straight regular-season title for Creighton last season, but he also repeated Rawlings/MVC Coach of the Year plaudits. The only previous coach in the last 30 years to earn MVC Coach of the Year honors in back-to-back campaigns was when current Kentucky coach Tubby Smith did it at Tulsa in 1993-94 and 1994-95.
The only other MVC coaches to go back-to-back were George Smith when he had Oscar Robertson at Cincinnati (1958-59) and Maurice “Maury” John at Drake from 1968-70.
20 Wins x 4 Years = Unprecedented Success
With 23 wins in 2001-02, Creighton won 20 games for an unprecedented fourth straight season. The Jays were 24-8, 23-10 and 22-9 in the previous three campaigns. Creighton owns 15 seasons of 20 or more wins in school history, including a school-record total of 24 wins in 1990-91 and 2000-01.
Creighton’s 23 wins last year gives them 47 over the last two seasons, 70 in the last three years and 92 in the last four seasons. All four of those marks tie or set a school-best for most wins in consecutive seasons.
Korver Passes Sears On CU 3-Pt. List
With his fourth three-pointer of the season-opener, Kyle Korver became Creighton’s all-time leader in three-pointers made, passing his former teammate, Ryan Sears who had 245. Former Southern Illinois standout Shane Hawkins holds the Valley mark with 314 in his career. Below is a look at where the senior marksman stands on the Valley list:
MVC’s Career Three-Point Leaders
3FG Name Years
314 Shane Hawkins, SIU 1994-98
283 Michael Menser, INST 1997-01
266 Johnny Murdock, SMS 1991-95
265 Kyle Korver, CU 1999-Present
254 Kevin Ault, SMS 1996-00
Three-Point Ace
Entering the season, Creighton senior Kyle Korver ranked fifth nationally among the nation’s returners in three-pointers made. Below is the active leaders, courtesy of STATS Inc., entering the season.
Active Three-Pointers Made Career Leaders
Rk. Name, School 3FG FGA Pct.
1. Brett Blizzard, UNC-Wilmington 262 629 .417
2. Jason Kapono, UCLA 253 549 .461
3. Jason Gardner, Arizona 252 676 .373
4. Gary Buchanan, Villanova 249 641 .388
5. Kyle Korver, Creighton 242 550 .440
6. Brett Nelson, Florida 228 540 .422
7. Raymond Arrington, Radford 224 589 .380
Korver Cracks Top 20 Scorers
Kyle Korver now has 1,279 career points to his credit, which ranks him 16th in CU history. Korver passed Hall of Fame hurler Bob Gibson (1,272) with his 24-point showing vs. Notre Dame. He is 24 points shy of Elton Tuttle and 30 points from former teammate Ryan Sears.
Creighton All-Time Scoring List
1. 2,116 Rodney Buford 1995-99
13. 1,361 Duan Cole 1987-92
14. 1,309 Ryan Sears 1997-01
15. 1,303 Elton Tuttle 1951-54
16. 1,279 Kyle Korver 1999-Present
17. 1,272 Bob Gibson 1954-57
Fantasy League Dream
With the numbers he produces in so many different categories, senior forward Kyle Korver would be a fantasy league owners’ dream. The Missouri Valley Conference tracks 12 different statistical categories, and Korver ranked among the top-13 in all but one category (offensive rebounding) last season. Korver led the Valley in steals and free throw percentage and also ranked among the top-five in three-point field goals made, three-point field goal percentage, scoring and assists.
He led Creighton in points, three-pointers, rebounding, assists and steals. Korver became the first player in school history to lead the team in points, steals and assists in the same year since they began recording steals in 1980-81. Korver had two or more assists in all but one of his last 33 games.
Korver By The Numbers
Kyle Korver has made three or more three-pointers in 54 of his 98 career games at Creighton. Creighton is 42-12 in such contests, including a 4-0 record this year.
Korver has made five three-pointers or more in a game on 18 occasions in his career, with the Jays winning 15 of those games. He has made at least one three-pointer in each of the last 42 games he’s attempted one dating to an 0-for-4 effort beyond the arc at Indiana State his sophomore season.
Korver is already the only player in CU history to make 60 or more three-pointers in three different seasons.
3-Pt. FG Made by Game
Year 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Freshman 9 6 6 7 2 2 1 0
Sophomore 3 2 4 9 8 5 1 0
Junior 1 8 5 4 6 5 0 0
Senior 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1
Totals 13 16 15 20 16 14 4 1
Free Throw Marksman
Creighton senior Kyle Korver ranks third nationally among the nation’s returners in free-throw accuracy. Below is the top six, courtesy of STATS Inc., entering the season.
Active Free Throw Percentage Leaders
(Minimum 200 career FTA)
Rk. Name, School FTM FTA FT%
1. Gary Buchanan, Villanova 278 300 .927
2. Brent Jolly, Tennessee Tech 226 248 .911
3. Kyle Korver, Creighton 203 230 .883
4. Troy Bell, Boston College 583 665 .877
5. James Gillingham, Bradley 212 245 .865
6. Andy Toole, Pennsylvania 198 229 .865
7. Henry Domercant, E. Illinois 373 434 .859
Money Ball
Kyle Korver ranks third among the nation’s returners in free-throw percentage, so it’s no surprise that he’ll go long stretches at the line without a miss. In fact, Korver owns four career streaks of 20 or more consecutive free throws. He had a stretch of 21 straight from the stripe snapped on Nov. 25, 2002 with a miss vs. IUPUI.
Only once in his career has Korver missed two free throws during the same trip to the line, and that came Dec. 16, 2000 vs. Wichita State.
Here’s a chart showing Korver’s top streaks at the stripe.
Streak Dates
28 Jan. 27-March 15, 2001
27 Jan. 29-Nov. 20, 2000
24 Mar. 15-Dec. 4, 2001
21 Mar. 3, Nov. 25, 2002
Don’t Take Our Word For It
Count noted college basketball personality Dick Vitale among those who are fans of Kyle Korver. Vitale listed Korver on his All-AT&T team (Long Distance Bombers) in ESPN Magazine’s preseason college basketball preview issue dated Nov. 25, 2002. Korver is listed along with Brent Blizzard, Jason Kapono, Kirk Penney and Dante Swanson. Korver was also listed last season.
Altman Second on CU Victory List
Dana Altman ranks second on Creighton’s all-time coaching victories list, trailing only Arthur A. Schabinger. Schabinger led the Jays from 1922-35 and coached eight teams to at least a share of a league title. Below is a list of Creighton’s victory leaders:
Rk. W-L Coach
1. 163-66 Arthur A. Schabinger
2. 150-95 Dana Altman
3. 138-118 John J. “Red” McManus
Korver Gets MVC Player of the Week Again
Creighton senior Kyle Korver has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week on both Nov. 19 and Dec. 2 this season. Korver picked up his first hono by averaging 19.0 points per game while earning MVP honors of the Omaha Regional of the Guardians Classic. Korver made 13-of-19 shots overall (68.4 percent) and was 11-for-15 from three-point range (73.3 percent), while making his first eight tries of the season.
Korver’s earned his second honor by averaging 22 points and 5.5 rebounds per game against IUPUI and Notre Dame while earning MVP honors at the Guardians Classic finals in Kansas City, Mo. Korver shot 15-for-27 from the field (55.6 percent) and 12-for-19 (63.2 percent) from three-point range on the weekend, including a career-best seven tryes vs. Notre Dame.
Preseason Hype
In addition to the preseason MVC poll (page 4), Creighton has been picked to win the Missouri Valley Conference by Athlon Sports, Basketball News, Lindy’s, The Sporting News and Street & Smith’s magazines. In addition, The Sporting News ranks Creighton 24th nationally.
The preseason favorite’s role is Creighton’s second in three years (also 2000-01) and fifth time since 1989-90. In addition, Kyle Korver has been tabbed preseason MVC Player of the Year. Combined with the CU women’s selection as the top squad, this season marks the first time since 1992-93 that both The Valley’s men and women’s preseason favorite are from the same school.
A March Tradition
Did you know that Creighton is one of 20 teams nationally to have played in the NCAA Tournament each of the last four years The select company, listed alphabetically, also includes Arizona, Cincinnati, Creighton, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan St., Missouri, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Texas, UCLA, Winthrop and Wisconsin.
According to Stats Inc., Creighton is also one of just 22 teams nationally that have won 20 or more games in each of the last four seasons. Joining them in that category are Arizona, Butler, Charleston, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Indiana, Kansas, Kent State, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Syracuse, Tulsa, UCLA and Xavier.
Put together, Creighton is one of just 15 schools to win 20 or more games and reach the NCAA Tournament in each of the last four years.
Four Straight Trips Rare
Creighton’s current run of four straight NCAA Tournaments has been matched just one time previously. Cincinnati played in six straight NCAA Tournaments between 1958-63, including national titles in 1961 and 1962. Oscar Robertson played at Cincinnati from 1958-60.
Leading The Charge
Creighton has taken 11 charges this season, led by four from Tyler McKinney. The Bluejays took a season-high six on Nov. 18 vs. Furman.
The Triple Trifecta Streak
One of Creighton’s most impressive streaks came to an end at Evansville last Jan. 26. The Jays had made three or more three-pointers in 175 consecutive games dating to a 58-57 overtime loss to Northern Iowa on Feb. 16, 1996. The streak was snapped when CU was 2-for-13 from downtown vs. the Purple Aces.
One streak still intact is CU’s 248 consecutive games with a three-pointer, including every game under the direction of Dana Altman. Creighton’s last game without a three-pointer was a 59-53 loss at Illinois St. on Feb. 20, 1993 when Rick Johnson was coach.
Civic Swan Song
The 2002-03 campaign will mark Creighton’s final season in the Omaha Civic Auditorium. Creighton first played at the Civic in 1955 and moved there full-time for the 1961-62 season. The Jays own an all-time record of 418-155 at the Civic, including an 85-28 mark under Dana Altman.
The Civic has been home to five regular-season MVC champs and seven MVC Tournament champions in the last 25 years alone.
Creighton’s future home is under construction less than a mile from the current floor. The Omaha Convention Center & Arena is a $291 million project that will seat 15,800 fans for basketball and be ready for the 2003-04 season. The new arena is located between downtown Omaha and Eppley Airport on the former Union Pacific Railroad yards.
Civic Leader
With his season-opening win over Texas-Arlington, Dana Altman now owns the distinction of winning more games at the Civic Auditorium than any previous Creighton coach. Altman’s 85 wins passes Tom Apke, who was 83-16 at the Civic from 1974-81.
Streaks Of Note
Creighton coach Dana Altman is now 18-0 when his teams score 90 or more points. The Bluejays have won 34 straight since Jan. 11, 1988 when scoring 90 or more. Creighton has averaged 91.8 points per game this season.
In addition, Creighton has won 24 straight games when surpassing 80 points dating to a Feb. 19, 2000 setback.
Guardians Records Fall
Creighton smashed numerous Guardians Classic records en route to the title. The Bluejays established new marks for steals in a game (14 vs. Furman) as well as tournament records for points (367), assists (79) and steals (38).
Large Margins
It’s been a while since Creighton’s blown out the opposition in consecutive games. In fact, prior to last week’s 56-point win over UT-Arlington and the 25-point win over Furman, Creighton hadn’t won back-to-back contests by 25 or more since February of 1974. When Creighton beat IUPUI by 47 points on Nov. 25, it marked the first time ever they had beaten three straight opponents by 25 points or more.
Ranking Information
Creighton finished one spot shy of its first national ranking since 1975 in the Dec. 2 edition of the Associated Press poll. Creighton earned 125 points and trail Illinois by 45 points for the 25th position. Creighton has not been ranked by the Associated Press since March, 1975.
Creighton is also 26th in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll. In that poll, Gonzaga is 25th with 74 points, just ahead of Creighton with 64 points to lead those also receiving votes.
Saturday’s opponent, Brigham Young, received votes in both polls.
Ticket Info For Home Games
For Creighton men’s basketball season tickets, call (402) 280-2720. Single game tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at (402) 422-1212.
More On The Web
Want the latest information on Creighton Athletics Wondering where to find you can find updated statistics, photo galleries, and schedules on your favorite Bluejay team Point your browser to the official website of Creighton Athletics, located at gocreighton.com. The redesigned site was unveiled in September and was designed by Omaha-based Turner & Associates.
Future Jays
Creighton coach Dana Altman signed a pair of Missouri natives on fall Signing Day. Anthony Tolliver, a 6-9 forward/center from Springfield, Mo. (Kickapoo HS) and Tim Blackwell, a 6-4 guard from Cameron, Mo. (Cameron HS) both will join Creighton next fall. The Bluejays still have one scholarship remaining, which they plan to hold until the spring.
