ESPN2 Tilt at Southern Illinois Comes Saturday For Men's Hoops
1/24/2008 3:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Next Game
Creighton (14-4, 5-3 MVC) heads down to Carbondale, Ill., for a nationally-televised tilt with MVC rival Southern Illinois (9-10, 4-4 MVC).
Tip time at a sold-out SIU Arena (9,628) is set for 8:02 pm on Saturday night.
Radio Broadcast Information
KXSP (“Big Sports 590” AM) will broadcast all Creighton men's basketball games during the 2007-08 season. The audio is also webcast live at www.bigsports590.com. T. Scott Marr and Kevin Sarver will call the action.
Television Broadcast Information
Saturday's game will be nationally televised on ESPN2, with Dan Shulman (play-by-play), Jay Bilas (analyst) and Erin Andrews (sideline) on the call.
College GameDay Driven by State Farm will be on hand in Carbondale and broadcast live from SIU Arena from 10-11 am and 7-8 pm on Saturday, as well as other cut-ins on Friday and Saturday on the ESPN family of networks. The GameDay crew consists of Digger Phelps, Jay Bilas, Hubert Davis and host Rece Davis.
Coordinates for Saturday's game are Galaxy 3C/4C.
Video Webcast Available
Saturday's game will not be video webcast.
Live Stats Information
Southern Illinois is doing live stats for Saturday night's game. Visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the Live Stats tab on the left-hand side of the page.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton had its five-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday night with a 68-60 overtime loss to No. 22 Drake. Creighton is now 14-4 on the season and 5-3 in MVC play.
The 2007-08 Creighton team boasts just one returning starter from last year's MVC Tournament champion squad that finished 22-11 and played in the NCAA's for the seventh time in nine years.
That starter is leading scorer and rebounder Dane Watts (12.7 ppg., 6.9 rpg.), who is expected to make his 105th consecutive start on Saturday night. Watts also ranks second on the team with 15 blocked shots.
Freshman guard P'Allen Stinnett averages 10.9 points per game and tops the team at 11.8 ppg. in MVC action.
Creighton's bench averages 39.4 points per contest (second-most nationally) and has outscored the starting five by 80 points this year.
The Bluejays are 10-2 at home this season, including wins over DePaul, Nebraska, Saint Joseph's and UALR. CU is averaging 15,818 fans per home contest after ranking 13th nationally in attendance last year (15,909).
As a team, Creighton averages 74.3 points per game while allowing 62.9. The Jays also own a +4.8 advantage on the glass. CU shoots 45.9 percent from the floor, 37.3 percent on three-pointers and 72.8 percent at the line.
Scouting Southern Illinois
The MVC's unanimous preseason pick, Southern Illinois is 9-10 this year and 4-4 in the MVC. The Salukis are 6-2 at home, but just 1-7 in true road games this fall, including Wednesday night's loss at Missouri State.
SIU has three veteran starters that average in double-figures, led by preseason MVC Player of the Year Randal Falker. Falker averages 12.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, while also topping the squad with 26 blocked shots.
Matt Shaw averages 12.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game and has averaged 22.5 points against Creighton in the last two meetings in Carbondale.
Junior point guard Bryan Mullins averages 10.6 points per game and leads the MVC in assists per game (5.3) and steals per game (2.4).
SIU averages 62.8 points per game and holds opponents to 61.3 points per contest. The Salukis shoot 42.4 percent from the field, 32.3 percent from three-point range and hit 74.3 percent of its free throws.
The Coaches
The dean of Missouri Valley Conference coaches, Creighton's Dana Altman (Eastern New Mexico, 1980) is in his 14th year as head coach of the Bluejays. He owns a 274-145 (.654) mark at CU and a career record of 357-212 (.627) in 19 years as a NCAA Division I head coach.
Creighton's all-time winningest coach, Altman has been named national, conference, regional or district coach of the year in 10 of his 22 previous years as a head coach. The 2001 and 2002 MVC Coach of the Year was a finalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year Award in 2003. In 2004, Altman was named the Collegeinsider.com Jim Phelan National Mid-Season Coach of the Year. In March, 2007, Altman was named a coach on the MVC's All-Centennial Team.
Additionally, Altman has led Creighton to seven NCAA Tournaments and his teams have played in the postseason in 10 straight seasons. He is assisted by Brian Fish, Darian DeVries and Mike Maker. Nick Earnest is the team's film coordinator.
Chris Lowery (Southern Illinois, 1995) owns a 87-36 record in his fourth year as head coach of the Salukis. Lowery, a former Saluki point guard and assistant coach, has been in the postseason in all 10 years he's been a part of the program. He is assisted by Rodney Watson, Jack Owens and Brad Korn.
Series History Against Southern Illinois
Creighton owns a 42-35 all-time lead in the series against Southern Illinois, but is just 14-21 all-time in Carbondale.
The Salukis had won eight straight meetings in the series before the Jays won last year's MVC Tournament championship game, 67-61, before 22,612 fans in St. Louis, Mo.
Creighton has not won at SIU Arena since Feb. 10, 2001. It is the league's only road venue that Creighton's senior class has not won in.
Thirteen of the last 15 meetings have been decided by nine points or less (complete series history on page 10 of these notes).
Dana Altman is 14-15 against Southern Illinois and 1-6 against Chris Lowery.
Last Game Recap
Playing its first game as a ranked team since 1971, Drake won its 16th straight game with a 68-60 overtime win at Creighton. CU's Chad Millard missed a three-pointer at the end of regulation that could have won it, and the game went to overtime tied at 54. In OT, Drake scored the first five points and never trailed, making 9-of-10 free throws in the extra session. Creighton was led by 13 points and eight rebounds by senior Dane Watts, who also surpassed the 1,000 point mark in the contest. Drake was paced by senior Klayton Korver's 14 points.
Clash of the Titans
Saturday's showdown in Carbondale features the league's two dominant teams since the turn of the millennium. Consider the following information about Creighton and Southern Illinois...
- Six of the last seven MVC regular-season champions.
- Six of the last seven MVC Coaches of the Year.
- Five of the last six MVC Players of the Year.
- Five of the last six MVC Tourney champs.
- Either Creighton or Southern Illinois has made the postseason in 17 of the past 19 years.
- Last year's top-three vote-getters for MVC Player of the Year (Jamaal Tatum, Nate Funk, Randal Falker) and the only three players to get votes for MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year (Jamaal Tatum, Anthony Tolliver, Bryan Mullins).
Bright Lights, Big Wins
Creighton is 18-7 in its last 25 games on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. Creighton will have five games on ESPN2 or ESPNU this year, not including possible match-ups on Feb. 23 (BracketBusters) or March 1 (vs. Bradley).
Below is CU's recent results on the ESPN family of networks:
Date Opponent Score Network
01/15/08 at Northern Iowa W 68-59 ESPN2
02/24/07 Wichita State W 71-54 ESPN2
02/17/07 Drexel L 58-64 ESPN2
02/13/07 Northern Iowa W 66-55 ESPNU
02/10/07 at Southern Illinois L 68-72 ESPN2
12/30/06 Missouri State W 77-74 ESPN2
12/06/06 at Dayton L 54-60 ESPNU
02/18/06 Fresno State W 67-62 ESPN
02/14/06 at Wichita State L 61-62 ot ESPNU
01/31/06 Northern Iowa W 63-55 ESPNU
03/07/05 vs. Missouri State W 75-57 ESPN
02/12/05 at Southern Illinois L 67-71 ESPN2
02/09/05 Northern Iowa W 83-82 ESPN2
02/21/04 at Kent State L 55-70 ESPN2
02/07/04 Southern Illinois L 60-61 ESPN2
03/10/03 vs. Southern Illinois W 80-56 ESPN
02/22/03 Fresno State W 67-66 ESPN2
01/18/03 Southern Illinois W 85-76 ESPN2
03/04/02 vs. Southern Illinois W 84-76 ESPN2
02/23/02 at Bradley W 80-64 ESPN2
02/17/01 Wyoming W 84-72 ESPN
02/10/01 at Southern Illinois W 77-63 ESPN
03/06/00 vs. Missouri State W 57-45 ESPN
02/07/00 at Colorado State W 78-67 ESPN
03/01/99 vs. Evansville W 70-61 ESPN
One of the Best Programs Around
Every five years since 1997, Basketball Times has evaluated the best of the best NCAA programs -- those that have won two-thirds of their games over the previous 10 season span. The 2007 edition of the report had 29 teams that met that qualification, including Creighton.
Those 29 schools were then ranked from 1-29 on categories like 10-year winning percentage, number of active NBA players, freshman graduation rate and US News & World Report's academic peer assessment score, as well as a subjective vote of 10 panelists who judged teams based on “program cleanliness” and “head coach ranking”.
Creighton finished an impressive seventh, trailing only Duke, North Carolina, Florida, Stanford, Gonzaga and Michigan State.
Basketball Times Overall Rankings
Rk. School Avg. Ranking
1. Duke 3.7
2. North Carolina 7.5
3. Florida 8.0
4. Stanford 8.8
5. Gonzaga 10.0
Michigan State 10.0
7. Creighton 10.2
8. Kansas 10.8
9. Xavier 11.5
10. Illinois 12.0
11. Arizona 13.5
12. Connecticut 13.7
13. Syracuse 14.5
14. Butler 14.8
15. College of Charleston 15.2
Southern Illinois 15.2
Texas 15.2
18. Kentucky 16.0
Pennsylvania 16.0
20. Maryland 17.3
21. Pittsburgh 17.5
22. Utah State 18.3
23. Kent State 18.8
24. Utah 20.2
25. Cincinnati 20.5
26. Murray State 20.7
Oklahoma 20.7
28. Oklahoma State 21.0
29. Memphis 23.0
7-Up
Creighton and Southern Illinois are two of the nation's most successful programs in the past seven years. SIU's 164 wins rank ninth, while Creighton's 151 wins are tied for 13th in that category, through games of Jan. 23.
Most Wins, Last Seven Years (since 2001-02)
Rank School Wins Next
1. Kansas 187 1/26
2. Duke 183 1/24
3. Florida 180 1/27
4. Pittsburgh 177 1/26
5. Memphis 174 1/26
6. Gonzaga 173 1/26
7. Illinois 169 1/27
8. Connecticut 165 1/26
9. Southern Illinois 164 1/26
10. Syracuse 162 1/27
11. Texas 160 1/26
12. Kentucky 157 1/26
13. Creighton 151 1/26
Oklahoma 151 1/26
15. Oklahoma State 146 1/26
A Tall Task
It will take a special effort for Creighton to win at Southern Illinois. Since the start of the 2001-02 season, SIU is 55-1 at home against MVC foes, losing only Feb. 1, 2006 to Indiana State.
In that time frame, Southern Illinois is 84-5 (.944) at home in all games.
Additionally, Saluki head coach Chris Lowery is 119-10 (.922) in 10 years as a player, assistant coach or head coach in SIU Arena.
Fundamentally Sound
According to a midseason update published by the NCAA on Jan. 23, the Missouri Valley Conference leads the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 62.54 points per game, per team.
Additionally, the league's 71.09 free-throw percentage is second only to The Summit League's 71.47 accuracy rate.
Korver vs. Korver As Korver Watches
Tuesday's Creighton/Drake match-up also featured the first collegiate meeting of Bluejay freshman Kaleb Korver against Bulldog senior Klayton Korver.
Older brother Kyle Korver flew in from Salt Lake City for the game to watch. He saw Klayton score a game-high 14 points, while Kaleb had seven points on 2-of-2 shooting from three-point range.
Below is a comparison between Kaleb Korver and that of Kyle Korver after their first 14 games at Creighton (though Creighton has played 18 games, Kaleb has only played in 14 of them):
Komparing Korvers, First 14 Games at Creighton
Statistic Kyle Kaleb
Points 55 46
Points Per Game 3.9 3.3
Rebounds 33 18
Rebounds Per Game 2.4 1.3
Minutes 159 167
Minutes Per Game 8.8 11.9
Field Goals 18-54 15-29
FG Percentage .333 .517
3-Pt. Field Goals 11-41 9-21
3-Pt. Field Goal Pct. .268 .429
Free Throws 8-10 7-12
Free Throw Percentage .800 .583
Assists 11 13
Turnovers 18 10
Blocks 0 0
Steals 4 2
Digger Against The Jays
College GameDay personality Digger Phelps will watch Saturday's game from press row, but he did coach eight games against Creighton during his 20-year tenure at Notre Dame. Phelps had a 4-4 record in eight games against Creighton, as highlighted on the next page:
Date Site Score
02/26/1972 Omaha, Neb. CU 104-77
12/30/1984 Omaha, Neb. CU 60-58
12/30/1985 South Bend, Ind. ND 80-54
01/12/1987 South Bend, Ind. ND 67-54
02/22/1988 South Bend, Ind. ND 66-54
12/10/1988 South Bend, Ind. ND 77-64
01/03/1990 Omaha, Neb. CU 77-75 (OT)
02/18/1991 South Bend, Ind. CU 90-67
Overtime News & Notes
Creighton's 68-60 loss to Drake on Tuesday dropped the Bluejays to 45-43 all-time in overtime games, including a 23-12 mark at home.
Dana Altman is 13-11 at Creighton in overtime games, including a 6-3 record in home games. The Bluejays are 3-2 at Qwest Center Omaha in overtime games.
Creighton not played consecutive overtime games since Feb. 9 and Feb. 12, 1994.
Over .500 Again
Creighton has been better than .500 in either the first or second-half of the league season in 25 straight trips through the league, including the first half this year. The Jays will be at the midway point of the league campaign after Saturday's game at Southern Illinois.
Here's how Dana Altman's clubs have fared in the various halves of the MVC season since his arrival:
Year 1st Half 2nd Half
2007-08 5-3 so far --
2006-07 6-3 7-2
2005-06 7-2 5-4
2004-05 5-4 6-3
2003-04 7-2 5-4
2002-03 8-1 7-2
2001-02 8-1 6-3
2000-01 5-4 9-0
1999-00 5-4 6-3
1998-99 6-3 5-4
1997-98 5-4 7-2
1996-97 5-4 5-4
1995-96 4-5 5-4
1994-95 3-6 1-8
Total 79-46 (.632) 74-43 (.632)
What's Your Twenty?
This is the 11th straight year that Creighton has won at least 13 of its first 20 games. Each of the previous 10 seasons it has done that, it reached the postseason. Here's a look at Creighton's record after 20 games in the 14 seasons under Dana Altman.
Year First 20 W-L Final W-L Postseason
2007-08 14-4 so far ??? ???
2006-07 13-7 22-11 NCAA
2005-06 15-5 20-10 NIT
2004-05 13-7 23-11 NCAA
2003-04 17-3 20-9 NIT
2002-03 18-2 29-5 NCAA
2001-02 14-6 23-9 NCAA
2000-01 14-6 24-8 NCAA
1999-00 14-6 23-10 NCAA
1998-99 14-6 22-9 NCAA
1997-98 14-6 18-10 NIT
1996-97 10-10 15-15 ---
1995-96 11-9 14-15 ---
1994-95 6-14 7-19 ---
Watts Joins 1,000 Point Club
Creighton's Dane Watts scored 13 points on Tuesday against Drake, making him the 32nd player in school history to score 1,000 career points. Watts, who needed four points coming in, drained a three-pointer on CU's first possession and then surpassed the milestone with 11:57 to play in the first half on an elbow jumper.
Later in the game, Watts passed former teammate Anthony Tolliver and moved into 31st place on the CU scoring list. He now owns 1,009 career points.
Watts has averaged 8.8 points in 115 career games, including 12.7 ppg. this year.
Creighton's 1,000 Point Scorers
Rk. Pts. Name Years
1. 2,116 Rodney Buford 1995-99
2. 2,110 Bob Harstad 1987-91
3. 1,983 Chad Gallagher 1987-91
4. 1,876 Bob Portman 1966-69
5. 1,801 Kyle Korver 1999-03
6. 1,754 Nate Funk 2002-07
7. 1,682 Rick Apke 1974-78
8. 1,661 Paul Silas 1961-64
9. 1,654 Vernon Moore 1981-85
10. 1,575 Benoit Benjamin 1982-85
11. 1,526 John C. Johnson 1975-79
12. 1,500 Kevin McKenna 1977-81
13. 1,437 Eddie Cole 1951-55
14. 1,369 Gene Harmon 1971-74
15. 1,361 Duan Cole 1987-92
16. 1,309 Ryan Sears 1997-01
17. 1,303 Elton Tuttle 1951-54
18. 1,272 Bob Gibson 1954-57
19. 1,267 Wally Anderzunas 1965-67, 1968-69
20. 1,254 Gary Swain 1983-87
21. 1,238 Ben Walker 1997-01
22. 1,196 Ray Yost 1951-54
23. 1,172 Dick Harvey 1956-59
24. 1,115 Doug Brookins 1972-75
1,115 Daryl Stovall 1978-82
26. 1,106 Kenny Evans 1982-87
27. 1,093 Tim Powers 1964-67
28. 1,050 Reggie Morris 1982-86
29. 1,031 Johnny Mathies 2003-06
30. 1,023 Rod Mason 1986-88
31. 1,009 Dane Watts 2004-08
32. 1,004 Anthony Tolliver 2003-07
More On Scoring 1,000 Points
Dane Watts on Tuesday reached the 1,000 point milestone in his 115th career game. Below is the number of games it took to reach 1,000 points for CU's last eight such scorers.
Watts was the third straight Bluejay to reach the 1,000 point barrier in a game that CU later lost.
Name Games to 1,000 pts. Date
Dane Watts 115 01/22/08
Anthony Tolliver 124 03/16/07
Johnny Mathies 91 03/03/06
Nate Funk 92 02/28/05
Kyle Korver 81 01/30/02
Ben Walker 105 01/06/01
Ryan Sears 97 12/01/00
Rodney Buford 59 03/01/97
1,000 and 600
Now that Dane Watts has surpassed 1,000 career points, the next milestone for him will be to pass 600 career rebounds. He enters Saturday's game with 598 career boards.
In Creighton history, only 10 players have reached both marks. Of those 10 men, only three of them also made 100 or more three-pointers. Watts owns 126 career trifectas.
1,000 Points and 600 Rebounds, CU History
Pts. Reb. 3FG Name Years
2,116 716 212 Rodney Buford 1995-99
2,110 1,126 4 Bob Harstad 1987-91
1,983 891 12 Chad Gallagher 1987-91
1,876 979 0 Bob Portman 1966-69
1,801 664 371 Kyle Korver 1999-03
1,682 709 0 Rick Apke 1974-78
1,661 1,751 0 Paul Silas 1961-64
1,575 1,005 0 Benoit Benjamin 1982-85
1,238 677 100 Ben Walker 1997-01
1,093 674 0 Tim Powers 1964-67
Decade (+1) of Dominance
Creighton has reached 10 straight postseasons, and is in the process of trying to extend that streak to 11.
In that time (since 1997-98), the Bluejays have dominated the Missouri Valley Conference to the tune of at least a .650 winning percentage against every foe except Southern Illinois, as seen below:
Opponent Altman at CU W-L Last 11 Years
Bradley 16-12 15-8
Drake 19-8 16-5
Evansville 19-8 17-5
Illinois State 16-13 16-8
Indiana State 22-10 19-7
Missouri State 21-14 19-8
Northern Iowa 21-7 19-3
Southern Illinois 14-15 10-13
Wichita State 23-5 18-5
Totals 171-92 (.650) 149-62 (.706)
20 Overall Wins x 9 Years = MVC History
Creighton is the only school in the 101-year history of the Missouri Valley Conference to post nine straight 20-win campaigns. No other school owns more than six straight.
Creighton is one of nine teams nationally with 20 or more wins in each of last nine seasons. That list consists of Arizona, Creighton, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kent State, Kentucky and Syracuse.
Postseason x 10
Creighton has made either the NIT or NCAA in 10 consecutive seasons, tied for the longest streak of postseason bids in MVC history. It matches the 10 straight from 1966 to 1975 by Louisville.
The only 12 schools to make the postseason in each of the last 10 years are Arizona, Creighton, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Stanford and Syracuse.
Creighton, which also boasts a men's soccer team with 16 straight NCAA appearances, is the nation's only school with 10 straight postseason appearances in both men's basketball and men's soccer.
10 Conference Wins x 11 Seasons
Last year Creighton extended its MVC record by winning 10 or more league games for an 11th consecutive season. Prior to Dana Altman's arrival, the Bluejays had 10 or more conference wins in only six different seasons all-time.
On a national basis, the only teams with at least 11 straight years of 10 or more league wins are Arizona (22), South Carolina State (14), Stanford (13), Kansas (13) and Creighton (11).
Altman Passing Coaching Legends
Dana Altman continues to pass some of the coaching greats in MVC history in two categories. Altman's 274 wins at Creighton are third in MVC history, while his 153 triumphs in regular-season conference games have allowed him to pass Phog Allen for third in league history.
Both men above him, Henry Iba and Eddie Hickey, are in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Coaches--Most Wins As MVC Member--All Games
Wins Coach School(s)
1. 486 Henry Iba Oklahoma A&M
2. 337 Eddie Hickey Creighton & St. Louis
3. 274 Dana Altman Creighton
MVC Coaches--Most Wins In Conference Games
Wins Coach School(s)
1. 187 Henry Iba Oklahoma A&M
2. 163 Eddie Hickey Creighton & St. Louis
3. 153 Dana Altman Creighton
4. 126 Phog Allen Kansas
Consistent Challengers
One of the most impressive facets of the Dana Altman tenure is how often his teams have been in the running for the MVC regular-season title. Eight of his last 10 teams have finished either first or second in The Valley, and the two that didn't both won the MVC Tournament.
The Bluejays won the MVC in 2000-01 and tied for the title in 2001-02. CU was second in the MVC in 1997-98 and 2006-07, tied for second in the MVC in 1998-99, 2003-04 and 2005-06, and finished tied for third in 2004-05. The 1999-00 club was fourth in the MVC, but won the MVC Tournament.
Creighton's MVC Finishes, Last 10 Years
1st Place 2000-01
Tied for First 2001-02 (won MVC Tourn.)
2nd Place 1997-98, 2002-03 (won MVC Tourn.), 2006-07 (won MVC Tourn.)
Tied for 2nd 1998-99 (won MVC Tourn.), 2003-04, 2005-06
Tied for 3rd Place 2004-05 (won MVC Tourn.)
4th Place 1999-00 (won MVC Tourn.)
Million Fan March
Jared Stickrod, a 10-year old from Omaha, was honored as the 1,000,000th Creighton basketball fan to Qwest Center Omaha on Saturday.
Stickrod received two season tickets for the 2008-09 season, a framed photo signed by Dana Altman and Dane Watts, a Creighton basketball jersey, a Creighton “Jays” flag, and an autographed basketball signed by the 2007-08 Creighton basketball team.
The Bluejays have hosted 1,020,444 fans in 75 all-time regular-season and NIT home games. The works out to an average of 13,605 fans per home contest in the five-year span of the facility.
The Better The Record, The Harder They Fall
Prior to Tuesday's loss to Drake, Creighton had been 18-0 in the five-year history of Qwest Center Omaha against opponents that enter a game with one loss or less.
Opponent's
Record
Entering Opponent CU Result Date
16-1 #22 Drake L 60-68 ot 1/22/08
9-1 Arkansas-Little Rock W 80-61 12/22/07
3-0 Nebraska W 74-62 11/24/07
0-0 DePaul W 74-62 11/09/07
7-1 #24 Xavier W 73-67 12/09/06
2-1 George Mason W 58-56 11/25/06
0-1 Miss. Valley State W 78-42 11/13/06
7-1 Missouri State W 78-56 12/28/05
5-1 Xavier W 61-59 12/18/05
6-1 Nebraska W 70-44 12/11/05
2-1 Dayton W 91-90 11/26/05
0-0 Ark.-Pine Bluff W 87-55 11/19/05
7-1 Bradley W 71-62 12/28/04
0-0 Ark.-Pine Bluff W 83-58 11/20/04
1-0 Iona W 68-62 11/16/04
0-0 Alcorn State W 74-40 11/15/04
5-0 Nebraska W 61-54 12/10/03
0-1 Bethune-Cookman W 69-49 12/03/03
2-0 St. Bonaventure W 83-63 11/29/03
Start of Something Good
In the four games since P'Allen Stinnett was inserted into the starting line-up, Creighton's offense has started strong.
In Stinnett's first start at Wichita State on Jan. 12, he had five of CU's first seven points as the Jays scored 10 points by the first media timeout.
On Jan. 15 at UNI, Stinnett had six of CU's first 11 points and the Jays led 16-11 at the first media timeout.
Last Saturday, the Bluejays led 14-6 at the first media timeout and would score on eight of their first nine possessions.
Tuesday, Creighton led 9-4 at the media timeout thanks to 3-of-3 shooting from three-point range.
Lawson's Block Party
Kenny Lawson Jr. had a career-high five blocked shots against Indiana State last Saturday, and the redshirt freshman now has 10 swats in CU's last five games.
Each of the other three Bluejay freshmen with five blocked shots in a game during the past 25 years would eventually make the NBA.
Rodney Buford had five blocks against Drake on Feb. 26, 1996. Buford would end his career as Creighton's all-time leading scorer with 2,116 points.
Chad Gallagher had five blocks against Drake on Feb. 11, 1988. Gallagher would end his career second in CU history in both points (1,983) and blocked shots (183).
Benoit Benjamin had six different games with five blocks or more, including a high of eight on Feb. 19, 1983 against Drake. Benjamin still owns the MVC record with 411 career blocks.
Jays Get 10 Home Wins Again
Last Saturday's win against Indiana State was Creighton's 10th home win this season. Creighton has now won 10 or more home games in 12 straight years. That ties a school-record, as Creighton previously won 10 or more home games in 12 straight seasons from the 1969-70 season to the 1980-81 campaign.
The Drive For Five
Creighton's has had a pair of five-game winning streaks this year, only to lose in their bid for a sixth straight victory each time.
The Bluejays have had at least one five-game win streak in each of the last 11 seasons, and 18 such streaks overall in the 14-year tenure of Dana Altman.
Since 1988-89, the Bluejays have made the postseason all 13 previous times they've had a five-game winning streak in a season, but missed the postseason all six times they haven't.
20 x 2 Off The Bench
Creighton had a pair of players score 20 or more points off the bench on Saturday against Indiana State. Cavel Witter scored 21 points, while Booker Woodfox had 20 points off the pine.
According to STATS Inc., they are just the third pair of teammates this year to both have 20 bench points in the same game.
Troy's Brandon Hazzard (27 points) and Mario Telfair (20) did it on Dec. 17 against Jacksonville in a 98-80 win.
Likewise, VMI's Chavis Holmes (27) and Travis Holmes (25) also did it against Columbia Union College on Nov. 28 in a 156-91 victory.
The last time Creighton had two players with 20 or more points in the same game was Dec. 30, 2006, when Nate Funk (23) and Anthony Tolliver (20) both did it against Missouri State.
Creighton has now received four outbursts of 20 points or more off the bench. Earlier this year P'Allen Stinnett had 23 points against DePaul on Nov. 9 and 22 points against Illinois State on Dec. 29 as a reserve.
Woodfox Shoots Up The Sycamores
Booker Woodfox went 6-of-7 from three-point range against Indiana State on Saturday, scoring a career-high 20 points. His six three-point baskets tied a Qwest Center Omaha high by a Bluejay (done twice previously), and were the team's most at any site since Nate Funk drained seven trifectas on Nov. 18, 2006 at Nebraska.
In two games against Indiana State, Woodfox has averaged 18.0 points per game and made 11-14 three-point tries (78.6 percent).
Woodfox ranks second on the team with 44.8 percent accuracy from three-point range, and is second on the team-high with 26 trifectas.
The junior ranks second in MVC play in three-point percentage, hitting 55.2 percent of his shots from downtown (16-29).
Bahe, Bahe, Bahe
Senior guard Nick Bahe started his college career at the University of Kansas, so it's only fitting that his final game in the Sunflower State was a memorable effort.
Bahe tied a career-high with 15 points, hitting 5-of-7 shots from the floor and 3-of-5 from downtown against Wichita State on Jan. 12. He also drained two free throws when Shocker head coach Gregg Marshall was whistled for a technical foul.
Last Tuesday, Bahe matched his high with 15 more points in a road win at UNI. Bahe drained 5-of-9 shots, including two trifectas, as well as perfect 3-of-3 shooting at the line.
Bahe is shooting 41.6 percent from three-point range in his career (52-125), a figure that ranks sixth-best in CU history.
Career 3-Point Pct. (Minimum 100 Attempts)
Pct. Name, Years 3FGM-FGA
.4530 Kyle Korver, 1999-03 371-819
.4415 Rod Mason, 1986-88 132-299
.4404 Nerijus Karlikanovas, 1998-00 48-109
.4306 Michael Lindeman, 2000-04 62-144
.4293 Duan Cole, 1987-92 176-410
.4160 Nick Bahe, 2006-Present 52-125
.4065 Nate Funk, 2002-07 200-492
.4053 Matt West, 1996-00 92-227
Take Me Home, Country Road
Creighton is 32-8 at home all-time at Qwest Center Omaha in MVC games (.800), compared to a 21-19 (.525) road record in the MVC during that stretch.
Creighton and Southern Illinois were the only two schools that had four of its first six MVC games on the road this winter.
Home Cooking
Only four MVC visiting schools have ever won a game in the five-year old Qwest Center Omaha.
Below is a look at Creighton's current home winning streaks over current league foes:
Opponent CU Streak Last Opp. Win in Omaha
Bradley Won 9 1/17/98
Drake Lost 1 1/22/08
Evansville Won 9 1/04/99
Illinois State Lost 1 12/29/07
Indiana State Won 9 1/04/99
Missouri State Won 2 2/05/05
Northern Iowa Won 11 2/17/96
So. Illinois Lost 4 1/20/07
Wichita State Won 14 2/22/92
A Strong Start
Creighton is 14-4 after 18 games, its best start since the 2003-04 team began 16-2. Like this year's club, that team also played exhibition games in Canada prior to the start of the season.
The Jays have now opened 14-4 or better after 18 games three times under Dana Altman. CU was 16-2 in 2002-03 and was 16-2 in 2003-04 before this season's 14-4 open. Prior to the 2002-03 season, CU hadn't started 15-3 or better since a 15-3 start in 1976-77.
Hitting The Benchmarks
Creighton's bench contributed 51 points on Saturday night against Indiana State. The reserves combined to shoot 15-for-20 from the field, including 10-of-12 from three-point range.
All About The Bench-amins
Creighton's Dec. 20 win over North Carolina Central marked the third time this season that the Creighton bench had outscored the entire line-up of the other team.
In that game, Creighton's bench scored 61 points, while the North Carolina Central squad scored 54 total.
CU's bench has also outscored the entire teams from Savannah State (60-52) and Houston Baptist (77-73) this year.
Creighton's bench has outscored its starting line-up in 10 games this season, including seven of the past 11 contests.
Bench Press
Creighton's bench has outscored its own starting five by a 709-629 margin through 18 games. The 53.0 percent of scoring coming from CU's bench was easily the nation's best mark, through games of Jan. 22 according to Allan Spear at STATS Inc.
Percentage of Points Scored by Bench
Source: STATS -- Chicago ? Through Jan. 22
Rk. Team Start% Bench%
1. Creighton 47.01 52.99
2. Texas State 47.12 52.88
3. North Carolina A&T 49.42 50.58
4. Southeast Missouri State 49.97 50.03
5. Buffalo 50.46 49.54
6. Central Michigan 51.74 48.26
7. Cal State Northridge 54.50 45.50
8. Coppin State 54.78 45.22
Creighton has scored 31 or more bench points every game this year but five, compared to a high of 30 for last year's team. This year's team currently averages 39.4 points per game off the pine, the second-highest mark nationally through Jan. 22 as well.
Bench Scoring Per Game
Source: STATS -- Chicago ? Through Jan. 22
Rk. Team G Bench PPG
1. Texas State 17 45.41
2. Creighton 18 39.56
3. Southeast Missouri State 20 37.65
4. Virginia Military 17 37.18
5. Duquesne 16 36.56
6. Cal State Northridge 17 35.94
7. North Carolina A&T 17 35.88
8. Central Michigan 17 34.18
9. Buffalo 16 34.00
10. Pepperdine 20 32.30
Last year's Bluejay club had 356 bench points for the entire season, an average of 10.8 points per game.
Creighton's bench has outscored the opposition's bench by a 709-394 margin, which amounts to a +17.5 point per game differential.
Almost as improbable is that Creighton's bench has almost as many points as the opponent's starters, trailing just 738-709.
Here's a breakdown of CU's starters and bench this season:
Stat CU Starters CU Bench
Points 629 709
Minutes 1920 1730
FG% .455 .463
3FG% .350 .395
FT% .763 .704
Rebounds 323 272
Assists 154 124
Steals 84 75
Reserve Corps
Creighton's 77 bench points on Dec. 17 against Houston Baptist were its most in at least 20 years.
The 77 points is incredible when you consider that Dana Altman's 1994-95 Bluejay team (his first at Creighton) had a single-game season-high point total of 76.
Balancing Act
Creighton has 11 players averaging 11.9 minutes per game or more, with all of those men scoring at least 3.3 points per game as well. Four of Creighton's top six scorers have six starts or less this year. All 14 Bluejays on the roster have scored at least six points or more.
Freshmen Starting Duo
Creighton have started both Kenny Lawson Jr. and P'Allen Stinnett each of the past four games. It marked the first time CU has started two freshmen in the same game since Dec. 29, 2001, when both Jimmy Motz and Tyler McKinney started against Mississippi Valley State.
Freshmen Scoring Leaders
P'Allen Stinnett led Creighton in scoring on Jan. 5, Jan. 9 and Jan. 12. He became the first Bluejay freshman to accomplish that feat since Rodney Buford during the 1995-96 season. Buford led the Jays in scoring in five straight games from Jan. 27-Feb. 8.
Stinnett was also the first Bluejay freshman with four straight games of 10 or more points since Ryan Sears had six straight from Jan. 4-21, 1998.
Creighton has had at least one freshman lead the team in scoring nine of 18 games to date, and had four others in which a sophomore or junior newcomer had at least a share of the team scoring lead.
Halftime Score A Good Indicator
Incredibly, just three of Creighton's 18 games have had a lead change in the second half.
Tuesday's game against Drake featured six ties and eight lead changes in the second half before it headed to overtime. Drake went on to win, 68-60.
The most recent contest came in Creighton's Dec. 9 home victory over Saint Joseph's. In that contest, Creighton and St. Joe's combined for four ties and six lead changes after the break. In overtime, CU scored the first six points and went on to a 90-84 win.
The Nov. 9 season-opener against DePaul is the only other Bluejay contest with a lead change in the second half. Creighton trailed that game by six at the break but went on to win by 12, 74-62.
Creighton is 14-1 this season in games in which it has held a lead at any point of the second half.
3-Point Weapons
Creighton has seven different players that have made 13 or more three-pointers this season. Two other Bluejays have nine treys.
For the season, Creighton's 8.67 three-pointers per game ranks third in the MVC this year and second-highest in school history.
Creighton has made 10 three-pointers in each of its last four games, and are 7-1 this year when making 10 or more three-pointers in a game.
Possession by Possession
Creighton's defense during its 14-0 run to start the second half against Evansville on Jan. 9 was dominant. Kenny Lawson Jr. blocked each of UE's first three shots while Josh Dotzler had three steals in a 72 second span.
The Jays also forced a five-second call on an inbounds pass as well as a Jason Holsinger turnover on an over-and-back violation.
Here's a look at UE's first eight possessions after halftime.
Time - Evansville Offensive Play
19:43 - van Tongeren missed FG (blocked by Lawson)
18:53 - Holsinger missed FG (blocked by Lawson)
18:50 - Lacey turnover (steal by Dotzler)
18:24 - Gomez turnover (steal by Dotzler)
18:05 - Team turnover (5 second call)
17:38 - Lacey turnover (steal by Dotzler)
17:05 - Garner missed FG (blocked by Lawson)
16:56 - Holsinger turnover (over-and-back violation)
California Connection
Kenny Lawson Jr. and Kenton Walker, a pair of freshmen from the San Diego area, continue to play better as they gain collegiate experience.
The duo combined for 12 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks in 30 minutes last Saturday against Drake.
For the season, the duo provides Creighton with 9.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 55.8 percent from the floor.
104 and Counting So Far...
Dane Watts figures to make his 105th consecutive start on Saturday, which dates to his first start on Dec. 28, 2004.
Watts' streak ranks as the MVC's longest active streak of consecutive starts, and is also fifth nationally according to STATS Inc. through Jan. 23.
Longest Active String of Consecutive Starts
Source: STATS -- Chicago
Through Jan. 23, 2008
Rk. Name, School Streak Next
1. Jonathan Wallace, Georgetown 119 01/26
2. Dominique Kirk, Texas A&M 114 01/26
3. Leon Williams, Ohio 111 01/26
4. William Byrd, Ark.-Pine Bluff 105 01/26
5. Dane Watts, Creighton 104 01/26
6. Gabe Moore, Indiana State 101 01/27
7. Mark Porter, Wagner 98 01/24
Hammons Success = MVC Champs = NCAA?
Including Jan. 5th, Creighton has won just six times in 21 tries at Missouri State all-time.
Even better, each of those previous five Bluejay teams to win in Springfield went on to win the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and reach the NCAA Tournament that March.
This year marks just the second time (joining 1998-99) that Creighton has won at Missouri State, Wichita State and Northern Iowa in the same season. The last MVC school to do that in the same season was Southern Illinois in 2002-03.
Halftime Advantage
Creighton's 47-20 halftime lead over Nebraska on November 24 was the second-largest intermission margin in the five-year history of Qwest Center Omaha. Creighton led Alcorn State 39-11 on Nov. 15, 2004 for the largest halftime margin.
Below is a list of Creighton's top halftime leads and deficits at Qwest Center Omaha:
CU's Largest Halftime Leads at Qwest Center
Margin Score Opponent Date
28 39-11 Alcorn State 11/15/04
27 47-20 Nebraska 11/24/07
23 41-18 St. Bonaventure 11/29/03
21 42-21 Bethune Cookman 12/03/03
20 31-11 Nebraska 12/11/05
20 37-17 San Diego 11/22/03
CU's Largest Halftime Deficits at Qwest Center
Margin Score Opponent Date
-14 34-48 Evansville 02/07/07
-13 29-42 Illinois State 12/29/07
-11 27-38 Indiana State 02/22/06
-10 19-29 Miami (Fla.) 03/20/06
-10 28-38 Bradley 01/18/06
Tenacious D
Creighton's Jan. 5th 50-49 win at Missouri State improved Creighton head coach Dana Altman to 42-0 in his Division I coaching career when his teams allow 50 points or less.
That victory also marked the Bluejays fewest points in a win since a 50-48 victory over Nebraska on Dec. 11, 2004. The Jays hadn't won a Valley contest when scoring 50 points or fewer since a 50-47 victory at Wichita State on Feb. 23, 1994.
Creighton is allowing 62.9 points per game so far. This marks the sixth straight season the Jays have allowed less than 65 points per game.
MVC Success At the 1/3 Mark
Last Tuesday was Creighton's sixth MVC game of the season, marking the 1/3rd point of the league slate. The Bluejays have never had a losing record after exactly six league games under Dana Altman. CU currently at 4-2 in the league, has run that streak to 14 straight seasons.
Creighton has not been under .500 in league play after six games or more at any time since Jan. 17, 1998, when the team was 3-4. That squad responded with nine straight wins and advanced to the NIT.
Mid-Week Mastery
Creighton has never lost a game at Qwest Center Omaha on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, going a combined 20-0 on those dates.
Fourteen of those wins have come on a Wednesday, while five others were on Thursday's. Creighton's only Friday night home game since 1997 was this season's opening win over DePaul, giving the Jays a 1-0 home record on Friday night at the five-year old facility.
Stinnett Takes More Newcomer Honors
Freshman P'Allen Stinnett earned his second MVC Newcomer of the Week honor when he was selected on Jan. 7 for his play during the week of Dec. 30-Jan. 6.
Stinnett averaged 11.5 points per game in road games at Indiana State and Missouri State. He scored a game-high 18 points against the Bears, including the game-winning free throw with 56.9 seconds left in the Jays 50-49 win.
Stinnett repeated his honor one week later on Jan. 14, his third honor of the year. Stinnett averaged 14.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game in wins over Evansville and Wichita State.
Stinnett Off To A Good Start
P'Allen Stinnett has scored 197 points in his first 18 games as a Bluejay. That ranks as the most by any CU player in their first 18 games since Brody Deren scored 199 points to open his 2001-02 campaign.
Putting it in perspective, former Bluejay Anthony Tolliver scored just 22 points all of his freshman season. Tolliver ended with 1,004 career points and was named second-team all-MVC (2005-06) and first-team all-MVC (2006-07) before graduating last May.
10 x 10 Points
According to January 6 research by Navy men's basketball SID Chris Forman, Creighton's offensive diversity puts them in select company as one of six schools nationally to have 10 different players score 10 points in a game this year.
Wofford has 11 different players that have scored at least 10 points to lead all schools. Others with 10 players to score 10 points in a game, besides Creighton, include Duquesne, Navy, Southeast Missouri State, Belmont and Lipscomb.
Getting Defensive
Creighton held Missouri State without a field goal for the final 10:07 of the first half, then without a basket for the first 2:15 of the second half. That 12:22 is the longest period without a field goal by any Bluejay opponent this season.
Creighton has 18 different stretches this season in which it has held an opponent without a field goal for more than five minutes in a row, as seen below:
CU Holding Opponents 5:00+ Without a FG (18)
Span Opponent, Date Half
12:22 at Missouri State, 1/5 Both
8:57 at Indiana State, 1/2 1st
8:43 at Drexel, 12/1 Both
7:53 at Northern Iowa, 1/15 Both
7:51 Arkansas-Little Rock, 12/22 1st
7:33 at Wichita State, 1/12 2nd
7:27 at Drexel, 12/1 1st
7:19 Savannah State, 11/29 Both
6:46 Mississippi Valley State, 11/17 2nd
6:41 North Carolina Central, 12/20 1st
6:33 Indiana State, 1/19 1st
5:31 at Northern Iowa, 1/15 2nd
5:21 Nebraska, 11/24 1st
5:13 Arkansas-Little Rock, 12/22 2nd
5:12 Mississippi Valley State, 11/17 1st
5:11 at Indiana State, 1/2 2nd
5:11 Evansville, 1/9 Both
5:02 North Carolina Central, 12/20 2nd
More Defensive Excellence
When Creighton bolted to a 29-15 halftime lead on Jan. 5 at Missouri State, it helped set a couple of Hammons Student Center records.
Missouri State's 15 points in the first half were its fewest in the 32-year history of Hammons Student Center, which has hosted 486 games. MSU's previous low had been 19 against Arkansas on Dec. 18, 1983.
It was also MSU's lowest scoring half at any site since they got 14 points at Purdue on Dec. 23, 1991.
Missouri State's 4-of-22 shooting in the first half (18.2 percent) was the lowest marksmanship by a Bluejay opponent in a half since Nebraska was just 4-of-26 (15.4 percent) in the first half of a loss to Creighton on Dec. 11, 2005.
On TV More Than Leave It To Beaver
Creighton's Dec. 22 game against UALR began a 14-game stretch in which each Bluejay game will be televised.
Five of those games will air on KMTV, two games each will air on FSN Midwest, ESPNU and ESPN2 and one game will be on Mediacom (Des Moines), Cox 2 (Omaha) and NET-1.
Creighton's Feb. 13 game at Evansville is the only contest on the remaining docket that will definitely not be televised.
ESPN will announce BracketBuster pairings and coverage for the Feb. 23 game on Feb. 4th, while the MVC office will announce television coverage for CU's March 1 game with Bradley in on Feb. 5th.
Piling Up The Points, and Wins
Some of Creighton's recent wins have continued five impressive streaks.
Creighton has won 32 straight home games when scoring 68 points or more since Feb. 5, 2005.
Creighton has won 36 straight games when scoring 72 points or more dating to Jan. 29, 2005.
The Bluejays have won 56 consecutive games when scoring 80 points or more, dating to Feb. 19, 2000.
Creighton has also won 43 straight games when scoring 90 points or more, dating to Jan. 11, 1988.
Creighton has won 14 straight when scoring 100 points or more, dating to Feb. 26, 1977.
To The Century Mark And Beyond
Creighton's 110 points on Dec. 17 against Houston Baptist were its most points in a game since 1985, and fourth-most in school history.
It marked Creighton's 41st all-time game of 100 or more points. CU is 39-2 in those games.
It marked Creighton's first 100 point game since a 100-68 win over Chattanooga on Feb. 19, 2005.
CU's 110 points were its most since scoring 115-80 over Indiana State on Jan. 19, 1985.
Below is a list of Creighton's top-five scoring games all-time. A complete list can be found on page 145 of the 2007-08 Creighton Men's Basketball Media Guide.
Score Opponent Date
124-94 Miami (Fla.) 02/10/1964
120-76 Nevada 12/21/1962
115-80 Indiana State 01/19/1985
110-73 Houston Baptist 12/17/2007
109-81 Wisconsin-Milwaukee 12/16/1967
40-Point Halves = Wins
Creighton scored 46 points in the first half of its Jan. 19 win over Indiana State.
Dating to Jan. 29, 2005, Creighton has won its last 35 games when it scores at least 40 points in a half.
Creighton's 61 points in the second half of its Dec. 20 win over Houston Baptist were its most in any half since scoring 63 in the second half of a 106-50 win over Texas-Arlington on Nov. 17, 2002.
Lawson Was MVC Newcomer of the Week
Redshirt freshman Kenny Lawson Jr. was named Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week on Dec. 26 for his performance from Dec. 17-24. Lawson averaged 12.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per game off the bench while hitting 70.6 percent of his shots from the floor in three CU wins.
The Oceanside, Calif., native led Creighton in scoring on Dec. 17 and 20, with 15 points against Houston Baptist and 13 points vs. North Carolina Central, respectively.
Lawson became the first Bluejay freshman to lead Creighton in scoring during consecutive games since Terrell Taylor on Dec. 6 and Dec. 9, 1999. Like Lawson, Taylor did it while coming off the bench in both games he paced the team in scoring.
Plenty of Newcomer Awards
On Dec. 26, Kenny Lawson Jr. became the fourth different Bluejay to earn a MVC Newcomer of the Week Award in the first seven weeks of the season. Previously, P'Allen Stinnett (Nov. 12), Cavel Witter (Dec. 3) and Chad Millard (Dec. 10) had been honored.
Prior to this season, CU had only had three different individuals earn the honor at any time (Nick Porter and Josh Dotzler in 2005-06 and Isacc Miles last season).
Creighton is the third school in the five-year history of the MVC Newcomer of the Week award to have four different players honored during the same season.
Last year's Illinois State team (Dom Johnson, Boo Richardson, Anthony Slack and Osiris Eldridge) and the 2004-05 Bradley team (Patrick O'Bryant, Daniel Ruffin, Tony Bennett and Lawrence Wright) can also make that claim.
If either Aaron Brandt, Booker Woodfox, Casey Harriman, Kenton Walker or Kaleb Korver also earn the honor this year, CU would become the first squad to have five different players honored in the same season with the weekly Newcomer award.
Millard Named Newcomer of the Week
Sophomore Chad Millard was named the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week on Dec. 10. Millard averaged 9.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots in games against No. 21 Xavier and Saint Joseph's.
Millard helped key Creighton's win over Saint Joseph's with 13 points, seven rebounds and a career-high three blocked shots.
Versatility A Bonus
Through games of Jan. 25, Creighton's Chad Millard and Dane Watts and Drake's Jonathan Cox were the only MVC players with at least 15 blocks and 15 three-pointers made this season.
Millard has 20 three-pointers and 14 blocked shots this year. Watts has 15 blocks and 16 treys. Cox has 24 three-pointers and 24 blocked shots to date.
Seniors Score In Bunches
Creighton's seniors Nick Bahe, Pierce Hibma and Dane Watts were averaging 21.5 points per game combined heading into a Dec. 9 game with Saint Joseph's.
In the overtime win, they scored 60 of CU's 90 points. Hibma (17) and Watts (29) both exceeded their previous career-highs by three points each, while Bahe (14) was one shy of his career-best.
CU's seniors scored its final eight points of regulation and added 12 of the team's 20 points in overtime.
Watts Up For Senior CLASS Award
Creighton senior Dane Watts is one of 30 candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, which focuses on the “Four C's” of classroom, character, community and competition.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award was launched during the 2001-02 season to honor the attributes of college basketball seniors who remain committed to their university and pursue the many rewards that a senior season and complete college education brings.
Watts leads Creighton in scoring and rebounding this season, and has made 93 straight starts. In addition to being a solid student in the classroom, the business management major is actively involved in the community. Watts is a member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes and in the summer of 2006 toured France with Athletes in Action.
From the list of 30 nominees for each gender, a national media committee will select 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in January 2008. Those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote during the NCAA Tournament in March. Fan balloting will be coupled with votes from coaches and media to determine the recipient.
Now in its seventh year for basketball, the award has developed into the nation's premier tribute for college seniors. Previous winners of the men's award include Juan Dixon of Maryland (2002), David West of Xavier (2003), Jameer Nelson of Saint Joseph's (2004), Wayne Simien of Kansas (2005), J.J. Redick of Duke (2006) and Alando Tucker of Wisconsin (2007).
Crowds Increase For League Action
Compared to its non-conference crowds, Creighton's attendance has increased in MVC action each of the previous seven years:
Creighton's Yearly Home Attendance
Year Non-MVC Games MVC Games Change
2000-01 7,132 7,268 +2%
2001-02 6,333 6,800 +7%
2002-03 7,401 8,996 +22%
2003-04 11,467 12,443 +9%
2004-05 9,926 12,207 +23%
2005-06 13,404 14,343 +7%
2006-07 15,471 16,153 +4%
2007-08 15,369 16,715 so far +8%
Five Figure Crowds
Creighton hosted 17,607 fans for its Feb. 17, 2007 home game versus Drexel. Not only was it the largest home crowd in Creighton history, but for any basketball game in state history as well.
Creighton has played 87 straight home games in front of crowds of 8,000 fans or more and 56 in a row at home before 10,000 fans or more.
By comparison, Creighton had a total of 39,093 home fans in Dana Altman's first year on the Hilltop, an average of 2,792 per game.
10 Largest Home Crowds, Creighton & State History
Att. Opp. Result Date
17,607 Drexel L 58-64 02/17/07
17,459 Southern Illinois L 57-58 01/20/07
17,371 Indiana State W 86-69 01/19/08
17,283 Indiana State W 71-55 01/27/07
17,110 Wichita State W 71-54 02/24/07
17,053 #22 Drake L 60-68 (ot) 01/22/08
17,049 Nebraska W 74-62 11/24/07
16,808 Illinois State L 67-80 12/29/07
16,730 Miss. Valley St. W 76-46 11/17/07
16,339 Bradley W 65-54 01/18/07
3-0 Start, Again
Creighton has started off 3-0 (or better) in nine of the last 10 seasons, including this year's 5-0 open before losing. Last year's team that started 2-1 is the lone exception in the past decade.
Each of Creighton's 3-0 starts under Dana Altman have been culminated in a postseason tournament appearance at the end of the year.
Thanks in large part to the quick starts to open the year, Creighton has not taken the floor with a losing record since December 3, 1997 when it faced Grambling. Saturday will be the 331st game in a row the Jays have played with a record of .500 or better.
Helping Hand
Junior point guard Josh Dotzler tied a career-high with 10 assists in the win over Saint Joseph's on Dec. 9.
Dotzler's performance matched his 10 assists in a Feb. 4, 2006 overtime win at Drake. Dotzler's 10 dimes were also the most in Qwest Center Omaha history by a Creighton player.
For the season, Dotzler leads Creighton with 78 assists, more than double that of any other Bluejay.
P'henomenal Debut
P'Allen Stinnett's 23 points on Nov. 9 against DePaul were the most by a Bluejay in their first game since Cyril Baptiste scored 24 points on Dec. 1, 1969 against Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Stinnett's 23 points were the most by any Creighton player in a season-opener since Rodney Buford tipped off his senior campaign with 24 points against Towson State on Nov. 14, 1998.
Below is a list of how Stinnett's debut compares with some other notable names in Bluejay history.
Name, Yr. Pts. Reb. Ast. Stl. Min. Result
Stinnett, 2007 23 4 3 3 26 W 74-62
Tolliver, 2003 0 1 2 0 7 W 79-44
Funk, 2002 3 5 4 1 21 W 106-50
Kyle Korver, 1999 2 2 0 1 10 W 70-62
Buford, 1995 3 4 0 0 19 W 63-59
Harstad, 1987 4 5 1 1 21 L 49-70
Gallagher, 1987 10 3 0 0 37 L 49-70
Benjamin, 1982 14 4 1 0 22 W 98-54
McKenna, 1977 14 3 7 ? ? W 95-66
Harmon, 1971 21 7 ? ? ? W 74-62
C. Baptiste, 1969 24 17 ? ? ? W 84-62
Portman, 1966 9 ? ? ? ? W 78-76
Silas, 1961 22 29 ? ? ? W 85-51
Gibson, 1954 19 ? ? ? ? W 66-51
Not Half Bad
P'Allen Stinnett scored all 23 of his points in the second half of Creighton's 74-62 win over DePaul on Nov. 9. The last Bluejay player to score 23 points or more in one half (without the aid of overtimes) was Kyle Korver, who had 26 of his 32 points in the second half of a game at #19 Xavier on Dec. 31, 2002.
Stinnett Named Newcomer Of the Week
P'Allen Stinnett picked up the league's first MVC Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 9 after his extraordinary debut against DePaul.
Stinnett had 23 points, four rebounds, three steals and three assists in the 74-62 win over DePaul. His 23 points were the most in a Bluejay debut since Cyril Baptiste in 1969, while his 23 point second half was the most by a Creighton player in one half since Kyle Korver on Dec. 31, 2002 at #19 Xavier.
Stinnett Shines Again
Freshman P'Allen Stinnett had 22 points against Illinois State on Dec. 29 in the first MVC game of his career. That ranked as the most by a Bluejay in an MVC debut since Rod Mason scored 23 points on Jan. 10, 1987 at Wichita State.
Jays Ink Pair of Recruits
Creighton signed a pair of left-handed guards on Nov. 14, the first day of the fall signing period.
Antoine Young is an all-state guard from Bellevue West HS in the south Omaha suburb of Bellevue. A 6'0” guard, Young averaged 20.6 points per game last year for the state-runner up. He is coached by Doug Woodard.
Josh Jones is an all-state guard from Omaha Central HS. A 6'2” shooting guard, Jones has helped lead Central to back-to-back state titles. He averaged 18.0 points per game as a junior and is coached by Eric Behrens.
Jones and Young have previously been summer AAU teammates with the Omaha Crusaders.
True Blue Brewster's Crew
Creighton's top two scorers on Nov. 9 against DePaul, freshman P'Allen Stinnett and sophomore Chad Millard, both spent a year of prep school at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H. Stinnett was there in 2006-07, while Millard was there in 2004-05.
Stinnett had 23 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Millard had 15 points, five rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block in the Jays 74-62 win over DePaul.
Cashing In At The Line
Sophomore guard Cavel Witter made each of his first 22 free throw attempts, including a perfect 10-of-10 effort at Drexel, before missing on Dec. 5 at Xavier.
Witter's 22 in a row was tied for the ninth-longest streak in Bluejay records, 10 makes shy of the school record set by Michael Lindeman. Lindeman made 32 in a row from Jan. 23 - Nov. 29, 2003.
Witter's 22 in a row was the best mark in school history to start a season, two better than Kyle Korver's 20 straight to open 2001-02.
Consecutive Free Throws Made (Since 1980)
FT Name Dates of Streak
32 Michael Lindeman Jan. 23-Nov. 29, 2003
28 Kyle Korver Jan. 27-March 15, 2001
27 Matt West Nov. 27, 1999-Jan. 15, 2000
Kyle Korver Jan. 29-Nov. 20, 2000
Nate Funk Dec. 30, 2006-Jan. 12, 2007
24 Rick Apke Jan. 22-Feb. 5, 1977
Rod Mason Jan. 28-Feb. 4, 1988
Kyle Korver Mar. 15-Dec. 4, 2001
22 Matt Petty Jan. 4-Feb. 4, 1993
Ryan Sears Feb. 22-Nov. 22, 1999
Nate Funk Feb. 26-Mar. 17, 2005
Cavel Witter Nov. 9-Dec. 1, 2007
Is Anyone Left?
Creighton returned just 24.7 percent of its scoring from last season's team. According to STATS Inc., that ranks 10th-lowest nationally among Division I schools, as seen below.
Lowest Percentage of Points Returning
Source: STATS -- Chicago
Rk. School Last Year Return %
1. Long Beach State 2,575 85 3.3
2. Pepperdine 2,389 223 9.3
3. Colorado State 2,178 309 14.2
4. Florida 3,193 472 14.8
5. Louisiana Tech 1,922 354 18.4
6. Citadel 1,758 363 20.6
7. Eastern Washington 2,443 535 21.9
8. Southeastern Louisiana 2,050 501 24.4
9. Loyola Marymount 2,030 497 24.5
10. Creighton 2,220 548 24.7
Are You Experienced?
How much experience does senior Dane Watts have compared to the rest of the his CU teammates? The chart below shows his stats at CU compared to all of his teammates...combined.
Stat Watts Rest of Team
Starts 104 113
Blocks 39 57
FG Made 348 561
FG Attempts 755 1,281
3FG Made 126 221
3FG Attempts 341 592
FT Made 187 309
FT Attempts 270 436
Points 1,009 1,654
Off. Rebounds 190 230
Def. Rebounds 408 505
Rebounds 598 735
Who Are These Guys?
Program sales are up as Creighton fans try to figure out who all the newcomers on the roster are this winter.
Creighton has just one regular starter back from last year, Dane Watts. The last time Creighton listed just one returning starter was all the way back in 1985-86, when Gary Swain was the lone returning starter.
Additionally, Creighton's returners accounted for just 44 games started last year. That's the fewest games started that are returning since at least the start of the 1980-81 campaign.
The Charge Chart
Creighton has taken 35 charges so far this season, including five on both Dec. 17 and Dec. 20.
Casey Harriman has taken at least one charge in six of the past seven games, and leads the club with 11 taken this year.
Over the previous five seasons, the Bluejays have averaged 46.0 per year. Below is a list of the charges that have been taken in that time:
Name 2002-06 ?06-07 ?07-08 Total
Casey Harriman n/a n/a 11 11
Dane Watts 15 11 6 32
Chad Millard n/a n/a 6 6
Kenton Walker n/a n/a 3 3
Josh Dotzler 4 0 3 7
P'Allen Stinnett n/a n/a 3 3
Kenny Lawson Jr. n/a 0 1 1
Cavel Witter n/a n/a 1 1
Dustin Sitzmann 0 0 1 1
Pierce Hibma 1 2 0 3
Former Players 164 33 0 197
Total 184 46 35 265
National Stats Report
In the most recent national statistical report that came out on Jan. 20th, the Bluejays were ranked in the top 50 in five team categories. Creighton ranked 36th with 8.5 three-pointers per game, 32nd with 9.2 steals per game, 26th with an 82.4 percent winning percentage were 33rd with a +12.6 scoring margin and 49th with a +5.1 rebound margin.
Individually, Cavel Witter ranked 50th with 85.2 percent shooting at the free-throw line, while Josh Dotzler ranked 49th nationally with 2.1 steals per game and 59th with a 2.09 assist/turnover ratio.
?W'inning Edge
Creighton's men's and women's basketball teams have been nearly unbeatable at home in recent seasons, going a combined 180-41 in the last eight seasons. In fact, the men and women have both lost a home game in the same month just three times since March, 2000.
Creighton's Home Records, Last Eight Years
Year Men Women Combined
2007-08 10-2 5-1 15-3
2006-07 12-2 7-7 19-9
2005-06 15-2 5-7 20-9
2004-05 11-5 12-3 23-8
2003-04 14-2 12-1 26-3
2002-03 17-0 13-1 30-1
2001-02 12-3 11-1 23-4
2000-01 14-0 10-4 24-4
TOTALS 105-16 75-25 180-41
Preseason Poll
Creighton has been picked fourth in the preseason Missouri Valley Conference poll of coaches, beat writers, SID's and play-by-play men.
Southern Illinois was a unanimous selection with 39 first-place votes and a point total of 390. Bradley is second with 311 points while Missouri State is third with 283 points. Creighton comes in fourth with 266 points, just ahead of Illinois State's 235. Rounding out the bottom half is Wichita State (210), UNI (197), Indiana State (110), Drake (80) and Evansville (63).
The preseason all-MVC team does not include any Creighton players and is headed by preseason player of the year Randal Falker (Southern Illinois). Joining Falker on the first team are Eric Coleman (UNI), PJ Couisnard (Wichita State), Deven Mitchell (Missouri State) and Daniel Ruffin (Bradley). Honorable-mention picks include Jeremy Crouch (Bradley), Levi Dyer (Illinois State), Osiris Eldridge (Illinois State), Matt Shaw (Southern Illinois) and Bryan Mullins (Southern Illinois).
Double-Digit Comebacks
Including its Nov. 9 win over DePaul, Creighton has won after overcoming a double-digit deficit 23 times in the last eight seasons, including once this year.
Below is a list of those comebacks, listed by size of the margin overcome:
Overcoming Double Digit Deficits, Last 8 Years
Date Opponent Deficit Final Score
01/28/06 Wichita State 19 W 57-55
11/27/01 Western Kentucky 18 W 95-91 2ot
02/12/03 Missouri State 17 W 70-67 ot
11/09/07 DePaul 17 W 74-62
02/04/06 at Drake 16 W 72-67 ot
01/26/03 TCU 16 W 89-79
02/22/06 Indiana State 14 W 67-62
02/07/07 Evansville 14 W 79-74
12/04/04 High Point 13 W 79-60
03/09/03 vs. Wichita State 13 W 70-69
01/18/03 Southern Illinois 13 W 85-76
02/04/01 at Indiana State 13 W 77-71
01/18/06 Bradley 12 W 80-76
01/07/04 at Illinois State 12 W 56-55
12/30/06 Missouri State 11 W 77-74
11/26/05 Dayton 11 W 91-90 2ot
01/15/05 at Northern Iowa 11 W 67-66
11/30/04 at Xavier 11 W 73-72
03/15/02 vs. #15 Florida 11 W 83-82 2ot
12/18/05 Xavier 10 W 61-59
02/16/05 at Wichita State 10 W 82-68
02/01/05 Wichita State 10 W 73-69
12/30/03 Missouri State 10 W 59-54
Double-Digit Comebacks
Creighton has fallen behind by double-digits in 18 of its 75 all-time home games all-time at Qwest Center Omaha. In 11 of those 18 games, the Bluejays came back to win.
Creighton's incredible streak of 181 straight games without a double-digit home loss (dating to Jan. 3, 1996) was snapped on Dec. 29, 2007 by Illinois State. That had ranked as the nation's oldest streak in that obscure category.
Double Digit Deficits at Qwest Center Omaha
Date Opponent Deficit Final Score
12/30/03 Missouri State 10 W 59-54
12/04/04 High Point 13 W 79-60
12/07/04 Kent State 16 L 58-67
12/18/04 Wyoming 13 L 64-68
02/01/05 Wichita State 10 W 73-69
02/05/05 Missouri State 15 L 71-79
11/26/05 Dayton 11 W 91-90 2ot
12/18/05 Xavier 10 W 61-59
01/18/06 Bradley 12 W 80-76
01/28/06 Wichita State 19 W 57-55
02/11/06 Southern Illinois 14 L 67-74
02/22/06 Indiana State 14 W 67-62
03/20/06 Miami (Fla.) 12 L 52-53
12/30/06 Missouri State 11 W 77-74
01/20/07 Southern Illinois 12 L 57-58
02/07/07 Evansville 14 W 79-74
11/09/07 DePaul 17 W 74-62
12/29/07 Illinois State 19 L 67-80
Qwest To Be The Best
Creighton's has played 75 regular and post-season contests at Qwest Center Omaha all-time. The Bluejays own a 62-13 (.827) record all-time at the facility, including a perfect 14-0 figure on Wednesday's. The 13 losses have been by a combined 70 points. CU has outscored its opponents 5,485-4,592 in games at Qwest Center Omaha, an average margin of 11.9 points per game.
Six Out Of Nine Tourney Titles
Creighton owns six league tournament titles in the last nine years. On a national basis, the only schools that can claim this are Gonzaga (8), Duke (7), Winthrop (7) and Creighton (6).
Creighton's 10 Valley Tournament titles are twice as many as the next closest school, Southern Illinois (5).
Nothing Mid-Major About The Valley
The 2006-07 campaign marked the ninth consecutive season that the Missouri Valley Conference has had multiple bids to the NCAA Tournament, as two teams were in the Big Dance.
The only leagues to send at least two teams to the last nine NCAA Tourney's (since 1998-99) are the ACC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, MVC, SEC and Pac-10.
Jays Were Among Attendance Leaders
During the 2006-07 season, Creighton finished ranked 13th nationally in average attendance with 15,909 fans per game. Below is a list of the nation's attendance leaders, according to figures compiled by the NCAA.
2006-07 Attendance Leaders
Rk. School Avg.
1. Kentucky 23,421
2. Syracuse 21,516
3. North Carolina 20,693
4. Tennessee 19,661
5. Louisville 18,488
6. Ohio State 17,530
7. Wisconsin 17,190
8. Maryland 16,822
9. Arkansas 16,720
10. Illinois 16,618
11. Indiana 16,474
12. Kansas 16,300
13. Creighton 15,909
14. Marquette 15,345
15. Michigan State 14,759
MVC's Top Crowds Ever
Creighton has set MVC attendance records each of the past two seasons. In 2005-06 the program attracted a league-record 236,313 fans, smashing the previous league mark of 192,258 the Bluejays set in 2003-04. Last season, Creighton set a mark with 15,909 fans per average home game.
Below are the top average home attendance totals in MVC history.
Ave. Att. School Year
15,909 Creighton 2006-07
15,818 Creighton 2007-08
13,901 Creighton 2005-06
13,674 Louisville 1974-75
12,016 Creighton 2003-04
12,009 Louisville 1967-68
Television Records
Creighton is a combined 78-41 in televised games in the last six seasons, including a 29-18 mark on KMTV-produced games (which does not include CU's record in NCAA Tournament games on KMTV). Creighton went 4-2 in games aired on KMTV in 2002-03, 6-3 in 2003-04, 4-5 in 2004-05, 5-3 in 2005-06 and 6-2 in 2006-07 in KMTV-produced games.
The Jays are also 33-21 in games that air regionally or nationally in that time, including a 20-12 mark on MVC TV.
Creighton had 28-of-33 games on television last season. A minimum of 22, and possibly as many as 24, regular-season games are slated for television this season.
Army of Iowans
Every Creighton team since 1988-89 has had at least one Iowa native, and this season is no exception. Creighton has four players from Iowa on this season's team, continuing a long trend of relying on some of the Hawkeye State's top preps. CU's native Iowans this season include senior Pierce Hibma (Pella), junior Dustin Sitzmann (LeMars) and freshmen Casey Harriman (Ida Grove) and Kaleb Korver (Pella). Other past notable Iowans include Kyle Korver (Pella), Ryan Sears (Ankeny), Brody Deren (Harlan), Tyler McKinney (Urbandale), Nate Funk (Sioux City) and Michael Lindeman (Iowa Falls).
Creighton has played at least one Iowa native in 427 straight games. That streak dates to a Feb. 5, 1994 win against Wichita State.
Long-Distance Streak Alive
Creighton has made at least one trifecta in a league-best 451 straight games since a 59-53 loss at Illinois State on Feb. 20, 1993 when Rick Johnson was coach.
Stealing A Share Of The Record
Creighton tied a school-record on Nov. 29 against Savannah State, recording 18 steals in its 26-point victory.
The 18 steals matched the amount recorded on Dec. 18, 1991 at Cleveland State, and later matched on Dec. 12, 1999 against Illinois State.
Last Season Recap
Led by seniors Nate Funk, Manny Gakou, Nick Porter and Anthony Tolliver, Creighton went 22-11 and advanced to its seventh NCAA Tournament in the past nine years last winter.
Creighton was ranked a best-ever 19th in the preseason Associated Press poll last year, but lost several games early and was just 4-3 before a second-place finish in Honolulu at the Rainbow Classic.
The Bluejays would then open MVC play with a 5-1 record, eventually finishing second with a 13-5 league mark.
The second-seeded Bluejays then won the State Farm MVC Tournament in St. Louis with victories over Indiana State, Missouri State and #11 Southern Illinois, earning a 10-seed in the NCAA Tournament. Funk, Tolliver and Porter were all named to the all-Tournament Team.
Shipped to New Orleans, La., to take on #15 Nevada, Creighton dropped a 77-71 overtime game to the Wolf Pack in the first round of the NCAA's.
Funk and Tolliver gave Creighton its first pair of first-team all-MVC teammates since 1991. Funk led the Jays in scoring (17.7 ppg.) and assists (3.0 apg.), while Tolliver topped the team in rebounding (6.7 rpg.) and blocked shots (1.72 bpg.).
Creighton was 15th nationally with its school-record 75.4 percent accuracy at the free-throw line and ranked 23rd nationally, allowing just 60.9 points per game. The Jays also ranked 13th nationally with an MVC-record 15,909 fans per home game.
The 2006-07 campaign marked Creighton's 10th-straight postseason bid and ninth-straight 20-win season.
Canada Trip Recap
Creighton spent Labor Day weekend in Calgary, winning five games in three days. Creighton beat Saskatchewan twice (87-82 and 92-66), Calgary twice (85-77 and 97-78) and Lethbridge once (88-49).
Eleven different Creighton players started at least once, and all 14 Jays scored at least nine points over the course of the weekend.
Dane Watts led Creighton in scoring with 16.0 points per game while also adding 6.4 rebounds per contest. Kenny Lawson Jr. averaged 14.0 points and led the team with 6.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocked shots per game. Josh Dotzler paced the club with 19 assists and 14 steals.
The foreign trip, which is allowed once every four years, was Creighton's first since the 2003-04 trip to Vancouver. That Creighton team opened the season 12-0.
Ticket Information
Single-game tickets went on sale on Nov. 7th. Fans can purchase tickets in advance at Qwest Center Omaha Box Office, the Omaha Civic Auditorium Box Office, all Ticketmaster locations (Baker's, Younkers), Ticketmaster online at http://www.ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster and charging by phone at (402) 422-1212. Only upper bowl seats will be available for any game and cost is $11 for adults and $7 for youth ages 3-18 (children two and under are free). For more information, call the Creighton Ticket Office at (402) 280-JAYS.
Creighton sold a record 12,888 season tickets for this season. The previous mark was the 12,126 season-tickets bought for the 2006-07 season.
Shuttle Service To Qwest Center Omaha
Metro Area Transit and Creighton University have partnered again this year to provide shuttle bus service from the CU campus to Qwest Center Omaha for all men's basketball home games this season.
The service is available to all fans, not just Creighton students. Round-trip cost is $1.00 for Creighton students with identification; $1.00 for children under the age of 18; $1.00 for senior citizens and $2.00 for adults. The shuttle will start one-hour before tip-off and at least two buses will continue to operate the route during the game.
The designated stops for pick-up around the CU campus are: 24th and Cuming (farside/southbound); 24th & California (nearside/southbound); 20th & Cass (nearside/eastbound) and 18th & Cass (nearside/eastbound by the Morrison Stadium). The shuttle will then go eastbound on Capitol Avenue and then go north up 10th Street for drop-off at the Qwest Center Omaha Arena entrance.
The route is designed for each shuttle driver to make a roundtrip every 15 minutes. Following the game's conclusion, the shuttle will start at the Qwest Center Omaha Arena entrance on 10th Street and loop the original route with the first of four stops at 24th & Cuming Streets.
Creighton (14-4, 5-3 MVC) heads down to Carbondale, Ill., for a nationally-televised tilt with MVC rival Southern Illinois (9-10, 4-4 MVC).
Tip time at a sold-out SIU Arena (9,628) is set for 8:02 pm on Saturday night.
Radio Broadcast Information
KXSP (“Big Sports 590” AM) will broadcast all Creighton men's basketball games during the 2007-08 season. The audio is also webcast live at www.bigsports590.com. T. Scott Marr and Kevin Sarver will call the action.
Television Broadcast Information
Saturday's game will be nationally televised on ESPN2, with Dan Shulman (play-by-play), Jay Bilas (analyst) and Erin Andrews (sideline) on the call.
College GameDay Driven by State Farm will be on hand in Carbondale and broadcast live from SIU Arena from 10-11 am and 7-8 pm on Saturday, as well as other cut-ins on Friday and Saturday on the ESPN family of networks. The GameDay crew consists of Digger Phelps, Jay Bilas, Hubert Davis and host Rece Davis.
Coordinates for Saturday's game are Galaxy 3C/4C.
Video Webcast Available
Saturday's game will not be video webcast.
Live Stats Information
Southern Illinois is doing live stats for Saturday night's game. Visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the Live Stats tab on the left-hand side of the page.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton had its five-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday night with a 68-60 overtime loss to No. 22 Drake. Creighton is now 14-4 on the season and 5-3 in MVC play.
The 2007-08 Creighton team boasts just one returning starter from last year's MVC Tournament champion squad that finished 22-11 and played in the NCAA's for the seventh time in nine years.
That starter is leading scorer and rebounder Dane Watts (12.7 ppg., 6.9 rpg.), who is expected to make his 105th consecutive start on Saturday night. Watts also ranks second on the team with 15 blocked shots.
Freshman guard P'Allen Stinnett averages 10.9 points per game and tops the team at 11.8 ppg. in MVC action.
Creighton's bench averages 39.4 points per contest (second-most nationally) and has outscored the starting five by 80 points this year.
The Bluejays are 10-2 at home this season, including wins over DePaul, Nebraska, Saint Joseph's and UALR. CU is averaging 15,818 fans per home contest after ranking 13th nationally in attendance last year (15,909).
As a team, Creighton averages 74.3 points per game while allowing 62.9. The Jays also own a +4.8 advantage on the glass. CU shoots 45.9 percent from the floor, 37.3 percent on three-pointers and 72.8 percent at the line.
Scouting Southern Illinois
The MVC's unanimous preseason pick, Southern Illinois is 9-10 this year and 4-4 in the MVC. The Salukis are 6-2 at home, but just 1-7 in true road games this fall, including Wednesday night's loss at Missouri State.
SIU has three veteran starters that average in double-figures, led by preseason MVC Player of the Year Randal Falker. Falker averages 12.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, while also topping the squad with 26 blocked shots.
Matt Shaw averages 12.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game and has averaged 22.5 points against Creighton in the last two meetings in Carbondale.
Junior point guard Bryan Mullins averages 10.6 points per game and leads the MVC in assists per game (5.3) and steals per game (2.4).
SIU averages 62.8 points per game and holds opponents to 61.3 points per contest. The Salukis shoot 42.4 percent from the field, 32.3 percent from three-point range and hit 74.3 percent of its free throws.
The Coaches
The dean of Missouri Valley Conference coaches, Creighton's Dana Altman (Eastern New Mexico, 1980) is in his 14th year as head coach of the Bluejays. He owns a 274-145 (.654) mark at CU and a career record of 357-212 (.627) in 19 years as a NCAA Division I head coach.
Creighton's all-time winningest coach, Altman has been named national, conference, regional or district coach of the year in 10 of his 22 previous years as a head coach. The 2001 and 2002 MVC Coach of the Year was a finalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year Award in 2003. In 2004, Altman was named the Collegeinsider.com Jim Phelan National Mid-Season Coach of the Year. In March, 2007, Altman was named a coach on the MVC's All-Centennial Team.
Additionally, Altman has led Creighton to seven NCAA Tournaments and his teams have played in the postseason in 10 straight seasons. He is assisted by Brian Fish, Darian DeVries and Mike Maker. Nick Earnest is the team's film coordinator.
Chris Lowery (Southern Illinois, 1995) owns a 87-36 record in his fourth year as head coach of the Salukis. Lowery, a former Saluki point guard and assistant coach, has been in the postseason in all 10 years he's been a part of the program. He is assisted by Rodney Watson, Jack Owens and Brad Korn.
Series History Against Southern Illinois
Creighton owns a 42-35 all-time lead in the series against Southern Illinois, but is just 14-21 all-time in Carbondale.
The Salukis had won eight straight meetings in the series before the Jays won last year's MVC Tournament championship game, 67-61, before 22,612 fans in St. Louis, Mo.
Creighton has not won at SIU Arena since Feb. 10, 2001. It is the league's only road venue that Creighton's senior class has not won in.
Thirteen of the last 15 meetings have been decided by nine points or less (complete series history on page 10 of these notes).
Dana Altman is 14-15 against Southern Illinois and 1-6 against Chris Lowery.
Last Game Recap
Playing its first game as a ranked team since 1971, Drake won its 16th straight game with a 68-60 overtime win at Creighton. CU's Chad Millard missed a three-pointer at the end of regulation that could have won it, and the game went to overtime tied at 54. In OT, Drake scored the first five points and never trailed, making 9-of-10 free throws in the extra session. Creighton was led by 13 points and eight rebounds by senior Dane Watts, who also surpassed the 1,000 point mark in the contest. Drake was paced by senior Klayton Korver's 14 points.
Clash of the Titans
Saturday's showdown in Carbondale features the league's two dominant teams since the turn of the millennium. Consider the following information about Creighton and Southern Illinois...
- Six of the last seven MVC regular-season champions.
- Six of the last seven MVC Coaches of the Year.
- Five of the last six MVC Players of the Year.
- Five of the last six MVC Tourney champs.
- Either Creighton or Southern Illinois has made the postseason in 17 of the past 19 years.
- Last year's top-three vote-getters for MVC Player of the Year (Jamaal Tatum, Nate Funk, Randal Falker) and the only three players to get votes for MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year (Jamaal Tatum, Anthony Tolliver, Bryan Mullins).
Bright Lights, Big Wins
Creighton is 18-7 in its last 25 games on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. Creighton will have five games on ESPN2 or ESPNU this year, not including possible match-ups on Feb. 23 (BracketBusters) or March 1 (vs. Bradley).
Below is CU's recent results on the ESPN family of networks:
Date Opponent Score Network
01/15/08 at Northern Iowa W 68-59 ESPN2
02/24/07 Wichita State W 71-54 ESPN2
02/17/07 Drexel L 58-64 ESPN2
02/13/07 Northern Iowa W 66-55 ESPNU
02/10/07 at Southern Illinois L 68-72 ESPN2
12/30/06 Missouri State W 77-74 ESPN2
12/06/06 at Dayton L 54-60 ESPNU
02/18/06 Fresno State W 67-62 ESPN
02/14/06 at Wichita State L 61-62 ot ESPNU
01/31/06 Northern Iowa W 63-55 ESPNU
03/07/05 vs. Missouri State W 75-57 ESPN
02/12/05 at Southern Illinois L 67-71 ESPN2
02/09/05 Northern Iowa W 83-82 ESPN2
02/21/04 at Kent State L 55-70 ESPN2
02/07/04 Southern Illinois L 60-61 ESPN2
03/10/03 vs. Southern Illinois W 80-56 ESPN
02/22/03 Fresno State W 67-66 ESPN2
01/18/03 Southern Illinois W 85-76 ESPN2
03/04/02 vs. Southern Illinois W 84-76 ESPN2
02/23/02 at Bradley W 80-64 ESPN2
02/17/01 Wyoming W 84-72 ESPN
02/10/01 at Southern Illinois W 77-63 ESPN
03/06/00 vs. Missouri State W 57-45 ESPN
02/07/00 at Colorado State W 78-67 ESPN
03/01/99 vs. Evansville W 70-61 ESPN
One of the Best Programs Around
Every five years since 1997, Basketball Times has evaluated the best of the best NCAA programs -- those that have won two-thirds of their games over the previous 10 season span. The 2007 edition of the report had 29 teams that met that qualification, including Creighton.
Those 29 schools were then ranked from 1-29 on categories like 10-year winning percentage, number of active NBA players, freshman graduation rate and US News & World Report's academic peer assessment score, as well as a subjective vote of 10 panelists who judged teams based on “program cleanliness” and “head coach ranking”.
Creighton finished an impressive seventh, trailing only Duke, North Carolina, Florida, Stanford, Gonzaga and Michigan State.
Basketball Times Overall Rankings
Rk. School Avg. Ranking
1. Duke 3.7
2. North Carolina 7.5
3. Florida 8.0
4. Stanford 8.8
5. Gonzaga 10.0
Michigan State 10.0
7. Creighton 10.2
8. Kansas 10.8
9. Xavier 11.5
10. Illinois 12.0
11. Arizona 13.5
12. Connecticut 13.7
13. Syracuse 14.5
14. Butler 14.8
15. College of Charleston 15.2
Southern Illinois 15.2
Texas 15.2
18. Kentucky 16.0
Pennsylvania 16.0
20. Maryland 17.3
21. Pittsburgh 17.5
22. Utah State 18.3
23. Kent State 18.8
24. Utah 20.2
25. Cincinnati 20.5
26. Murray State 20.7
Oklahoma 20.7
28. Oklahoma State 21.0
29. Memphis 23.0
7-Up
Creighton and Southern Illinois are two of the nation's most successful programs in the past seven years. SIU's 164 wins rank ninth, while Creighton's 151 wins are tied for 13th in that category, through games of Jan. 23.
Most Wins, Last Seven Years (since 2001-02)
Rank School Wins Next
1. Kansas 187 1/26
2. Duke 183 1/24
3. Florida 180 1/27
4. Pittsburgh 177 1/26
5. Memphis 174 1/26
6. Gonzaga 173 1/26
7. Illinois 169 1/27
8. Connecticut 165 1/26
9. Southern Illinois 164 1/26
10. Syracuse 162 1/27
11. Texas 160 1/26
12. Kentucky 157 1/26
13. Creighton 151 1/26
Oklahoma 151 1/26
15. Oklahoma State 146 1/26
A Tall Task
It will take a special effort for Creighton to win at Southern Illinois. Since the start of the 2001-02 season, SIU is 55-1 at home against MVC foes, losing only Feb. 1, 2006 to Indiana State.
In that time frame, Southern Illinois is 84-5 (.944) at home in all games.
Additionally, Saluki head coach Chris Lowery is 119-10 (.922) in 10 years as a player, assistant coach or head coach in SIU Arena.
Fundamentally Sound
According to a midseason update published by the NCAA on Jan. 23, the Missouri Valley Conference leads the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 62.54 points per game, per team.
Additionally, the league's 71.09 free-throw percentage is second only to The Summit League's 71.47 accuracy rate.
Korver vs. Korver As Korver Watches
Tuesday's Creighton/Drake match-up also featured the first collegiate meeting of Bluejay freshman Kaleb Korver against Bulldog senior Klayton Korver.
Older brother Kyle Korver flew in from Salt Lake City for the game to watch. He saw Klayton score a game-high 14 points, while Kaleb had seven points on 2-of-2 shooting from three-point range.
Below is a comparison between Kaleb Korver and that of Kyle Korver after their first 14 games at Creighton (though Creighton has played 18 games, Kaleb has only played in 14 of them):
Komparing Korvers, First 14 Games at Creighton
Statistic Kyle Kaleb
Points 55 46
Points Per Game 3.9 3.3
Rebounds 33 18
Rebounds Per Game 2.4 1.3
Minutes 159 167
Minutes Per Game 8.8 11.9
Field Goals 18-54 15-29
FG Percentage .333 .517
3-Pt. Field Goals 11-41 9-21
3-Pt. Field Goal Pct. .268 .429
Free Throws 8-10 7-12
Free Throw Percentage .800 .583
Assists 11 13
Turnovers 18 10
Blocks 0 0
Steals 4 2
Digger Against The Jays
College GameDay personality Digger Phelps will watch Saturday's game from press row, but he did coach eight games against Creighton during his 20-year tenure at Notre Dame. Phelps had a 4-4 record in eight games against Creighton, as highlighted on the next page:
Date Site Score
02/26/1972 Omaha, Neb. CU 104-77
12/30/1984 Omaha, Neb. CU 60-58
12/30/1985 South Bend, Ind. ND 80-54
01/12/1987 South Bend, Ind. ND 67-54
02/22/1988 South Bend, Ind. ND 66-54
12/10/1988 South Bend, Ind. ND 77-64
01/03/1990 Omaha, Neb. CU 77-75 (OT)
02/18/1991 South Bend, Ind. CU 90-67
Overtime News & Notes
Creighton's 68-60 loss to Drake on Tuesday dropped the Bluejays to 45-43 all-time in overtime games, including a 23-12 mark at home.
Dana Altman is 13-11 at Creighton in overtime games, including a 6-3 record in home games. The Bluejays are 3-2 at Qwest Center Omaha in overtime games.
Creighton not played consecutive overtime games since Feb. 9 and Feb. 12, 1994.
Over .500 Again
Creighton has been better than .500 in either the first or second-half of the league season in 25 straight trips through the league, including the first half this year. The Jays will be at the midway point of the league campaign after Saturday's game at Southern Illinois.
Here's how Dana Altman's clubs have fared in the various halves of the MVC season since his arrival:
Year 1st Half 2nd Half
2007-08 5-3 so far --
2006-07 6-3 7-2
2005-06 7-2 5-4
2004-05 5-4 6-3
2003-04 7-2 5-4
2002-03 8-1 7-2
2001-02 8-1 6-3
2000-01 5-4 9-0
1999-00 5-4 6-3
1998-99 6-3 5-4
1997-98 5-4 7-2
1996-97 5-4 5-4
1995-96 4-5 5-4
1994-95 3-6 1-8
Total 79-46 (.632) 74-43 (.632)
What's Your Twenty?
This is the 11th straight year that Creighton has won at least 13 of its first 20 games. Each of the previous 10 seasons it has done that, it reached the postseason. Here's a look at Creighton's record after 20 games in the 14 seasons under Dana Altman.
Year First 20 W-L Final W-L Postseason
2007-08 14-4 so far ??? ???
2006-07 13-7 22-11 NCAA
2005-06 15-5 20-10 NIT
2004-05 13-7 23-11 NCAA
2003-04 17-3 20-9 NIT
2002-03 18-2 29-5 NCAA
2001-02 14-6 23-9 NCAA
2000-01 14-6 24-8 NCAA
1999-00 14-6 23-10 NCAA
1998-99 14-6 22-9 NCAA
1997-98 14-6 18-10 NIT
1996-97 10-10 15-15 ---
1995-96 11-9 14-15 ---
1994-95 6-14 7-19 ---
Watts Joins 1,000 Point Club
Creighton's Dane Watts scored 13 points on Tuesday against Drake, making him the 32nd player in school history to score 1,000 career points. Watts, who needed four points coming in, drained a three-pointer on CU's first possession and then surpassed the milestone with 11:57 to play in the first half on an elbow jumper.
Later in the game, Watts passed former teammate Anthony Tolliver and moved into 31st place on the CU scoring list. He now owns 1,009 career points.
Watts has averaged 8.8 points in 115 career games, including 12.7 ppg. this year.
Creighton's 1,000 Point Scorers
Rk. Pts. Name Years
1. 2,116 Rodney Buford 1995-99
2. 2,110 Bob Harstad 1987-91
3. 1,983 Chad Gallagher 1987-91
4. 1,876 Bob Portman 1966-69
5. 1,801 Kyle Korver 1999-03
6. 1,754 Nate Funk 2002-07
7. 1,682 Rick Apke 1974-78
8. 1,661 Paul Silas 1961-64
9. 1,654 Vernon Moore 1981-85
10. 1,575 Benoit Benjamin 1982-85
11. 1,526 John C. Johnson 1975-79
12. 1,500 Kevin McKenna 1977-81
13. 1,437 Eddie Cole 1951-55
14. 1,369 Gene Harmon 1971-74
15. 1,361 Duan Cole 1987-92
16. 1,309 Ryan Sears 1997-01
17. 1,303 Elton Tuttle 1951-54
18. 1,272 Bob Gibson 1954-57
19. 1,267 Wally Anderzunas 1965-67, 1968-69
20. 1,254 Gary Swain 1983-87
21. 1,238 Ben Walker 1997-01
22. 1,196 Ray Yost 1951-54
23. 1,172 Dick Harvey 1956-59
24. 1,115 Doug Brookins 1972-75
1,115 Daryl Stovall 1978-82
26. 1,106 Kenny Evans 1982-87
27. 1,093 Tim Powers 1964-67
28. 1,050 Reggie Morris 1982-86
29. 1,031 Johnny Mathies 2003-06
30. 1,023 Rod Mason 1986-88
31. 1,009 Dane Watts 2004-08
32. 1,004 Anthony Tolliver 2003-07
More On Scoring 1,000 Points
Dane Watts on Tuesday reached the 1,000 point milestone in his 115th career game. Below is the number of games it took to reach 1,000 points for CU's last eight such scorers.
Watts was the third straight Bluejay to reach the 1,000 point barrier in a game that CU later lost.
Name Games to 1,000 pts. Date
Dane Watts 115 01/22/08
Anthony Tolliver 124 03/16/07
Johnny Mathies 91 03/03/06
Nate Funk 92 02/28/05
Kyle Korver 81 01/30/02
Ben Walker 105 01/06/01
Ryan Sears 97 12/01/00
Rodney Buford 59 03/01/97
1,000 and 600
Now that Dane Watts has surpassed 1,000 career points, the next milestone for him will be to pass 600 career rebounds. He enters Saturday's game with 598 career boards.
In Creighton history, only 10 players have reached both marks. Of those 10 men, only three of them also made 100 or more three-pointers. Watts owns 126 career trifectas.
1,000 Points and 600 Rebounds, CU History
Pts. Reb. 3FG Name Years
2,116 716 212 Rodney Buford 1995-99
2,110 1,126 4 Bob Harstad 1987-91
1,983 891 12 Chad Gallagher 1987-91
1,876 979 0 Bob Portman 1966-69
1,801 664 371 Kyle Korver 1999-03
1,682 709 0 Rick Apke 1974-78
1,661 1,751 0 Paul Silas 1961-64
1,575 1,005 0 Benoit Benjamin 1982-85
1,238 677 100 Ben Walker 1997-01
1,093 674 0 Tim Powers 1964-67
Decade (+1) of Dominance
Creighton has reached 10 straight postseasons, and is in the process of trying to extend that streak to 11.
In that time (since 1997-98), the Bluejays have dominated the Missouri Valley Conference to the tune of at least a .650 winning percentage against every foe except Southern Illinois, as seen below:
Opponent Altman at CU W-L Last 11 Years
Bradley 16-12 15-8
Drake 19-8 16-5
Evansville 19-8 17-5
Illinois State 16-13 16-8
Indiana State 22-10 19-7
Missouri State 21-14 19-8
Northern Iowa 21-7 19-3
Southern Illinois 14-15 10-13
Wichita State 23-5 18-5
Totals 171-92 (.650) 149-62 (.706)
20 Overall Wins x 9 Years = MVC History
Creighton is the only school in the 101-year history of the Missouri Valley Conference to post nine straight 20-win campaigns. No other school owns more than six straight.
Creighton is one of nine teams nationally with 20 or more wins in each of last nine seasons. That list consists of Arizona, Creighton, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kent State, Kentucky and Syracuse.
Postseason x 10
Creighton has made either the NIT or NCAA in 10 consecutive seasons, tied for the longest streak of postseason bids in MVC history. It matches the 10 straight from 1966 to 1975 by Louisville.
The only 12 schools to make the postseason in each of the last 10 years are Arizona, Creighton, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Stanford and Syracuse.
Creighton, which also boasts a men's soccer team with 16 straight NCAA appearances, is the nation's only school with 10 straight postseason appearances in both men's basketball and men's soccer.
10 Conference Wins x 11 Seasons
Last year Creighton extended its MVC record by winning 10 or more league games for an 11th consecutive season. Prior to Dana Altman's arrival, the Bluejays had 10 or more conference wins in only six different seasons all-time.
On a national basis, the only teams with at least 11 straight years of 10 or more league wins are Arizona (22), South Carolina State (14), Stanford (13), Kansas (13) and Creighton (11).
Altman Passing Coaching Legends
Dana Altman continues to pass some of the coaching greats in MVC history in two categories. Altman's 274 wins at Creighton are third in MVC history, while his 153 triumphs in regular-season conference games have allowed him to pass Phog Allen for third in league history.
Both men above him, Henry Iba and Eddie Hickey, are in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Coaches--Most Wins As MVC Member--All Games
Wins Coach School(s)
1. 486 Henry Iba Oklahoma A&M
2. 337 Eddie Hickey Creighton & St. Louis
3. 274 Dana Altman Creighton
MVC Coaches--Most Wins In Conference Games
Wins Coach School(s)
1. 187 Henry Iba Oklahoma A&M
2. 163 Eddie Hickey Creighton & St. Louis
3. 153 Dana Altman Creighton
4. 126 Phog Allen Kansas
Consistent Challengers
One of the most impressive facets of the Dana Altman tenure is how often his teams have been in the running for the MVC regular-season title. Eight of his last 10 teams have finished either first or second in The Valley, and the two that didn't both won the MVC Tournament.
The Bluejays won the MVC in 2000-01 and tied for the title in 2001-02. CU was second in the MVC in 1997-98 and 2006-07, tied for second in the MVC in 1998-99, 2003-04 and 2005-06, and finished tied for third in 2004-05. The 1999-00 club was fourth in the MVC, but won the MVC Tournament.
Creighton's MVC Finishes, Last 10 Years
1st Place 2000-01
Tied for First 2001-02 (won MVC Tourn.)
2nd Place 1997-98, 2002-03 (won MVC Tourn.), 2006-07 (won MVC Tourn.)
Tied for 2nd 1998-99 (won MVC Tourn.), 2003-04, 2005-06
Tied for 3rd Place 2004-05 (won MVC Tourn.)
4th Place 1999-00 (won MVC Tourn.)
Million Fan March
Jared Stickrod, a 10-year old from Omaha, was honored as the 1,000,000th Creighton basketball fan to Qwest Center Omaha on Saturday.
Stickrod received two season tickets for the 2008-09 season, a framed photo signed by Dana Altman and Dane Watts, a Creighton basketball jersey, a Creighton “Jays” flag, and an autographed basketball signed by the 2007-08 Creighton basketball team.
The Bluejays have hosted 1,020,444 fans in 75 all-time regular-season and NIT home games. The works out to an average of 13,605 fans per home contest in the five-year span of the facility.
The Better The Record, The Harder They Fall
Prior to Tuesday's loss to Drake, Creighton had been 18-0 in the five-year history of Qwest Center Omaha against opponents that enter a game with one loss or less.
Opponent's
Record
Entering Opponent CU Result Date
16-1 #22 Drake L 60-68 ot 1/22/08
9-1 Arkansas-Little Rock W 80-61 12/22/07
3-0 Nebraska W 74-62 11/24/07
0-0 DePaul W 74-62 11/09/07
7-1 #24 Xavier W 73-67 12/09/06
2-1 George Mason W 58-56 11/25/06
0-1 Miss. Valley State W 78-42 11/13/06
7-1 Missouri State W 78-56 12/28/05
5-1 Xavier W 61-59 12/18/05
6-1 Nebraska W 70-44 12/11/05
2-1 Dayton W 91-90 11/26/05
0-0 Ark.-Pine Bluff W 87-55 11/19/05
7-1 Bradley W 71-62 12/28/04
0-0 Ark.-Pine Bluff W 83-58 11/20/04
1-0 Iona W 68-62 11/16/04
0-0 Alcorn State W 74-40 11/15/04
5-0 Nebraska W 61-54 12/10/03
0-1 Bethune-Cookman W 69-49 12/03/03
2-0 St. Bonaventure W 83-63 11/29/03
Start of Something Good
In the four games since P'Allen Stinnett was inserted into the starting line-up, Creighton's offense has started strong.
In Stinnett's first start at Wichita State on Jan. 12, he had five of CU's first seven points as the Jays scored 10 points by the first media timeout.
On Jan. 15 at UNI, Stinnett had six of CU's first 11 points and the Jays led 16-11 at the first media timeout.
Last Saturday, the Bluejays led 14-6 at the first media timeout and would score on eight of their first nine possessions.
Tuesday, Creighton led 9-4 at the media timeout thanks to 3-of-3 shooting from three-point range.
Lawson's Block Party
Kenny Lawson Jr. had a career-high five blocked shots against Indiana State last Saturday, and the redshirt freshman now has 10 swats in CU's last five games.
Each of the other three Bluejay freshmen with five blocked shots in a game during the past 25 years would eventually make the NBA.
Rodney Buford had five blocks against Drake on Feb. 26, 1996. Buford would end his career as Creighton's all-time leading scorer with 2,116 points.
Chad Gallagher had five blocks against Drake on Feb. 11, 1988. Gallagher would end his career second in CU history in both points (1,983) and blocked shots (183).
Benoit Benjamin had six different games with five blocks or more, including a high of eight on Feb. 19, 1983 against Drake. Benjamin still owns the MVC record with 411 career blocks.
Jays Get 10 Home Wins Again
Last Saturday's win against Indiana State was Creighton's 10th home win this season. Creighton has now won 10 or more home games in 12 straight years. That ties a school-record, as Creighton previously won 10 or more home games in 12 straight seasons from the 1969-70 season to the 1980-81 campaign.
The Drive For Five
Creighton's has had a pair of five-game winning streaks this year, only to lose in their bid for a sixth straight victory each time.
The Bluejays have had at least one five-game win streak in each of the last 11 seasons, and 18 such streaks overall in the 14-year tenure of Dana Altman.
Since 1988-89, the Bluejays have made the postseason all 13 previous times they've had a five-game winning streak in a season, but missed the postseason all six times they haven't.
20 x 2 Off The Bench
Creighton had a pair of players score 20 or more points off the bench on Saturday against Indiana State. Cavel Witter scored 21 points, while Booker Woodfox had 20 points off the pine.
According to STATS Inc., they are just the third pair of teammates this year to both have 20 bench points in the same game.
Troy's Brandon Hazzard (27 points) and Mario Telfair (20) did it on Dec. 17 against Jacksonville in a 98-80 win.
Likewise, VMI's Chavis Holmes (27) and Travis Holmes (25) also did it against Columbia Union College on Nov. 28 in a 156-91 victory.
The last time Creighton had two players with 20 or more points in the same game was Dec. 30, 2006, when Nate Funk (23) and Anthony Tolliver (20) both did it against Missouri State.
Creighton has now received four outbursts of 20 points or more off the bench. Earlier this year P'Allen Stinnett had 23 points against DePaul on Nov. 9 and 22 points against Illinois State on Dec. 29 as a reserve.
Woodfox Shoots Up The Sycamores
Booker Woodfox went 6-of-7 from three-point range against Indiana State on Saturday, scoring a career-high 20 points. His six three-point baskets tied a Qwest Center Omaha high by a Bluejay (done twice previously), and were the team's most at any site since Nate Funk drained seven trifectas on Nov. 18, 2006 at Nebraska.
In two games against Indiana State, Woodfox has averaged 18.0 points per game and made 11-14 three-point tries (78.6 percent).
Woodfox ranks second on the team with 44.8 percent accuracy from three-point range, and is second on the team-high with 26 trifectas.
The junior ranks second in MVC play in three-point percentage, hitting 55.2 percent of his shots from downtown (16-29).
Bahe, Bahe, Bahe
Senior guard Nick Bahe started his college career at the University of Kansas, so it's only fitting that his final game in the Sunflower State was a memorable effort.
Bahe tied a career-high with 15 points, hitting 5-of-7 shots from the floor and 3-of-5 from downtown against Wichita State on Jan. 12. He also drained two free throws when Shocker head coach Gregg Marshall was whistled for a technical foul.
Last Tuesday, Bahe matched his high with 15 more points in a road win at UNI. Bahe drained 5-of-9 shots, including two trifectas, as well as perfect 3-of-3 shooting at the line.
Bahe is shooting 41.6 percent from three-point range in his career (52-125), a figure that ranks sixth-best in CU history.
Career 3-Point Pct. (Minimum 100 Attempts)
Pct. Name, Years 3FGM-FGA
.4530 Kyle Korver, 1999-03 371-819
.4415 Rod Mason, 1986-88 132-299
.4404 Nerijus Karlikanovas, 1998-00 48-109
.4306 Michael Lindeman, 2000-04 62-144
.4293 Duan Cole, 1987-92 176-410
.4160 Nick Bahe, 2006-Present 52-125
.4065 Nate Funk, 2002-07 200-492
.4053 Matt West, 1996-00 92-227
Take Me Home, Country Road
Creighton is 32-8 at home all-time at Qwest Center Omaha in MVC games (.800), compared to a 21-19 (.525) road record in the MVC during that stretch.
Creighton and Southern Illinois were the only two schools that had four of its first six MVC games on the road this winter.
Home Cooking
Only four MVC visiting schools have ever won a game in the five-year old Qwest Center Omaha.
Below is a look at Creighton's current home winning streaks over current league foes:
Opponent CU Streak Last Opp. Win in Omaha
Bradley Won 9 1/17/98
Drake Lost 1 1/22/08
Evansville Won 9 1/04/99
Illinois State Lost 1 12/29/07
Indiana State Won 9 1/04/99
Missouri State Won 2 2/05/05
Northern Iowa Won 11 2/17/96
So. Illinois Lost 4 1/20/07
Wichita State Won 14 2/22/92
A Strong Start
Creighton is 14-4 after 18 games, its best start since the 2003-04 team began 16-2. Like this year's club, that team also played exhibition games in Canada prior to the start of the season.
The Jays have now opened 14-4 or better after 18 games three times under Dana Altman. CU was 16-2 in 2002-03 and was 16-2 in 2003-04 before this season's 14-4 open. Prior to the 2002-03 season, CU hadn't started 15-3 or better since a 15-3 start in 1976-77.
Hitting The Benchmarks
Creighton's bench contributed 51 points on Saturday night against Indiana State. The reserves combined to shoot 15-for-20 from the field, including 10-of-12 from three-point range.
All About The Bench-amins
Creighton's Dec. 20 win over North Carolina Central marked the third time this season that the Creighton bench had outscored the entire line-up of the other team.
In that game, Creighton's bench scored 61 points, while the North Carolina Central squad scored 54 total.
CU's bench has also outscored the entire teams from Savannah State (60-52) and Houston Baptist (77-73) this year.
Creighton's bench has outscored its starting line-up in 10 games this season, including seven of the past 11 contests.
Bench Press
Creighton's bench has outscored its own starting five by a 709-629 margin through 18 games. The 53.0 percent of scoring coming from CU's bench was easily the nation's best mark, through games of Jan. 22 according to Allan Spear at STATS Inc.
Percentage of Points Scored by Bench
Source: STATS -- Chicago ? Through Jan. 22
Rk. Team Start% Bench%
1. Creighton 47.01 52.99
2. Texas State 47.12 52.88
3. North Carolina A&T 49.42 50.58
4. Southeast Missouri State 49.97 50.03
5. Buffalo 50.46 49.54
6. Central Michigan 51.74 48.26
7. Cal State Northridge 54.50 45.50
8. Coppin State 54.78 45.22
Creighton has scored 31 or more bench points every game this year but five, compared to a high of 30 for last year's team. This year's team currently averages 39.4 points per game off the pine, the second-highest mark nationally through Jan. 22 as well.
Bench Scoring Per Game
Source: STATS -- Chicago ? Through Jan. 22
Rk. Team G Bench PPG
1. Texas State 17 45.41
2. Creighton 18 39.56
3. Southeast Missouri State 20 37.65
4. Virginia Military 17 37.18
5. Duquesne 16 36.56
6. Cal State Northridge 17 35.94
7. North Carolina A&T 17 35.88
8. Central Michigan 17 34.18
9. Buffalo 16 34.00
10. Pepperdine 20 32.30
Last year's Bluejay club had 356 bench points for the entire season, an average of 10.8 points per game.
Creighton's bench has outscored the opposition's bench by a 709-394 margin, which amounts to a +17.5 point per game differential.
Almost as improbable is that Creighton's bench has almost as many points as the opponent's starters, trailing just 738-709.
Here's a breakdown of CU's starters and bench this season:
Stat CU Starters CU Bench
Points 629 709
Minutes 1920 1730
FG% .455 .463
3FG% .350 .395
FT% .763 .704
Rebounds 323 272
Assists 154 124
Steals 84 75
Reserve Corps
Creighton's 77 bench points on Dec. 17 against Houston Baptist were its most in at least 20 years.
The 77 points is incredible when you consider that Dana Altman's 1994-95 Bluejay team (his first at Creighton) had a single-game season-high point total of 76.
Balancing Act
Creighton has 11 players averaging 11.9 minutes per game or more, with all of those men scoring at least 3.3 points per game as well. Four of Creighton's top six scorers have six starts or less this year. All 14 Bluejays on the roster have scored at least six points or more.
Freshmen Starting Duo
Creighton have started both Kenny Lawson Jr. and P'Allen Stinnett each of the past four games. It marked the first time CU has started two freshmen in the same game since Dec. 29, 2001, when both Jimmy Motz and Tyler McKinney started against Mississippi Valley State.
Freshmen Scoring Leaders
P'Allen Stinnett led Creighton in scoring on Jan. 5, Jan. 9 and Jan. 12. He became the first Bluejay freshman to accomplish that feat since Rodney Buford during the 1995-96 season. Buford led the Jays in scoring in five straight games from Jan. 27-Feb. 8.
Stinnett was also the first Bluejay freshman with four straight games of 10 or more points since Ryan Sears had six straight from Jan. 4-21, 1998.
Creighton has had at least one freshman lead the team in scoring nine of 18 games to date, and had four others in which a sophomore or junior newcomer had at least a share of the team scoring lead.
Halftime Score A Good Indicator
Incredibly, just three of Creighton's 18 games have had a lead change in the second half.
Tuesday's game against Drake featured six ties and eight lead changes in the second half before it headed to overtime. Drake went on to win, 68-60.
The most recent contest came in Creighton's Dec. 9 home victory over Saint Joseph's. In that contest, Creighton and St. Joe's combined for four ties and six lead changes after the break. In overtime, CU scored the first six points and went on to a 90-84 win.
The Nov. 9 season-opener against DePaul is the only other Bluejay contest with a lead change in the second half. Creighton trailed that game by six at the break but went on to win by 12, 74-62.
Creighton is 14-1 this season in games in which it has held a lead at any point of the second half.
3-Point Weapons
Creighton has seven different players that have made 13 or more three-pointers this season. Two other Bluejays have nine treys.
For the season, Creighton's 8.67 three-pointers per game ranks third in the MVC this year and second-highest in school history.
Creighton has made 10 three-pointers in each of its last four games, and are 7-1 this year when making 10 or more three-pointers in a game.
Possession by Possession
Creighton's defense during its 14-0 run to start the second half against Evansville on Jan. 9 was dominant. Kenny Lawson Jr. blocked each of UE's first three shots while Josh Dotzler had three steals in a 72 second span.
The Jays also forced a five-second call on an inbounds pass as well as a Jason Holsinger turnover on an over-and-back violation.
Here's a look at UE's first eight possessions after halftime.
Time - Evansville Offensive Play
19:43 - van Tongeren missed FG (blocked by Lawson)
18:53 - Holsinger missed FG (blocked by Lawson)
18:50 - Lacey turnover (steal by Dotzler)
18:24 - Gomez turnover (steal by Dotzler)
18:05 - Team turnover (5 second call)
17:38 - Lacey turnover (steal by Dotzler)
17:05 - Garner missed FG (blocked by Lawson)
16:56 - Holsinger turnover (over-and-back violation)
California Connection
Kenny Lawson Jr. and Kenton Walker, a pair of freshmen from the San Diego area, continue to play better as they gain collegiate experience.
The duo combined for 12 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks in 30 minutes last Saturday against Drake.
For the season, the duo provides Creighton with 9.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 55.8 percent from the floor.
104 and Counting So Far...
Dane Watts figures to make his 105th consecutive start on Saturday, which dates to his first start on Dec. 28, 2004.
Watts' streak ranks as the MVC's longest active streak of consecutive starts, and is also fifth nationally according to STATS Inc. through Jan. 23.
Longest Active String of Consecutive Starts
Source: STATS -- Chicago
Through Jan. 23, 2008
Rk. Name, School Streak Next
1. Jonathan Wallace, Georgetown 119 01/26
2. Dominique Kirk, Texas A&M 114 01/26
3. Leon Williams, Ohio 111 01/26
4. William Byrd, Ark.-Pine Bluff 105 01/26
5. Dane Watts, Creighton 104 01/26
6. Gabe Moore, Indiana State 101 01/27
7. Mark Porter, Wagner 98 01/24
Hammons Success = MVC Champs = NCAA?
Including Jan. 5th, Creighton has won just six times in 21 tries at Missouri State all-time.
Even better, each of those previous five Bluejay teams to win in Springfield went on to win the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and reach the NCAA Tournament that March.
This year marks just the second time (joining 1998-99) that Creighton has won at Missouri State, Wichita State and Northern Iowa in the same season. The last MVC school to do that in the same season was Southern Illinois in 2002-03.
Halftime Advantage
Creighton's 47-20 halftime lead over Nebraska on November 24 was the second-largest intermission margin in the five-year history of Qwest Center Omaha. Creighton led Alcorn State 39-11 on Nov. 15, 2004 for the largest halftime margin.
Below is a list of Creighton's top halftime leads and deficits at Qwest Center Omaha:
CU's Largest Halftime Leads at Qwest Center
Margin Score Opponent Date
28 39-11 Alcorn State 11/15/04
27 47-20 Nebraska 11/24/07
23 41-18 St. Bonaventure 11/29/03
21 42-21 Bethune Cookman 12/03/03
20 31-11 Nebraska 12/11/05
20 37-17 San Diego 11/22/03
CU's Largest Halftime Deficits at Qwest Center
Margin Score Opponent Date
-14 34-48 Evansville 02/07/07
-13 29-42 Illinois State 12/29/07
-11 27-38 Indiana State 02/22/06
-10 19-29 Miami (Fla.) 03/20/06
-10 28-38 Bradley 01/18/06
Tenacious D
Creighton's Jan. 5th 50-49 win at Missouri State improved Creighton head coach Dana Altman to 42-0 in his Division I coaching career when his teams allow 50 points or less.
That victory also marked the Bluejays fewest points in a win since a 50-48 victory over Nebraska on Dec. 11, 2004. The Jays hadn't won a Valley contest when scoring 50 points or fewer since a 50-47 victory at Wichita State on Feb. 23, 1994.
Creighton is allowing 62.9 points per game so far. This marks the sixth straight season the Jays have allowed less than 65 points per game.
MVC Success At the 1/3 Mark
Last Tuesday was Creighton's sixth MVC game of the season, marking the 1/3rd point of the league slate. The Bluejays have never had a losing record after exactly six league games under Dana Altman. CU currently at 4-2 in the league, has run that streak to 14 straight seasons.
Creighton has not been under .500 in league play after six games or more at any time since Jan. 17, 1998, when the team was 3-4. That squad responded with nine straight wins and advanced to the NIT.
Mid-Week Mastery
Creighton has never lost a game at Qwest Center Omaha on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, going a combined 20-0 on those dates.
Fourteen of those wins have come on a Wednesday, while five others were on Thursday's. Creighton's only Friday night home game since 1997 was this season's opening win over DePaul, giving the Jays a 1-0 home record on Friday night at the five-year old facility.
Stinnett Takes More Newcomer Honors
Freshman P'Allen Stinnett earned his second MVC Newcomer of the Week honor when he was selected on Jan. 7 for his play during the week of Dec. 30-Jan. 6.
Stinnett averaged 11.5 points per game in road games at Indiana State and Missouri State. He scored a game-high 18 points against the Bears, including the game-winning free throw with 56.9 seconds left in the Jays 50-49 win.
Stinnett repeated his honor one week later on Jan. 14, his third honor of the year. Stinnett averaged 14.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game in wins over Evansville and Wichita State.
Stinnett Off To A Good Start
P'Allen Stinnett has scored 197 points in his first 18 games as a Bluejay. That ranks as the most by any CU player in their first 18 games since Brody Deren scored 199 points to open his 2001-02 campaign.
Putting it in perspective, former Bluejay Anthony Tolliver scored just 22 points all of his freshman season. Tolliver ended with 1,004 career points and was named second-team all-MVC (2005-06) and first-team all-MVC (2006-07) before graduating last May.
10 x 10 Points
According to January 6 research by Navy men's basketball SID Chris Forman, Creighton's offensive diversity puts them in select company as one of six schools nationally to have 10 different players score 10 points in a game this year.
Wofford has 11 different players that have scored at least 10 points to lead all schools. Others with 10 players to score 10 points in a game, besides Creighton, include Duquesne, Navy, Southeast Missouri State, Belmont and Lipscomb.
Getting Defensive
Creighton held Missouri State without a field goal for the final 10:07 of the first half, then without a basket for the first 2:15 of the second half. That 12:22 is the longest period without a field goal by any Bluejay opponent this season.
Creighton has 18 different stretches this season in which it has held an opponent without a field goal for more than five minutes in a row, as seen below:
CU Holding Opponents 5:00+ Without a FG (18)
Span Opponent, Date Half
12:22 at Missouri State, 1/5 Both
8:57 at Indiana State, 1/2 1st
8:43 at Drexel, 12/1 Both
7:53 at Northern Iowa, 1/15 Both
7:51 Arkansas-Little Rock, 12/22 1st
7:33 at Wichita State, 1/12 2nd
7:27 at Drexel, 12/1 1st
7:19 Savannah State, 11/29 Both
6:46 Mississippi Valley State, 11/17 2nd
6:41 North Carolina Central, 12/20 1st
6:33 Indiana State, 1/19 1st
5:31 at Northern Iowa, 1/15 2nd
5:21 Nebraska, 11/24 1st
5:13 Arkansas-Little Rock, 12/22 2nd
5:12 Mississippi Valley State, 11/17 1st
5:11 at Indiana State, 1/2 2nd
5:11 Evansville, 1/9 Both
5:02 North Carolina Central, 12/20 2nd
More Defensive Excellence
When Creighton bolted to a 29-15 halftime lead on Jan. 5 at Missouri State, it helped set a couple of Hammons Student Center records.
Missouri State's 15 points in the first half were its fewest in the 32-year history of Hammons Student Center, which has hosted 486 games. MSU's previous low had been 19 against Arkansas on Dec. 18, 1983.
It was also MSU's lowest scoring half at any site since they got 14 points at Purdue on Dec. 23, 1991.
Missouri State's 4-of-22 shooting in the first half (18.2 percent) was the lowest marksmanship by a Bluejay opponent in a half since Nebraska was just 4-of-26 (15.4 percent) in the first half of a loss to Creighton on Dec. 11, 2005.
On TV More Than Leave It To Beaver
Creighton's Dec. 22 game against UALR began a 14-game stretch in which each Bluejay game will be televised.
Five of those games will air on KMTV, two games each will air on FSN Midwest, ESPNU and ESPN2 and one game will be on Mediacom (Des Moines), Cox 2 (Omaha) and NET-1.
Creighton's Feb. 13 game at Evansville is the only contest on the remaining docket that will definitely not be televised.
ESPN will announce BracketBuster pairings and coverage for the Feb. 23 game on Feb. 4th, while the MVC office will announce television coverage for CU's March 1 game with Bradley in on Feb. 5th.
Piling Up The Points, and Wins
Some of Creighton's recent wins have continued five impressive streaks.
Creighton has won 32 straight home games when scoring 68 points or more since Feb. 5, 2005.
Creighton has won 36 straight games when scoring 72 points or more dating to Jan. 29, 2005.
The Bluejays have won 56 consecutive games when scoring 80 points or more, dating to Feb. 19, 2000.
Creighton has also won 43 straight games when scoring 90 points or more, dating to Jan. 11, 1988.
Creighton has won 14 straight when scoring 100 points or more, dating to Feb. 26, 1977.
To The Century Mark And Beyond
Creighton's 110 points on Dec. 17 against Houston Baptist were its most points in a game since 1985, and fourth-most in school history.
It marked Creighton's 41st all-time game of 100 or more points. CU is 39-2 in those games.
It marked Creighton's first 100 point game since a 100-68 win over Chattanooga on Feb. 19, 2005.
CU's 110 points were its most since scoring 115-80 over Indiana State on Jan. 19, 1985.
Below is a list of Creighton's top-five scoring games all-time. A complete list can be found on page 145 of the 2007-08 Creighton Men's Basketball Media Guide.
Score Opponent Date
124-94 Miami (Fla.) 02/10/1964
120-76 Nevada 12/21/1962
115-80 Indiana State 01/19/1985
110-73 Houston Baptist 12/17/2007
109-81 Wisconsin-Milwaukee 12/16/1967
40-Point Halves = Wins
Creighton scored 46 points in the first half of its Jan. 19 win over Indiana State.
Dating to Jan. 29, 2005, Creighton has won its last 35 games when it scores at least 40 points in a half.
Creighton's 61 points in the second half of its Dec. 20 win over Houston Baptist were its most in any half since scoring 63 in the second half of a 106-50 win over Texas-Arlington on Nov. 17, 2002.
Lawson Was MVC Newcomer of the Week
Redshirt freshman Kenny Lawson Jr. was named Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week on Dec. 26 for his performance from Dec. 17-24. Lawson averaged 12.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per game off the bench while hitting 70.6 percent of his shots from the floor in three CU wins.
The Oceanside, Calif., native led Creighton in scoring on Dec. 17 and 20, with 15 points against Houston Baptist and 13 points vs. North Carolina Central, respectively.
Lawson became the first Bluejay freshman to lead Creighton in scoring during consecutive games since Terrell Taylor on Dec. 6 and Dec. 9, 1999. Like Lawson, Taylor did it while coming off the bench in both games he paced the team in scoring.
Plenty of Newcomer Awards
On Dec. 26, Kenny Lawson Jr. became the fourth different Bluejay to earn a MVC Newcomer of the Week Award in the first seven weeks of the season. Previously, P'Allen Stinnett (Nov. 12), Cavel Witter (Dec. 3) and Chad Millard (Dec. 10) had been honored.
Prior to this season, CU had only had three different individuals earn the honor at any time (Nick Porter and Josh Dotzler in 2005-06 and Isacc Miles last season).
Creighton is the third school in the five-year history of the MVC Newcomer of the Week award to have four different players honored during the same season.
Last year's Illinois State team (Dom Johnson, Boo Richardson, Anthony Slack and Osiris Eldridge) and the 2004-05 Bradley team (Patrick O'Bryant, Daniel Ruffin, Tony Bennett and Lawrence Wright) can also make that claim.
If either Aaron Brandt, Booker Woodfox, Casey Harriman, Kenton Walker or Kaleb Korver also earn the honor this year, CU would become the first squad to have five different players honored in the same season with the weekly Newcomer award.
Millard Named Newcomer of the Week
Sophomore Chad Millard was named the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week on Dec. 10. Millard averaged 9.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots in games against No. 21 Xavier and Saint Joseph's.
Millard helped key Creighton's win over Saint Joseph's with 13 points, seven rebounds and a career-high three blocked shots.
Versatility A Bonus
Through games of Jan. 25, Creighton's Chad Millard and Dane Watts and Drake's Jonathan Cox were the only MVC players with at least 15 blocks and 15 three-pointers made this season.
Millard has 20 three-pointers and 14 blocked shots this year. Watts has 15 blocks and 16 treys. Cox has 24 three-pointers and 24 blocked shots to date.
Seniors Score In Bunches
Creighton's seniors Nick Bahe, Pierce Hibma and Dane Watts were averaging 21.5 points per game combined heading into a Dec. 9 game with Saint Joseph's.
In the overtime win, they scored 60 of CU's 90 points. Hibma (17) and Watts (29) both exceeded their previous career-highs by three points each, while Bahe (14) was one shy of his career-best.
CU's seniors scored its final eight points of regulation and added 12 of the team's 20 points in overtime.
Watts Up For Senior CLASS Award
Creighton senior Dane Watts is one of 30 candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, which focuses on the “Four C's” of classroom, character, community and competition.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award was launched during the 2001-02 season to honor the attributes of college basketball seniors who remain committed to their university and pursue the many rewards that a senior season and complete college education brings.
Watts leads Creighton in scoring and rebounding this season, and has made 93 straight starts. In addition to being a solid student in the classroom, the business management major is actively involved in the community. Watts is a member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes and in the summer of 2006 toured France with Athletes in Action.
From the list of 30 nominees for each gender, a national media committee will select 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in January 2008. Those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote during the NCAA Tournament in March. Fan balloting will be coupled with votes from coaches and media to determine the recipient.
Now in its seventh year for basketball, the award has developed into the nation's premier tribute for college seniors. Previous winners of the men's award include Juan Dixon of Maryland (2002), David West of Xavier (2003), Jameer Nelson of Saint Joseph's (2004), Wayne Simien of Kansas (2005), J.J. Redick of Duke (2006) and Alando Tucker of Wisconsin (2007).
Crowds Increase For League Action
Compared to its non-conference crowds, Creighton's attendance has increased in MVC action each of the previous seven years:
Creighton's Yearly Home Attendance
Year Non-MVC Games MVC Games Change
2000-01 7,132 7,268 +2%
2001-02 6,333 6,800 +7%
2002-03 7,401 8,996 +22%
2003-04 11,467 12,443 +9%
2004-05 9,926 12,207 +23%
2005-06 13,404 14,343 +7%
2006-07 15,471 16,153 +4%
2007-08 15,369 16,715 so far +8%
Five Figure Crowds
Creighton hosted 17,607 fans for its Feb. 17, 2007 home game versus Drexel. Not only was it the largest home crowd in Creighton history, but for any basketball game in state history as well.
Creighton has played 87 straight home games in front of crowds of 8,000 fans or more and 56 in a row at home before 10,000 fans or more.
By comparison, Creighton had a total of 39,093 home fans in Dana Altman's first year on the Hilltop, an average of 2,792 per game.
10 Largest Home Crowds, Creighton & State History
Att. Opp. Result Date
17,607 Drexel L 58-64 02/17/07
17,459 Southern Illinois L 57-58 01/20/07
17,371 Indiana State W 86-69 01/19/08
17,283 Indiana State W 71-55 01/27/07
17,110 Wichita State W 71-54 02/24/07
17,053 #22 Drake L 60-68 (ot) 01/22/08
17,049 Nebraska W 74-62 11/24/07
16,808 Illinois State L 67-80 12/29/07
16,730 Miss. Valley St. W 76-46 11/17/07
16,339 Bradley W 65-54 01/18/07
3-0 Start, Again
Creighton has started off 3-0 (or better) in nine of the last 10 seasons, including this year's 5-0 open before losing. Last year's team that started 2-1 is the lone exception in the past decade.
Each of Creighton's 3-0 starts under Dana Altman have been culminated in a postseason tournament appearance at the end of the year.
Thanks in large part to the quick starts to open the year, Creighton has not taken the floor with a losing record since December 3, 1997 when it faced Grambling. Saturday will be the 331st game in a row the Jays have played with a record of .500 or better.
Helping Hand
Junior point guard Josh Dotzler tied a career-high with 10 assists in the win over Saint Joseph's on Dec. 9.
Dotzler's performance matched his 10 assists in a Feb. 4, 2006 overtime win at Drake. Dotzler's 10 dimes were also the most in Qwest Center Omaha history by a Creighton player.
For the season, Dotzler leads Creighton with 78 assists, more than double that of any other Bluejay.
P'henomenal Debut
P'Allen Stinnett's 23 points on Nov. 9 against DePaul were the most by a Bluejay in their first game since Cyril Baptiste scored 24 points on Dec. 1, 1969 against Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Stinnett's 23 points were the most by any Creighton player in a season-opener since Rodney Buford tipped off his senior campaign with 24 points against Towson State on Nov. 14, 1998.
Below is a list of how Stinnett's debut compares with some other notable names in Bluejay history.
Name, Yr. Pts. Reb. Ast. Stl. Min. Result
Stinnett, 2007 23 4 3 3 26 W 74-62
Tolliver, 2003 0 1 2 0 7 W 79-44
Funk, 2002 3 5 4 1 21 W 106-50
Kyle Korver, 1999 2 2 0 1 10 W 70-62
Buford, 1995 3 4 0 0 19 W 63-59
Harstad, 1987 4 5 1 1 21 L 49-70
Gallagher, 1987 10 3 0 0 37 L 49-70
Benjamin, 1982 14 4 1 0 22 W 98-54
McKenna, 1977 14 3 7 ? ? W 95-66
Harmon, 1971 21 7 ? ? ? W 74-62
C. Baptiste, 1969 24 17 ? ? ? W 84-62
Portman, 1966 9 ? ? ? ? W 78-76
Silas, 1961 22 29 ? ? ? W 85-51
Gibson, 1954 19 ? ? ? ? W 66-51
Not Half Bad
P'Allen Stinnett scored all 23 of his points in the second half of Creighton's 74-62 win over DePaul on Nov. 9. The last Bluejay player to score 23 points or more in one half (without the aid of overtimes) was Kyle Korver, who had 26 of his 32 points in the second half of a game at #19 Xavier on Dec. 31, 2002.
Stinnett Named Newcomer Of the Week
P'Allen Stinnett picked up the league's first MVC Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 9 after his extraordinary debut against DePaul.
Stinnett had 23 points, four rebounds, three steals and three assists in the 74-62 win over DePaul. His 23 points were the most in a Bluejay debut since Cyril Baptiste in 1969, while his 23 point second half was the most by a Creighton player in one half since Kyle Korver on Dec. 31, 2002 at #19 Xavier.
Stinnett Shines Again
Freshman P'Allen Stinnett had 22 points against Illinois State on Dec. 29 in the first MVC game of his career. That ranked as the most by a Bluejay in an MVC debut since Rod Mason scored 23 points on Jan. 10, 1987 at Wichita State.
Jays Ink Pair of Recruits
Creighton signed a pair of left-handed guards on Nov. 14, the first day of the fall signing period.
Antoine Young is an all-state guard from Bellevue West HS in the south Omaha suburb of Bellevue. A 6'0” guard, Young averaged 20.6 points per game last year for the state-runner up. He is coached by Doug Woodard.
Josh Jones is an all-state guard from Omaha Central HS. A 6'2” shooting guard, Jones has helped lead Central to back-to-back state titles. He averaged 18.0 points per game as a junior and is coached by Eric Behrens.
Jones and Young have previously been summer AAU teammates with the Omaha Crusaders.
True Blue Brewster's Crew
Creighton's top two scorers on Nov. 9 against DePaul, freshman P'Allen Stinnett and sophomore Chad Millard, both spent a year of prep school at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H. Stinnett was there in 2006-07, while Millard was there in 2004-05.
Stinnett had 23 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Millard had 15 points, five rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block in the Jays 74-62 win over DePaul.
Cashing In At The Line
Sophomore guard Cavel Witter made each of his first 22 free throw attempts, including a perfect 10-of-10 effort at Drexel, before missing on Dec. 5 at Xavier.
Witter's 22 in a row was tied for the ninth-longest streak in Bluejay records, 10 makes shy of the school record set by Michael Lindeman. Lindeman made 32 in a row from Jan. 23 - Nov. 29, 2003.
Witter's 22 in a row was the best mark in school history to start a season, two better than Kyle Korver's 20 straight to open 2001-02.
Consecutive Free Throws Made (Since 1980)
FT Name Dates of Streak
32 Michael Lindeman Jan. 23-Nov. 29, 2003
28 Kyle Korver Jan. 27-March 15, 2001
27 Matt West Nov. 27, 1999-Jan. 15, 2000
Kyle Korver Jan. 29-Nov. 20, 2000
Nate Funk Dec. 30, 2006-Jan. 12, 2007
24 Rick Apke Jan. 22-Feb. 5, 1977
Rod Mason Jan. 28-Feb. 4, 1988
Kyle Korver Mar. 15-Dec. 4, 2001
22 Matt Petty Jan. 4-Feb. 4, 1993
Ryan Sears Feb. 22-Nov. 22, 1999
Nate Funk Feb. 26-Mar. 17, 2005
Cavel Witter Nov. 9-Dec. 1, 2007
Is Anyone Left?
Creighton returned just 24.7 percent of its scoring from last season's team. According to STATS Inc., that ranks 10th-lowest nationally among Division I schools, as seen below.
Lowest Percentage of Points Returning
Source: STATS -- Chicago
Rk. School Last Year Return %
1. Long Beach State 2,575 85 3.3
2. Pepperdine 2,389 223 9.3
3. Colorado State 2,178 309 14.2
4. Florida 3,193 472 14.8
5. Louisiana Tech 1,922 354 18.4
6. Citadel 1,758 363 20.6
7. Eastern Washington 2,443 535 21.9
8. Southeastern Louisiana 2,050 501 24.4
9. Loyola Marymount 2,030 497 24.5
10. Creighton 2,220 548 24.7
Are You Experienced?
How much experience does senior Dane Watts have compared to the rest of the his CU teammates? The chart below shows his stats at CU compared to all of his teammates...combined.
Stat Watts Rest of Team
Starts 104 113
Blocks 39 57
FG Made 348 561
FG Attempts 755 1,281
3FG Made 126 221
3FG Attempts 341 592
FT Made 187 309
FT Attempts 270 436
Points 1,009 1,654
Off. Rebounds 190 230
Def. Rebounds 408 505
Rebounds 598 735
Who Are These Guys?
Program sales are up as Creighton fans try to figure out who all the newcomers on the roster are this winter.
Creighton has just one regular starter back from last year, Dane Watts. The last time Creighton listed just one returning starter was all the way back in 1985-86, when Gary Swain was the lone returning starter.
Additionally, Creighton's returners accounted for just 44 games started last year. That's the fewest games started that are returning since at least the start of the 1980-81 campaign.
The Charge Chart
Creighton has taken 35 charges so far this season, including five on both Dec. 17 and Dec. 20.
Casey Harriman has taken at least one charge in six of the past seven games, and leads the club with 11 taken this year.
Over the previous five seasons, the Bluejays have averaged 46.0 per year. Below is a list of the charges that have been taken in that time:
Name 2002-06 ?06-07 ?07-08 Total
Casey Harriman n/a n/a 11 11
Dane Watts 15 11 6 32
Chad Millard n/a n/a 6 6
Kenton Walker n/a n/a 3 3
Josh Dotzler 4 0 3 7
P'Allen Stinnett n/a n/a 3 3
Kenny Lawson Jr. n/a 0 1 1
Cavel Witter n/a n/a 1 1
Dustin Sitzmann 0 0 1 1
Pierce Hibma 1 2 0 3
Former Players 164 33 0 197
Total 184 46 35 265
National Stats Report
In the most recent national statistical report that came out on Jan. 20th, the Bluejays were ranked in the top 50 in five team categories. Creighton ranked 36th with 8.5 three-pointers per game, 32nd with 9.2 steals per game, 26th with an 82.4 percent winning percentage were 33rd with a +12.6 scoring margin and 49th with a +5.1 rebound margin.
Individually, Cavel Witter ranked 50th with 85.2 percent shooting at the free-throw line, while Josh Dotzler ranked 49th nationally with 2.1 steals per game and 59th with a 2.09 assist/turnover ratio.
?W'inning Edge
Creighton's men's and women's basketball teams have been nearly unbeatable at home in recent seasons, going a combined 180-41 in the last eight seasons. In fact, the men and women have both lost a home game in the same month just three times since March, 2000.
Creighton's Home Records, Last Eight Years
Year Men Women Combined
2007-08 10-2 5-1 15-3
2006-07 12-2 7-7 19-9
2005-06 15-2 5-7 20-9
2004-05 11-5 12-3 23-8
2003-04 14-2 12-1 26-3
2002-03 17-0 13-1 30-1
2001-02 12-3 11-1 23-4
2000-01 14-0 10-4 24-4
TOTALS 105-16 75-25 180-41
Preseason Poll
Creighton has been picked fourth in the preseason Missouri Valley Conference poll of coaches, beat writers, SID's and play-by-play men.
Southern Illinois was a unanimous selection with 39 first-place votes and a point total of 390. Bradley is second with 311 points while Missouri State is third with 283 points. Creighton comes in fourth with 266 points, just ahead of Illinois State's 235. Rounding out the bottom half is Wichita State (210), UNI (197), Indiana State (110), Drake (80) and Evansville (63).
The preseason all-MVC team does not include any Creighton players and is headed by preseason player of the year Randal Falker (Southern Illinois). Joining Falker on the first team are Eric Coleman (UNI), PJ Couisnard (Wichita State), Deven Mitchell (Missouri State) and Daniel Ruffin (Bradley). Honorable-mention picks include Jeremy Crouch (Bradley), Levi Dyer (Illinois State), Osiris Eldridge (Illinois State), Matt Shaw (Southern Illinois) and Bryan Mullins (Southern Illinois).
Double-Digit Comebacks
Including its Nov. 9 win over DePaul, Creighton has won after overcoming a double-digit deficit 23 times in the last eight seasons, including once this year.
Below is a list of those comebacks, listed by size of the margin overcome:
Overcoming Double Digit Deficits, Last 8 Years
Date Opponent Deficit Final Score
01/28/06 Wichita State 19 W 57-55
11/27/01 Western Kentucky 18 W 95-91 2ot
02/12/03 Missouri State 17 W 70-67 ot
11/09/07 DePaul 17 W 74-62
02/04/06 at Drake 16 W 72-67 ot
01/26/03 TCU 16 W 89-79
02/22/06 Indiana State 14 W 67-62
02/07/07 Evansville 14 W 79-74
12/04/04 High Point 13 W 79-60
03/09/03 vs. Wichita State 13 W 70-69
01/18/03 Southern Illinois 13 W 85-76
02/04/01 at Indiana State 13 W 77-71
01/18/06 Bradley 12 W 80-76
01/07/04 at Illinois State 12 W 56-55
12/30/06 Missouri State 11 W 77-74
11/26/05 Dayton 11 W 91-90 2ot
01/15/05 at Northern Iowa 11 W 67-66
11/30/04 at Xavier 11 W 73-72
03/15/02 vs. #15 Florida 11 W 83-82 2ot
12/18/05 Xavier 10 W 61-59
02/16/05 at Wichita State 10 W 82-68
02/01/05 Wichita State 10 W 73-69
12/30/03 Missouri State 10 W 59-54
Double-Digit Comebacks
Creighton has fallen behind by double-digits in 18 of its 75 all-time home games all-time at Qwest Center Omaha. In 11 of those 18 games, the Bluejays came back to win.
Creighton's incredible streak of 181 straight games without a double-digit home loss (dating to Jan. 3, 1996) was snapped on Dec. 29, 2007 by Illinois State. That had ranked as the nation's oldest streak in that obscure category.
Double Digit Deficits at Qwest Center Omaha
Date Opponent Deficit Final Score
12/30/03 Missouri State 10 W 59-54
12/04/04 High Point 13 W 79-60
12/07/04 Kent State 16 L 58-67
12/18/04 Wyoming 13 L 64-68
02/01/05 Wichita State 10 W 73-69
02/05/05 Missouri State 15 L 71-79
11/26/05 Dayton 11 W 91-90 2ot
12/18/05 Xavier 10 W 61-59
01/18/06 Bradley 12 W 80-76
01/28/06 Wichita State 19 W 57-55
02/11/06 Southern Illinois 14 L 67-74
02/22/06 Indiana State 14 W 67-62
03/20/06 Miami (Fla.) 12 L 52-53
12/30/06 Missouri State 11 W 77-74
01/20/07 Southern Illinois 12 L 57-58
02/07/07 Evansville 14 W 79-74
11/09/07 DePaul 17 W 74-62
12/29/07 Illinois State 19 L 67-80
Qwest To Be The Best
Creighton's has played 75 regular and post-season contests at Qwest Center Omaha all-time. The Bluejays own a 62-13 (.827) record all-time at the facility, including a perfect 14-0 figure on Wednesday's. The 13 losses have been by a combined 70 points. CU has outscored its opponents 5,485-4,592 in games at Qwest Center Omaha, an average margin of 11.9 points per game.
Six Out Of Nine Tourney Titles
Creighton owns six league tournament titles in the last nine years. On a national basis, the only schools that can claim this are Gonzaga (8), Duke (7), Winthrop (7) and Creighton (6).
Creighton's 10 Valley Tournament titles are twice as many as the next closest school, Southern Illinois (5).
Nothing Mid-Major About The Valley
The 2006-07 campaign marked the ninth consecutive season that the Missouri Valley Conference has had multiple bids to the NCAA Tournament, as two teams were in the Big Dance.
The only leagues to send at least two teams to the last nine NCAA Tourney's (since 1998-99) are the ACC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, MVC, SEC and Pac-10.
Jays Were Among Attendance Leaders
During the 2006-07 season, Creighton finished ranked 13th nationally in average attendance with 15,909 fans per game. Below is a list of the nation's attendance leaders, according to figures compiled by the NCAA.
2006-07 Attendance Leaders
Rk. School Avg.
1. Kentucky 23,421
2. Syracuse 21,516
3. North Carolina 20,693
4. Tennessee 19,661
5. Louisville 18,488
6. Ohio State 17,530
7. Wisconsin 17,190
8. Maryland 16,822
9. Arkansas 16,720
10. Illinois 16,618
11. Indiana 16,474
12. Kansas 16,300
13. Creighton 15,909
14. Marquette 15,345
15. Michigan State 14,759
MVC's Top Crowds Ever
Creighton has set MVC attendance records each of the past two seasons. In 2005-06 the program attracted a league-record 236,313 fans, smashing the previous league mark of 192,258 the Bluejays set in 2003-04. Last season, Creighton set a mark with 15,909 fans per average home game.
Below are the top average home attendance totals in MVC history.
Ave. Att. School Year
15,909 Creighton 2006-07
15,818 Creighton 2007-08
13,901 Creighton 2005-06
13,674 Louisville 1974-75
12,016 Creighton 2003-04
12,009 Louisville 1967-68
Television Records
Creighton is a combined 78-41 in televised games in the last six seasons, including a 29-18 mark on KMTV-produced games (which does not include CU's record in NCAA Tournament games on KMTV). Creighton went 4-2 in games aired on KMTV in 2002-03, 6-3 in 2003-04, 4-5 in 2004-05, 5-3 in 2005-06 and 6-2 in 2006-07 in KMTV-produced games.
The Jays are also 33-21 in games that air regionally or nationally in that time, including a 20-12 mark on MVC TV.
Creighton had 28-of-33 games on television last season. A minimum of 22, and possibly as many as 24, regular-season games are slated for television this season.
Army of Iowans
Every Creighton team since 1988-89 has had at least one Iowa native, and this season is no exception. Creighton has four players from Iowa on this season's team, continuing a long trend of relying on some of the Hawkeye State's top preps. CU's native Iowans this season include senior Pierce Hibma (Pella), junior Dustin Sitzmann (LeMars) and freshmen Casey Harriman (Ida Grove) and Kaleb Korver (Pella). Other past notable Iowans include Kyle Korver (Pella), Ryan Sears (Ankeny), Brody Deren (Harlan), Tyler McKinney (Urbandale), Nate Funk (Sioux City) and Michael Lindeman (Iowa Falls).
Creighton has played at least one Iowa native in 427 straight games. That streak dates to a Feb. 5, 1994 win against Wichita State.
Long-Distance Streak Alive
Creighton has made at least one trifecta in a league-best 451 straight games since a 59-53 loss at Illinois State on Feb. 20, 1993 when Rick Johnson was coach.
Stealing A Share Of The Record
Creighton tied a school-record on Nov. 29 against Savannah State, recording 18 steals in its 26-point victory.
The 18 steals matched the amount recorded on Dec. 18, 1991 at Cleveland State, and later matched on Dec. 12, 1999 against Illinois State.
Last Season Recap
Led by seniors Nate Funk, Manny Gakou, Nick Porter and Anthony Tolliver, Creighton went 22-11 and advanced to its seventh NCAA Tournament in the past nine years last winter.
Creighton was ranked a best-ever 19th in the preseason Associated Press poll last year, but lost several games early and was just 4-3 before a second-place finish in Honolulu at the Rainbow Classic.
The Bluejays would then open MVC play with a 5-1 record, eventually finishing second with a 13-5 league mark.
The second-seeded Bluejays then won the State Farm MVC Tournament in St. Louis with victories over Indiana State, Missouri State and #11 Southern Illinois, earning a 10-seed in the NCAA Tournament. Funk, Tolliver and Porter were all named to the all-Tournament Team.
Shipped to New Orleans, La., to take on #15 Nevada, Creighton dropped a 77-71 overtime game to the Wolf Pack in the first round of the NCAA's.
Funk and Tolliver gave Creighton its first pair of first-team all-MVC teammates since 1991. Funk led the Jays in scoring (17.7 ppg.) and assists (3.0 apg.), while Tolliver topped the team in rebounding (6.7 rpg.) and blocked shots (1.72 bpg.).
Creighton was 15th nationally with its school-record 75.4 percent accuracy at the free-throw line and ranked 23rd nationally, allowing just 60.9 points per game. The Jays also ranked 13th nationally with an MVC-record 15,909 fans per home game.
The 2006-07 campaign marked Creighton's 10th-straight postseason bid and ninth-straight 20-win season.
Canada Trip Recap
Creighton spent Labor Day weekend in Calgary, winning five games in three days. Creighton beat Saskatchewan twice (87-82 and 92-66), Calgary twice (85-77 and 97-78) and Lethbridge once (88-49).
Eleven different Creighton players started at least once, and all 14 Jays scored at least nine points over the course of the weekend.
Dane Watts led Creighton in scoring with 16.0 points per game while also adding 6.4 rebounds per contest. Kenny Lawson Jr. averaged 14.0 points and led the team with 6.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocked shots per game. Josh Dotzler paced the club with 19 assists and 14 steals.
The foreign trip, which is allowed once every four years, was Creighton's first since the 2003-04 trip to Vancouver. That Creighton team opened the season 12-0.
Ticket Information
Single-game tickets went on sale on Nov. 7th. Fans can purchase tickets in advance at Qwest Center Omaha Box Office, the Omaha Civic Auditorium Box Office, all Ticketmaster locations (Baker's, Younkers), Ticketmaster online at http://www.ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster and charging by phone at (402) 422-1212. Only upper bowl seats will be available for any game and cost is $11 for adults and $7 for youth ages 3-18 (children two and under are free). For more information, call the Creighton Ticket Office at (402) 280-JAYS.
Creighton sold a record 12,888 season tickets for this season. The previous mark was the 12,126 season-tickets bought for the 2006-07 season.
Shuttle Service To Qwest Center Omaha
Metro Area Transit and Creighton University have partnered again this year to provide shuttle bus service from the CU campus to Qwest Center Omaha for all men's basketball home games this season.
The service is available to all fans, not just Creighton students. Round-trip cost is $1.00 for Creighton students with identification; $1.00 for children under the age of 18; $1.00 for senior citizens and $2.00 for adults. The shuttle will start one-hour before tip-off and at least two buses will continue to operate the route during the game.
The designated stops for pick-up around the CU campus are: 24th and Cuming (farside/southbound); 24th & California (nearside/southbound); 20th & Cass (nearside/eastbound) and 18th & Cass (nearside/eastbound by the Morrison Stadium). The shuttle will then go eastbound on Capitol Avenue and then go north up 10th Street for drop-off at the Qwest Center Omaha Arena entrance.
The route is designed for each shuttle driver to make a roundtrip every 15 minutes. Following the game's conclusion, the shuttle will start at the Qwest Center Omaha Arena entrance on 10th Street and loop the original route with the first of four stops at 24th & Cuming Streets.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's Basketball
G/F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's Basketball
F/C
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballCreighton Men's Basketball vs. South Dakota Press Conference - 11/5/25
Tuesday, November 04
Creighton Men's Basketball Availability - 11/3/25
Monday, November 03
MBB: Creighton vs. Colorado State Exhibition
Saturday, October 25
Creighton Men's Basketball vs. Colorado State Press Conference - 10/25/25
Saturday, October 25
