#12/10 Men's Basketball Hosts UNI on Tuesday

2012-13 Creighton Men's Basketball
Game #18 vs. Northern Iowa • Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013 • 7:05 pm
Northern Iowa Panthers at #12 Creighton Bluejays
CenturyLink Center Omaha (17,390) • Omaha, Neb.
Radio: KXSP 590 AM, www.am590espnradio.com
Television: ESPN3.com
Series History: Creighton leads, 29-16
Last Meeting: Northern Iowa 65, Creighton 62 on 2/4/12 in Cedar Falls, Iowa

Next Game
No. 12 Creighton (16-1, 5-0 MVC) puts its unbeaten MVC start on the line when it hosts Northern Iowa (9-8, 2-3 MVC) on Tuesday night.
    Tip-off at CenturyLink Center Omaha (17,390) in Omaha, Neb., is set for 7:05 pm.

Radio Broadcast Information
KXSP (“AM 590 - Omaha's ESPN Radio”) will broadcast all Creighton men's basketball games during the 2012-13 season, including Tuesday. T. Scott Marr and Nick Bahe will call the action. The audio is also webcast live at www.AM590espnradio.com.

Broadcast Information
Tuesday's game won't be televised, but will be at http://es.pn/mbb-UNIvsCREIGHTON on ESPN3. Scott Warmann and Kevin Lehman will announce. Coordinates follow:
Satellite Coordinates: AMC 16 – Transponder K14 – Digital Slot A
Band: Digital KU Band
Format: SD 16:9
Video Compression: 4:2:2
Modulation: QPSK
Bandwidth: 18 Megahertz
Parameters: FEC ≤
Symbol Rate: 13.235
Data Rate: 18.295
Downlink Frequency: 11971 Megahertz Horizontal

Live Stats Information
All of Creighton's games this season will have free live stats. Visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the Live Stats tab on the top of the page for a link the exact URL.
    Home games can also be followed by those who have mobile devices with internet capability at www.gocreightonstats.com.

Scouting No. 12 Creighton
Creighton is 16-1 this season, including non-conference wins over Wisconsin, Arizona State, UAB, Saint Joseph's, Nebraska, Akron, Cal and Tulsa. Creighton has won 10 straight games since suffering its only loss of the season against Boise State on Nov. 28th.
    Junior forward Doug McDermott (23.6 ppg., 7.4 rpg.) is the nation's only returning consensus First Team All-American, as well as the nation's leading returning scorer (22.9 ppg. last year). He's led the Jays in scoring and rebounding each of the past two seasons, and has already picked up MVC Freshman of the Year, MVC Newcomer of the Year, MVC Player of the Year and MVC Tournament MVP honors in his career. McDermott is 31-of-53 from three-point range in the past 11 contests and has already been named MVC Player of the Week five times this season.
    The other three returning starters include senior center Gregory Echenique (10.4 ppg., 7.3 rpg., 1.6 bpg.), senior guard Grant Gibbs (6.7 ppg., 5.8 apg.) and junior guard Jahenns Manigat (.468 3FG% last year). Gibbs led the MVC with 176 assists last year, while Echenique had a league-high 57 blocks 9en route to earning MVC Defensive Player of the Year honors.
    Sophomore Austin Chatman replaced three-year starter Antoine Young, the lone player from last year's rotation to depart. Chatman is averaging 7.6 points and 4.9 assists per contest.
    The Bluejays returned 10 lettermen and four starters from last year's 29-6 team that reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament, and have been widely praised for having one of the nation's most potent offenses.
    Creighton is shooting 52.2 percent from the floor (second nationally), 45.3 percent from downtown (first nationally), 75.4 percent at the line, and outrebounding foes by 5.3 caroms a game. CU scores 79.8 points per game.

Scouting Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa is 9-8 this season and 2-3 in MVC play. The Panthers have alternated wins and losses in its past four games, and are coming off an 84-53 blowout victory over Bradley on Saturday.
    Five UNI players score between 9-12 points per game, a quintet led by senior guard Anthony James (11.6 ppg.). James hit a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer the last time these teams met last February.
    Reigning MVC Freshman of the Year Seth Tuttle (11.4 ppg. 6.2 rpg.) is a force inside and shoots 59.3 percent from the field, while Deon Mitchell (10.4 ppg., 3.4 apg.) is one of the MVC's most improved players.
    The Panthers average 68.3 points per game while allowing 63.4 per contest. UNI shoots 44.6 percent from the field, 36.7 percent from three-point range and 75.0 percent at the line.

The Coaches
Greg McDermott (Northern Iowa, 1988) is in his third season as head coach at Creighton. He led CU to a 29-6 mark last year, and is now 68-23 with the Bluejays. McDermott has previously been a head coach at Iowa State (2006-10), Northern Iowa (2001-06), North Dakota State (2000-01) and Wayne State (1994-2000). He owns a career mark of 348-218 in 19 seasons and is 217-154 in 12 Division I campaigns. McDermott is assisted by Darian DeVries, Steve Lutz and Steve Merfeld.
    Ben Jacobson (North Dakota, 1994) owns a 138-79 record in his seventh year as a head coach. Jacobson was promoted to head coach when Greg McDermott took the Iowa State job seven summers ago and led UNI to back-to-back MVC regular-season and MVC Tournament titles in 2010 and 2011. Jacobson is assisted by Kyle Green, Erik Crawford and P.J. Hogan.

The Series With Northern Iowa
Creighton leads the all-time series with Northern Iowa by a 29-16 count, including a 18-4 mark in Omaha.
    The teams split 3-point decisions last year, with the home team winning each time.
    Creighton has won 13 of the last 18 and 24 of the last 32 meetings. Thirteen of the last 17 contests have been decided by nine points or less.
    Greg McDermott is 4-5 against UNI (3-2 at Creighton) and 4-5 against Ben Jacobson.
    Creighton's series history vs. Northern Iowacan be found on page 11 of these notes.

Last Game Recap
Doug McDermott had a season-high 39 points, including Creighton's first 18 in the second half, as the Jays defeated Missouri State 74-52 on Friday night in Springfield. McDermott made 14 straight field goals at one points and had 28 of his points after intermission.

Success In MVC Game Six
Creighton has won its sixth game of the MVC slate in 17 of the previous 18 seasons. Tuesday's game vs. Northern Iowa is Creighton's sixth MVC contest this season.

Poll Position
Creighton moved up one spot to a season-best 10th in this week's USA Today Top 25 Coaches poll. It's the program's highest ranking in the Coaches poll since being tabbed a best-ever ninth in the Jan. 20, 2003 edition.
    In the Associated Press poll that Creighton uses, Creighton is 12th in this week's poll, up one spot. Creighton's best AP ranking this year was 11th on Nov. 26th.
    Creighton was ranked 15th in this year's preseason coaches poll, its first preseason recognition since coming in at No. 23 in 2006-07.
    Creighton started this year with a No. 16 preseason ranking by the AP, its highest preseason mark in program history and the best by any MVC school since No. 6 Wichita State in 1981-82.
    Including the Jan. 14th poll, Creighton has now been ranked 23 times in 48 weeks of polls under Greg McDermott, and ranked between 26th-to-28th in five other polls. The 23 weeks in the top-25 under McDermott is more than any coach in Bluejay history.
Coaches Spending Most Weeks in Top 25 at CU
Greg McDermott, 2010-Pres.    23 (of 48)
Dana Altman, 1994-2010    18
Tom Apke, 1974-81    5
Eddie Sutton, 1969-74    5

McDermott Goes For 39
Junior Doug McDermott had a season-high 39 points on Tuesday night at Missouri State, scoring in nearly every conceivable way. Consider the following aspects of his performance:
-McDermott started the game 1-for-4 from the field, then sank his next 14 shots from the floor. When he missed his final shot of the game with 4:13 to go, the JQH Arena crowd gave a sarcastic Bronx cheer.
-McDermott scored Creighton's first 18 points of the second half as the Jays extended a 32-27 halftime lead into a 50-32 margin.
-McDermott's 39 points were seven more than the previous JQH Arena record.
-McDermott outscored Missouri State by himself in the second half, 28-25, and outscored MSU 35-34, in the final 26:16 of the contest.
-McDermott is the only player in the country this season with 39 points and 10 or more rebounds in the same game.
-His 28 points in the second half were the most by a Creighton player in a half since he scored 31 in the second half of his 44-point performance at Bradley on Jan. 7, 2012.
-McDermott's 39 points are tied for the most in the MVC by any player this season with Wichita State's Cleanthony Early.

More on 39
Doug McDermott's 39 points at Missouri State rank tied for 13th-most in Creighton history, and he joined Bob Portman and Benoit Benjamin as the only players in Creighton history with multiple games of 39 points or more in a career.
    Pts.    Name, Opponent    Date
    51    Bob Portman vs. UW-Milwaukee    12/16/67
    47    Eddie Cole at Morningside    11/29/54
    46    Bob Portman vs. Weber State    12/23/68
    45    Tim Powers at Idaho State    01/29/66
        Benoit Benjamin vs. Indiana State    01/19/85
    44    Doug McDermott at Bradley    01/07/12
    43    Bob Portman at Kansas State    02/12/68
        Benoit Benjamin vs. Southern Illinois    01/17/85
    42    Bob Portman vs. LaSalle    01/30/68
        Cavel Witter vs. Bradley    03/01/08
    40    Chad Gallagher vs. Wichita State    02/17/90
        Rodney Buford vs. Bradley    12/30/98
    39    Bob Portman vs. Oklahoma City    01/13/68
        Doug McDermott at Missouri State    01/11/13

Valley Tourney Champs Collide
Tuesday's meeting features eight of the last 11 champions of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, and 10 of the last 14 titlists. Creighton has won crowns in 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2012, while UNI won tournament titles in 2004, 2009 and 2010.
    In addition, Creighton and UNI have had players named MVC Sixth Man of the Year in three of the last five seasons. CU's Booker Woodfox won the award in 2007-08, while UNI's Lucas O'Rear claimed the award in both 2008-09 and 2009-10.

Northern Iowa - Creighton Ties
Tuesday's game features Creighton head coach Greg McDermott facing his alma mater, Northern Iowa. McDermott played at UNI from 1984-88, where he scored 1,033 career points to rank 29th in UNI history. He later reached three NCAA Tournaments as head coach of the program from 2001-06.
    Creighton assistant coach Darian DeVries played at Northern Iowa from 1994-98. He ranks 25th on UNI's all-time scoring list with 1,084 points. He is a native of Aplington, Iowa. His younger sister, Jodi, was a second-team all-MVC volleyball player for the Panthers.
    UNI assistant coach Erik Crawford played for McDermott at UNI from 2003-06. He spent the 2010-11 as Creighton's Director of Basketball Operations before returning to his alma mater in June of 2011.
    UNI head coach Ben Jacobson was coached by McDermott at North Dakota and later served as an assistant to McDermott at both North Dakota State and UNI before replacing his mentor in 2006.
    In addition, Creighton Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen is a 1971 graduate of Northern Iowa. He is a native of Webster City, Iowa.

What To Watch For
A few facts and figures to keep an eye on during Tuesday's game.
    -With a win, Creighton can become the nation's first school to 17 wins this season.
    -With a win, Creighton can start 17-1 for the first time ever, and be the first MVC team since Drake (2007-08) to start 17-1.
    -Doug McDermott can take over the national lead in points scored with four or more points. Florida Atlantic's Greg Gantt (404 points) currently owns a slim lead over McDermott's 401.
    -Doug McDermott enters Tuesday's game with 1,783 career points. With 19 points or more, he'll move past Valley legends Ben Jacobson (1,787 at UNI), Josh Young (1,789 at Drake) and Kyle Korver (1,801 at Creighton) on the league's all-time scoring list.

Big Wins A Trend?
Creighton's 91-61 victory over Drake last Tuesday was its largest in any MVC game since a 93-56 win over Evansville on Jan. 15, 2003.
    On Friday, the Jays 74-52 win at Missouri State marked the program's largest margin of victory in an MVC road game since an 82-60 win at Southern Illinois on Feb. 14, 2009.
    Before last week, Creighton had not won consecutive MVC games by 20 points or more since the 2002-03 campaign.
    On Tuesday, Creighton will attempt to win three consecutive MVC games by 20 or more for the first time since January of 1991.
    Seven of Creighton's victories this season (including non-conference) have been by 20 or more points.

There He Goes Again
One year after leading the MVC with 49.2 percent accuracy from three-point land in Valley play, Jahenns Manigat is off to another hot start. Manigat has made 13-of-19 three-pointers in Valley action this year, ranking first in three-point percentage and third in three-pointers made.
    Over the past two seasons, Manigat is 44-for-82 from downtown in league action, good for 53.7 percent.
    Manigat has made at least half of his attempts and made multiple three-pointers in each of Creighton's last seven games, hitting 17-of-27 treys (63.0 percent) in that span.

Shooting Stars
Creighton has made 55.5 percent of its shots in five MVC games to date.
    Take out Creighton and only two teams have had a single league game while making 55 percent this season, as Evansville shot 57.7 percent vs. Southern Illinois on Jan. 5th and UNI shot 57.7 percent vs. Bradley last Saturday.

Thank Heaven For Nevin
Nevin Johnson made the most of his career-high 12 minutes of playing time in last Tuesday's win over Drake.
    He blocked a Ben Simons lay-up shortly after checking in, then drained a three-pointer the next trip down.
    Johnson would finish with nine points, one more than his previous career total set in CU's first 15 games this season.
    Johnson had another strong showing with five points, two rebounds and two assists in a career-best 13 minutes vs. Missouri State.

About The Final Seconds
Creighton has played 17 games this season, but has yet to have a single lead change in the final five minutes in any of them.
    Last year's Creighton team went 5-1 in games that went to overtime or had a lead change in the final five minutes of regulation and were 7-1 in games decided by six points or less.
    Northern Iowa is the lone team to win a close game (six points or less) against Creighton in the 52 games the squad has played since the start of last season.

Number 3, For 3
Doug McDermott owns the MVC's longest active streak of games played with a three-pointer, having hit at least one trifecta in 15 straight contests. McDermott has made 50 percent or better of his three-point attempts during eight of his last 11 games, and is shooting 50.7 percent from downtown overall.
    The 15-game streak is the longest by any Creighton player since Ethan Wragge went 21 games in a row with a trey from Jan. 3-March 24, 2010.

Teaching Dougie How To?
Doug McDermott owns 20 or more points in 42 of his first 91 career games in a Bluejay uniform. He's put up 20 points or more against a Valley opponent 16 times, but has never done it against either Northern Iowa (Tuesday's foe) or Wichita State (Saturday's foe). His high in five games vs. UNI is 18, while his best effort in four tries against Wichita State has been 12 points.

Who Will Start?
Creighton has utilized the same starting five in every game this season, and four of their five starters have streaks of 52 or more straight starts:
Consecutive Starts, Creighton (Active)
Doug McDermott    91
Gregory Echenique    76
Jahenns Manigat    67
Grant Gibbs    52
Austin Chatman    17

Jays Reach 10 Home Wins, Again
With last Tuesday's win vs. Drake, Creighton won its 10th home game this season. Creighton has now won 10 or more home games in 17 straight seasons.
    The streak is easily a school-record, five more than the previous standard of 12 straight seasons from the 1969-70 season to the 1980-81 campaign with 10 or more home wins.

Wragge = Instant Offense
Ethan Wragge had 22 points in just 17 minutes last Tuesday, sinking six three-pointers for the fourth time in his career.
    It's the second time in Wragge's career he's had 20 or more points in 17 minutes or less, having gone for 21 points in 17 minutes as a freshman vs. Xavier.
    Before Wragge arrived on campus four years ago, no other Creighton player had 20 or more points in 19 minutes or less since Vernon Moore put up 21 points in 19 minutes against Nebraska-Kearney on Nov. 24, 1984.

Wragge, For Three!
Ethan Wragge started the season red-hot from three-point range, sinking 21-of-36 three-pointers in CU's first six games (58.3 percent). He then made 7-of-33 trifectas in CU's next seven games (21.2 percent).
    Wragge sank his first four treys at Illinois State on Jan. 2nd, finishing 6-for-9 overall, and on Jan. 5th made 3-of-6 shots from downtown vs. Indiana State.
    He continued his torrid pace last Tuesday vs. Drake, making 6-of-9 treys and tying a career-high with 22 points in just 17 minutes.

Filling It Up
Ethan Wragge owns the MVC lead with 44 three-pointers made this season, giving him 190 in his career. That places him fifth in Creighton history.
    All four men ahead of him were named MVC Tournament Most Outstanding Player at some point in their careers.
Most 3FG Made, Career
3FG    Name    Years
    371    Kyle Korver    1999-03
    245    Ryan Sears    1997-01
    212    Rodney Buford    1995-99
    200    Nate Funk    2002-07
    190    Ethan Wragge    2009-Pres.
    185    Matt Roggenburk    1986-90

Coaches vs. Cancer Upcoming
As part of the nationwide American Cancer Society Coaches Vs. Cancer event, men's basketball fans are encouraged to wear pink to promote cancer awareness and participate in the “Creighton Vs. Cancer Pink Out” game when the Bluejays host Bradley on Saturday, Feb. 2.
    Bluejay players will wear pink shooting shirts and pink jerseys for the game and, like last year's event, fans have the opportunity to honor a friend or family member who has battled cancer or is currently battling cancer by purchasing the apparel via auction (the shooting shirt can be personalized – last name, nickname, etc.).
    To participate in the auction, click on this link: http://www.CreightonCVCjerseyauction.org to place a bid. Bidding commenced this morning and will close in four-minute increments starting at 8:00 p.m., and ending at 8:28 p.m., on Sunday, Jan. 20.
    The first 14,000 fans entering the venue on February 2 will receive a complimentary pink t-shirt courtesy of Alegent Creighton Health and Methodist Estabrook Cancer Center.
    Last year's Creighton vs. Cancer jersey auction raised more than $29,600.

Midseason Wooden Award List
Creighton forward Doug McDermott is the lone MVC representative on the John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25, announced today by The Los Angeles Athletic Club on ESPNU. Selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board, the list is made up of 25 student-athletes who, based on their performances in November, December, and the beginning of January, are the frontrunners for college basketball's most prestigious honor.
    The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation's top 10 players, will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament. The John R. Wooden Award Player of the Year presented by Wendy's will be announced on ESPN during the Final Four Weekend in Atlanta. The 2013 Wooden Award Gala presented by Wendy's will take place April 11-13, 2013, at The Los Angeles Athletic Club.

Three-Point Barrage
Creighton has started MVC play shooting the daylights out of the ball. The Jays were 12-of-24 from downtown vs. Evansville on Dec. 29, went 13-of-25 at Illinois State on Jan. 2nd, were 11-of-22 from deep vs. Indiana State on Jan. 5th, an absurd 16-of-27 last Tuesday vs. Drake, and then 9-of-17 from long-range on Friday at Missouri State.
    Creighton's four-game stretch to start league play was the first time since January of 2008 that Creighton's had four straight games with 10 or more three-pointers.
    One streak still alive is Creighton's streak of five straight games making 50 percent or better from three-point range. That's a school-record.
    Creighton's 16 three-pointers vs. Drake were tied for second-most in school history, tied for 10th-most in MVC history and the most in the MVC in 2012-13. The league record for three-pointers in a game is 20, done by Creighton (vs. Chattanooga on 2/19/05) and later matched by Bradley vs. Florida A&M on Nov. 21, 2006.
    Tuesday's opponent, Northern Iowa, tied a school-record of its own by making 15 three-pointers on Saturday in a win vs. Bradley.

Racing To 17
Creighton enters Tuesday's game with a 16-1 record. The 16 wins were tied for the most nationally after Sunday's games with Michigan, Gonzaga and Syracuse. With a win on Tuesday, the Jays can become the nation's first squad to 17 victories this year.
    Below is a list of the teams with 16 or more wins through games of Sunday. In addition, Louisville is 15-1 entering Monday night's match-up at Connecticut.
Most Wins (Through 1/13)
School    W-L    Next Game
Creighton    16-1    1/15
Michigan    16-1    1/17
Gonzaga    16-1    1/17
Syracuse    16-1    1/19

Best 17 Game Starts
Creighton has started 16-1 or better for the first time since 2002-03, and third time overall. Creighton has never started a season 17-1, as the 1942-43 season was only 17 games long, and the 2002-03 team lost at an Evansville team coached by current Bluejay assistant Steve Merfeld.
    Below are Creighton's best 17-game starts in history:
Best 17-Game Starts
    First 17    Year    Final W-L
    16-1    1942-43    16-1
    16-1    2002-03    29-5
    16-1    2012-13    ? ? ?

Perfect 10
Creighton has won 10 straight games heading into Tuesday. This is the sixth different win streak of six or longer in the three years with Greg McDermott as coach.
    Creighton's longest win streak under McDermott (11) was snapped the last time Creighton played UNI.
    Below is a list of Creighton's longest win streaks under McDermott, as well as the nation's longest active win streaks (after Jan. 13).
Nation's Longest Active Win Streaks (1/13)
    W's    Team    Next Game
    13    Kansas    1/14 vs. Baylor
    13    Utah State    1/17 at New Mexico State
    11    Butler    1/16 vs. Richmond
    11    VCU    1/17 vs. Saint Joseph's
    11    Western Illinois    1/17 vs. South Dakota State
    10    Creighton    1/15 vs. Northern Iowa
    10    Louisville    1/14 at Connecticut
    10    North Carolina State    1/16 at Maryland

Longest Win Streaks Under Greg McDermott
    W's    Dates    Snapped By
    11    Dec. 31, 2011 - Feb. 1, 2012    at Northern Iowa
    10    Dec. 1, 2012 - Present    ? ? ?
    8    Feb. 14 - March 16, 2012    vs. North Carolina
    7    Nov. 11, 2011 - Dec. 4, 2011    at Saint Joseph's
    6    Dec. 11, 2010 - Jan. 1, 2011    Missouri State
    6    Nov. 9-24, 2012    Boise State

Winning Against Them All
Creighton is 69-37 vs. MVC schools since the start of the 2007-08 season, owning a winning record against every Valley school.
Creighton vs. MVC Schools, Since 2007-08
Southern Illinois    9-1
Evansville    10-2
Bradley    9-3
Indiana State    8-3
Northern Iowa    6-5
Wichita State    6-5
Illinois State    7-6
Drake    7-6
Missouri State    7-6

What's Your Digits?
Creighton has played just one game decided by 10 points or less all season, a 79-72 win at Illinois State.
    Each of the last five Creighton-UNI games have been decided by single-digits, and CU hasn't won by double-digits vs. the Panthers since a 74-50 win on Feb. 5, 2008 in Omaha.

On A Roll
Since the start of last season, Creighton is a remarkable 45-7. That ranks as the best record over any 52 games since the Jays went 45-7 in 52 games from Nov. 17, 2002 to Jan. 28, 2004.
    On a national basis, Creighton's 45 wins since the start of last season ranks tied for fourth, as seen below.
Most Wins, Since 2011-12 (through 1/13)
School    '11-12    '12-13    W-L    Next
Syracuse    34-3    16-1    50-4    1/19
Kentucky    38-2    10-5    48-7    1/15
Kansas    32-7    14-1    46-8    1/14
Creighton    29-6    16-1    45-7    1/15
Louisville    30-10    15-1    45-11    1/14
Ohio State    31-8    13-3    44-11    1/19
Murray State    31-2    12-4    43-6    1/17
North Carolina    32-6    11-5    43-11    1/19

MVC's Best On The Road
In addition to owning one of the MVC's best home-court advantages, Creighton has easily posted the league's best record in MVC road games since 2000-01 as well.
    Creighton is 61-49 in MVC road games in that span, a win percentage of .555. A distant second is Southern Illinois (53-58, .477). As a league, the road winning percentage has been .349 in the same span.
MVC Road Records (since 2000-01)
Team    W    L    Pct.
Creighton    61    49    .555
Southern Illinois    53    58    .477
Wichita State    48    63    .432
Northern Iowa    45    65    .409
Missouri State    43    67    .391
Drake    32    79    .288
Illinois State    30    80    .273
Bradley    30    81    .270
Indiana State    24    87    .216
Evansville    20    90    .182
All MVC Teams    386    719    .349

The Road Less Traveled
Creighton won its final two road games last year (at Southern Illinois, at Indiana State) and have won its first four road games this year too (Nebraska, Cal, Illinois State, Missouri State).
    The six-game road win streak is tied for the nation's third-longest active streak nationally, trailing only Syracuse (9) and College of Charleston (7). On Saturday at Wichita State, Creighton will seek seven straight wins on the road for the first time since 1962.
    Below is a list of Creighton's road win streaks of six or longer:
Longest Road Win Streaks
    Streak    Dates
    14    Feb. 14, 1942 - Dec. 20, 1945
    11    Feb. 26, 1917 - Feb. 27, 1919
    8    Jan. 10, 1925 - Jan. 16, 1926
    7    Jan. 27 - Dec. 1, 1962
    7    Jan. 31, 1928 - Jan. 19, 1929
    6    Jan. 2 - Feb. 15, 1975
    6    Dec. 19, 2011 - Jan. 25, 2012
    6    Feb. 14, 2012 - Present

Strong On the Road
Off to a 16-1 start overall, Creighton is 6-0 away from home this season. Four of those victories have come against two Big Ten teams (Wisconsin, Nebraska) and two Pacific-12 teams (Arizona State, Cal).
    Impressively, all four BCS wins have been by double-digits. Creighton is 8-1 in the past two years against BCS teams, including six victories by double-digits and another triumph by eight.

Winning Away From Home
Creighton won a school-record 15 games away from home last season. The Jays went 10-3 in true road games and were also 5-1 on neutral floors.
    Creighton's lone neutral-site loss came to North Carolina in a not-so “neutral” Greensboro, N.C., in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
    This year's team is 6-0 away from home, with four of those victories against a BCS school (Wisconsin, Arizona State, Nebraska, Cal) by double-digits, a 22-point win at Missouri State, and a seven-point win at Illinois State.
    This season is the first time since 1942-43 that Creighton has won its first six games away from home. Creighton started that season winning its first eight road/neutral games.
    Each of Creighton's last nine NCAA Tournament teams have won 10 or more games away from home, and eight of those teams had a winning record in true road contests.

Road Warriors
Creighton is 14-3 in true road games over the past two seasons, one of the nation's best such marks. Only three teams have fewer true road losses in that span, a group consisting of Murray State, Syracuse, Wichita State, Kansas and Duke.
Fewest Road Losses, Last 2 Seasons (1/18)
Team    W-L    Pct.    Next Road
Murray State    19-1    .950    1/24
Syracuse    12-1    .923    1/19
Kansas    10-2    .833    1/19
Creighton    14-3    .824    1/19
VCU    14-3    .824    1/19
Wichita State    13-3    .813    1/23
Kentucky    9-3    .750    1/19
Duke    8-3    .727    1/23

Celsius or Fahrenheit?
Jahenns Manigat led the MVC with his 49.2 percent marksmanship from three-point range in league play a year ago. When it came to CU's nine MVC road games last year, he was the barometer.
    In Creighton's seven Valley road wins, Manigat shot a robust 19-of-27 (70.4 percent) from downtown. In CU's two Valley road losses, Manigat was just 2-of-9 (22.2 percent) from downtown.
    Manigat is 17-for-27 (63.0 percent) from three-point range in the past seven games this year after starting the season 8-for-28 (28.6 percent) in his first 10 outings.

Mighty Impressive Run
Creighton's been on an amazing run in the sports of men's soccer, volleyball, men's basketball and women's basketball in the past nine months.
    Since March 4, 2012, Creighton is a remarkable 39-1-1 against other Valley schools. The lone loss was in volleyball (at Southern Illinois), while the lone tie came at Drake in men's soccer.

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 Iowans this season includes senior Grant Gibbs (Marion), junior Doug McDermott (Ames), sophomore Will Artino (Waukee) and redshirt freshman Alex Olsen (Council Bluffs).
    Other past notable Iowans include Kyle Korver (Pella), Ryan Sears (Ankeny), Brody Deren (Harlan), Tyler McKinney (Urbandale) and Nate Funk (Sioux City).
    Creighton has played at least one Iowa native in 602 straight games. That streak dates to a Feb. 5, 1994 win against Wichita State. In that time, 905 of Creighton's 3,010 starts (30.1 percent) can be attributed to Iowans. Here's a list of the Iowans and how many starts they've made during this run:
Creighton's Starts By Iowans, Since 2/5/1994
Ryan Sears    124
Nate Funk    99
Kyle Korver    95
Michael Lindeman    94
Doug McDermott    91
Tyler McKinney    89
Brody Deren    89
Joel Templeman    57
Grant Gibbs    52
Kaleb Korver    46
Pierce Hibma    27
Adam Reid    24
Casey Harriman    16
John Klein     2

Get Your Tickets!
Creighton fans have already purchased 4,000 lower bowl all-session tickets for the MVC Tournament, which will be March 7-10 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. The mark shatters the previous MVC record for sales by a school set by Bluejay fans last year (2,575).
    To join the Creighton contingent at Arch Madness with a purchase in the upper-bowl, call the CU Ticket Office at 402-280-JAYS.

Big Man In The Middle
Gregory Echenique scored in double-figures in eight straight games from Dec. 1st - Jan. 5th.
    Echenique has shot better than 50 percent from the field in 10 of the last 11 games, and continues to lead the MVC in field goal percentage at 67.6 percent.
    Echenique's 67.6 percent marksmanship from the field is on pace to set not only the Creighton (67.4%) mark, but also the MVC single-season mark (also 67.4%) as well.
    It's also worth noting that Echenique ranks fourth in Creighton history with 139 career blocked shots. Echenique also ranks 13th in Rutgers history with 94 career swats, where he spent the first three semesters of college.
Most Blocked Shots, Creighton History
(Since 1979-80)
    Blk.    Name    Years
    411    Benoit Benjamin    1982-85
    183    Chad Gallagher    1987-91
    153    Kenny Lawson Jr.    2006-11
    139    Gregory Echenique    2010-Pres.
    138    Brody Deren    2001-04
    136    Anthony Tolliver    2003-07

Offense AND Defense
This year's team is playing some much-improved defense to go with a highly-lauded offense.
    This year's Creighton team is shooting 52.2 percent from the field, while holding foes to 39.6 percent from the field on the defensive end.
    Creighton, Notre Dame, Indiana and Weber State are the nation's only teams shooting 50 percent or better on offense, and holding foes to less than 40 percent from the field.
    Creighton's 52.2 percent shooting from the field would rank seventh in MVC single-season history, and the best mark since 1985-86 (Creighton, .535).

RPI Update
Through games of January 13th, Creighton is ranked 19th in the RPI according to WarrenNolan.com, while Northern Iowa ranks 99th.
    Creighton owns eight wins against RPI teams in the top-85. By comparison, defending national champion Kentucky has two top-210 wins.
    As a league, the MVC is the ninth-best conference nationally.

Full House
Creighton has attracted four of its 13 largest home crowds in program history this season.
    Creighton's home crowd of 18,073 vs. Drake last Tuesday was largest ever for a non-weekend game.
    Here's a look at Creighton's top-15 home crowds all-time.
    Rank    Att.    Opponent    Date
    1.    18,735    Wichita State    02/11/12
    2.    18,458    Evansville    12/29/12
    3.    18,436    Bradley    01/28/12
    4.    18,073    Drake    01/08/13
    5.    17,954    Wichita State    12/28/08
    6.    17,694    Indiana State    01/05/13
    7.    17,676    Northwestern    12/22/11
    8.    17,665    Missouri State    12/28/11
    9.    17,607    Drexel    02/17/07
    10.    17,459    Southern Illinois    01/20/07
    11.    17,411    George Mason    02/21/09
        17,411    Indiana State    01/21/12
    13.    17,390    Saint Joseph's    12/01/12
    14.    17,371    Indiana State    01/19/08
    15.    17,311    Illinois State    02/01/12

Honors Roll In
Already seventh in school history with 1,783 career points, Doug McDermott can move up in Creighton's top-10 in rebounding as well vs. UNI. McDermott owns 694 career rebounds, two behind Wally Anderzunas for ninth.
Most Rebounds, Career
    Reb.    Name    Years
    1,751    Paul Silas    1961-64
    1,126    Bob Harstad    1987-91
    1,005    Benoit Benjamin    1982-85
    979    Bob Portman    1966-69
    891    Chad Gallagher    1987-91
    762    Kenny Lawson Jr.    2006-11
    716    Rodney Buford    1995-99
    709    Rick Apke    1975-78
    696    Wally Anderzunas    1965-67, 1968-69
    694    Doug McDermott    2010-Pres.
    686    Dane Watts    2004-08

Honors Roll In
Doug McDermott picked up two big honors in early January, adding to his collection.
    ESPN.com named McDermott the National Player of the Month after a December that saw him average a nation-best 26.5 points per game while shooting 57.5 percent from the field, 57.6 percent from three-point range and 88.9 percent in the line in six Creighton victories.
    McDermott was also named the Lute Olson Award Midseason National Player of the Year honoree. McDermott was named the Lute Olson Award National Player of the Year at the end of last season.
    McDermott has been named Midseason National Player of the Year by such experts as Seth Davis, Dick Vitale and Andy Katz.

Let's Get It Started
Creighton is off to a 5-0 start in league play, and could improve to 6-0 with a win on Tuesday vs. Northern Iowa.
    As good as Creighton's been since rejoining the MVC in 1977-78, this would be just the second time the program has started 6-0 in league play in that span. Each of the previous two teams to start 5-0 in league play would go on to win the MVC Tournament.
Creighton's Best MVC Starts, Since 1977-78
    Start    Year    Finish/Place
    7-0    2002-03    15-3/2nd (won MVC Tourney)
    5-0    1988-89    11-3/1st (won MVC Tourney
    5-0    2012-13    ? ? ?

Conference Starts Are Big
Since 1993-94, only one team (Northern Iowa, a 2008-09 co-champion) has won at least a share of the regular-season title without winning its league opener. In fact, 16 of the last 18 regular-season champs (or co-champs) have opened 2-0 or better in MVC play, with UNI in 2008-09 and Wichita State in 2011-12 serving as the exceptions.
    This season the only MVC teams to start 2-0 were Bradley, Wichita State, Creighton and Indiana State.

Point, Counterpoint
No player in the MVC owns more assists in the past two seasons than Creighton senior Grant Gibbs. Here's the top-four:
MVC Assist Leaders, Since 2011-12
    274    Grant Gibbs, Creighton
    228    Jake Odum, Indiana State
    188    Troy Taylor, Evansville
    174    Michael Bizoukas, Missouri State*
graduated in 2012

What A Start!
Now in his third year, Greg McDermott is 68-23 in his first 91 games on the Creighton sideline. The 68 wins is tied for the most in Creighton history after 91 games, matching Arthur A. Schabinger (1922-35).
    Here's a breakdown of how he compares to some other Creighton coaches after 91 games.
W-L After 91 Games, Select CU Coaches
Coach    Years    W-L After 91
Greg McDermott    2010-Pres.    68-23
Arthur A. Schabinger    1922-35    68-23
Tom Apke    1974-81    67-24
Eddie Sutton    1969-74    54-37
Red McManus    1959-69    51-40
Dana Altman    1994-10    40-51
Tony Barone    1985-91    38-53
Willis Reed    1981-85    36-55

Unbeaten December
Creighton went 6-0 in December wrapping up an unbeaten December with a victory over Evansville on Dec. 29.
    Since 1946-47, Creighton's only two other teams to go unbeaten in December were in 2003 and 2008.
    The 2008-09 team went 9-0 in December and would go on to win a share of the MVC regular-season title.
    The 2003-04 squad finished tied for second in the MVC. That team began the season 12-0 before suffering an overtime loss in a game hosted by Northern Iowa and its then-coach, Greg McDermott.

10 Conference Wins x 16
Last season's Creighton team extended its MVC record by winning 10 or more league games for a 16th consecutive season.
    On a national basis, the only other current school with at least 16 straight years of 10 or more league wins is Kansas (18).
    Each of the last 16 seasons has seen the team finish fourth place or better in the MVC as well.

Team of the Millennium?
Below is the records for each MVC school from the start of the 2000-01 season until the start of this season, ranked by overall winning percentage.
    Creighton leads the MVC overall with 296 wins in the millennium, as well as 12 postseason appearances:
MVC Standings (start 2000-01 to Jan. 14, 2013)
        MVC    only          All Games
Team    W    L    Pct.    W    L    Pct.
Creighton    154    67    .697    296    121    .710
Wichita State    129    92    .584    253    153    .623
Southern Illinois    135    86    .611    246    159    .607
Northern Iowa    120    101    .543    235    166    .586
Missouri State    120    101    .543    228    175    .566
Illinois State    99    122    .448    210    183    .534
Bradley    95    126    .430    199    204    .494
Drake    93    128    .421    187    200    .483
Indiana State    82    139    .371    172    218    .441
Evansville    78    143    .353    153    222    .408

Postseason Appearances by MVC Teams
(Since 2000-01)
Team    NCAA    NIT    CBI    CIT    Total
Creighton    6    4    1    1    12
Wichita State    2    5    1    0    8
Southern Illinois    6    1    0    0    7
Northern Iowa    5    1    0    1    7
Bradley    1    2    1    1    5
Missouri State    0    4    0    1    5
Illinois State    0    5    0    0    5
Indiana State    2    0    1    1    4
Drake    1    0    0    2    3
Evansville    0    0    2    1    3

Consistent Challengers
Ten of Creighton's last 15 teams have finished either first or second in The Valley's regular-season race. Two of the five that didn't won the MVC Tournament.
    The Bluejays won the MVC in 2000-01 and tied for the title in 2001-02 and 2008-09. 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, while the 2010-11 club tied for fourth place.
Creighton's MVC Finishes, Last 15 Years
1st Place    2000-01
Tied for First    2001-02 (won MVC Tourn.), 2008-09
2nd Place    1997-98, 2002-03 (won MVC Tourn.),
    2006-07 (won MVC Tourn.), 2011-12 (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.); 2007-08; 2009-10
Tied for 4th Place    2010-11

Dingman Rings It Up
Creighton has needed someone to step up once Josh Jones was forced out of the line-up, and that someone has been Avery Dingman.
    Since Jones met the media and disclosed he'd be out for at least a month (which has now turned out to be career-ending), Dingman is averaging 8.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 0.8 steals in six games while sinking 13-of-23 three-point shots.
    In Creighton's Dec. 19 win over Tulsa, Dingman scored a career-best 21 points against the Golden Hurricane while also plucking a career-high three steals. Dingman made his first seven attempts and finished 8-for-9 from the field, including 5-of-6 from three-point land.
    Dingman also had 11 points and a career-high seven rebounds in the win over Evansville.
    Dingman is the sixth player on this year's Creighton roster to own a 20-point game in his career. Doug McDermott's done it 40 times, Ethan Wragge has done it three times, Gregory Echenique has done it twice, and Grant Gibbs, Jones and Dingman each have done it one time.

Creighton's Exclusive 30/30 Club
Doug McDermott scored 30 points in a Dec. 9 win vs. Akron, then followed that performance with a season-high 34 seven days later at Cal.
    McDermott, who leads the MVC with 23.6 points per game, became the first Creighton player with 30 points in consecutive contests since Bob Harstad in 1990.
    With 38 or more points on Tuesday, McDermott could join as the only players in Creighton history to score 38 or more in consecutive contests, joining Benoit Benjamin.

Doing It All
Reigning MVC Player of the Year Doug McDermott has one of the nation's best set of post moves, and now the junior forward is taking his skills to the perimeter with similar success.
    Eight days after tying a career-high with five-three pointers in a 29-point thrashing of Atlantic-10 favorite Saint Joseph's, McDermott shot 6-for-8 from downtown in a 77-61 win over defending MAC champion Akron on Dec. 9th.
    McDermott's career 46.0 percent accuracy from three-point range ranks tops in CU history. Since starting his career 15-of-53 (28.3 percent) after 20 games from downtown, McDermott has made 123-of-246 three-pointers (50.0 percent) in his past 71 games.

McDermott Earns MVC Awards
Doug McDermott has been named MVC Player of the Week five times this season.
    His first honor came Nov. 12th for his performance in a Nov. 9 win vs. North Texas. McDermott had 21 points and 11 rebounds to produce CU's first double-double in a season-opener since Kyle Korver in 2001-02.
    He was then honored on Nov. 26th after averaging 25.3 points and 7.3 rebounds while earning MVP honors of the Las Vegas Invitational.
    McDermott was honored on Dec. 10th after averaging 28.5 points in wins vs. Nebraska and Akron.
    Most recently, McDermott was honored on Dec. 17th after scoring 34 points and hauling down nine rebounds in a win at Cal on Dec. 15th. He was also named National Player of the Week by Seth Davis (CBS/Sports Illustrated) and the USBWA for that performance.
    His fifth honor of the year came on Jan. 14th after he averaged 27.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in wins over Missouri State and Drake.
    McDermott now owns 10 career MVC Player of the Week honors, something only Bradley great Hersey Hawkins (14) can top.
    Including his seven MVC Newcomer of the Week honors in 2010-11, McDermott has won at least one weekly award from the MVC in 17 of 42 weeks since enrolling at Creighton.

Chasing History, Part I
Doug McDermott has scored 21 or more points in 12 of the season's 17 games, moving up to sixth on Creighton's all-time scoring list with 1,783 career points.
    At McDermott's current scoring average of 23.6 points per game this year he'll become Creighton's all-time leading scorer in 15 more games. Creighton has a minimum of 15 games remaining this season.
    By comparison, both of Creighton's top two all-time leading scorers, Rodney Buford (1995-99) and Bob Harstad (1987-91), had exactly 1,540 points at the end of their junior seasons.
    McDermott is within range to make huge gains on both the MVC and Creighton scoring charts should he continue his recent productivity.
All-Time MVC Scoring Leaders
Rk.    Name, School    Points
    1.    Hersey Hawkins, Bradley    3,008
    15.    Chet Walker, Bradley    1,975
    16.    Dave Stallworth, Wichita State    1,936
    17.    Antoine Carr, Wichita State    1,911
    18.    Lynbert Johnson, Wichita State    1,907
    19.    Larry Finch, Memphis State    1,869
    20.    Kyle Weems, Missouri State    1,868
    21.    Ashraf Amaya, Southern Illinois    1,864
    22.    Colt Ryan, Evansville*    1,840
    23.    Jason Perez, Wichita State    1,839
    24.    Osiris Eldridge, Illinois State    1,838
    25.    Johnny Murdock, Missouri State    1,834
    26.    Tracy Moore, Tulsa    1,823
    27.    Kyle Korver, Creighton    1,801
    28.    Josh Young, Drake    1,789
    29.    Ben Jacobson, UNI    1,787
    30.    Doug McDermott, Creighton*    1,783
    31.    Aubrey Sherrod, Wichita State    1,765
    *active

All-Time Creighton Scoring Leaders
    Rk.    Name, Years    Points
    1.    Rodney Buford, 1995-99    2,116
    2.    Bob Harstad, 1987-91    2,110
    3.    Chad Gallagher, 1987-91    1,983
    4.    Bob Portman, 1966-69    1,876
    5.    Kyle Korver, 1999-03    1,801
    6.    Doug McDermott, 2010-Pres.*    1,783
    7.    Nate Funk, 2002-07    1,754
*active

More Than The Rest
Doug McDermott has scored 1,783 points in his career, ninth-most among active players. He is the only active junior with at least 1,400 career points.
Most Points, Active Players (though 1/13)
Source: Stats Inc./MVC
Rk.    Pts.    Name, School    Next Game
    1.    2,361    C.J. McCollum, Lehigh    1/16
    2.    2,039    Kevin Foster, Santa Clara    1/17
    3.    1,988    Nate Wolters, S. Dakota State    1/17
    4.    1,901    Markeith Cummings, Kennesaw St.    1/17
    5.    1,840    Colt Ryan, Evansville    1/16
    6.    1,834    C.J. Reed, Georgia Southern    1/14
    7.    1,830    D.J. Cooper, Ohio    1/16
    8.    1,797    Stan Okoye, VMI    1/16
    9.    1,783    Doug McDermott, Creighton    1/15
    10.    1,782    Kenny Boynton, Florida    1/17
    11.    1,735    Seth Curry, Duke    1/17
    12.    1,728    Mike Muscala, Bucknell    1/16
    13.    1,726    Shane Gibson, Sacred Heart    1/17
    14.    1,724    Isaiah Canaan, Murray State    1/17
    15.    1,674    Matthew Dellavedova, St. Mary's    1/16

Most Career Points, Active Juniors
Source: Creighton Sports Info/STATS Inc. (1/14)
    Rk.    Pts.    Name, School    Next Game
    1.    1,783    Doug McDermott, Creighton    1/15
    2.    1,363    Devon Saddler, Delaware    1/16
    3.    1,238    DeAndre Kane, Marshall    1/19

Ball Control Offense
Creighton owns a stellar 309/202 assist/turnover ratio (1.53) as a team to rank sixth nationally.
    Last year Creighton ranked sixth nationally by finishing with a 1.48 assist/turnover ratio.

BCS Busters, Again
Creighton improved to 8-1 in the past two seasons vs. teams from BCS conferences with wins this year over Wisconsin & Nebraska (Big Ten) and Arizona State and Cal (Pacific-12). Last year Creighton defeated Alabama (SEC) as well as Big 10 foes Nebraska, Northwestern and Iowa, losing only to North Carolina (ACC) in the NCAA Tournament.
    In those nine games, All-American Doug McDermott has averaged 25.3 points and 8.3 rebounds, well above his career averages (19.4 ppg., 7.6 rpg.), as seen below:
McDermott vs. BCS Schools, Last 2 Years
Date    Opponent    Pts.    Reb.    Score
11/20/11    vs. Iowa    25    9    W 82-59
12/04/11    Nebraska    24    12    W 76-66
12/22/11    Northwestern    27    5    W 87-79
03/16/12    vs. Alabama    16    10    W 58-57
03/18/12    vs. North Carolina    20    9    L 73-87
11/23/12    vs. Wisconsin    30    8    W 84-74
11/24/12    vs. Arizona State    29    9    W 87-73
12/06/12    at Nebraska    27    4    W 64-42
12/15/12    at California    30    9    W 74-64

Efficiency Improves
Because Creighton tends to play at a faster pace and have more possessions than the average school, Bluejay coaches place significant emphasis on stats like average points per possession, with data that can be found on a site such as bbstate.com.
    Creighton's offense is still clicking as one of the nation's best, but the team has made huge strides on the defensive end of the floor, jumping from 222nd last year to 58th this season.
    Thirteen of Creighton's first 17 opponents have been hold under 1.00 points per possession this season.
Points Per Possession
    2010-11    2011-12    2012-13
Offense    1.065    1.150    1.187
Offense Rank    46th    2nd    4th
Defense    1.006    1.014    0.902
Defense Rank    192nd    222nd    58th

Defense! Defense!
Creighton ranked 222nd nationally last season in field goal percentage defense at 44.1 percent, one area that the program has tried hard to improve on in the off-season.
    The early results have been promising, as CU has limited foes to 39.6 percent marksmanship. That figure ranked 58th-best nationally in 2012-13 through Sunday's games.
    Only one team (Boise State) has shot better than 43.4 percent this season against the Jays.
    The 42 points by Nebraska on Dec. 6th were its fewest against Creighton since 1932, a span of 39 meetings.

Full House
This year's Creighton team ranks sixth nationally in average home attendance, averaging 16,810 fans per game.
    Creighton finished sixth nationally in home attendance, averaging 16,665 fans per home game, in 2011-12. It's the sixth straight season that CU has been among the nation's top-25 in average home attendance, and set an MVC average home attendance record.
    Last year Creighton surpassed 200,000 home fans in a season for the sixth time. No other school in the history of the MVC has ever done so even once. Creighton will surpass 200,000 fans if it attracts more than 15,088 fans on Tuesday vs. UNI.
    Creighton also ranked seventh nationally in men's soccer attendance and 10th in baseball attendance, the nation's only school in the top-10 of those three sports.
2012-13 Attendance Leaders (1/14)
    Rk.    School    Average    Next Home
    1.    Kentucky    22,510    1/15
    2.    Louisville    20,946    1/19
    3.    Syracuse    19,803    1/21
    4.    North Carolina    17,982    1/19
    5.    Indiana    17,369    1/15
    6.    Creighton    16,810    1/15
    7.    Wisconsin    16,618    1/22
    8.    BYU    16,573    1/16
    9.    Tennessee    16,573    1/19
    10.    Kansas    16,549    1/14
    11.    Memphis    16,031    1/19
    12.    Ohio State    15,963    1/22

2011-12 Attendance Leaders (Final)
    Rk.    School    Average
    1.    Kentucky    23,721
    2.    Syracuse    23,618
    3.    Louisville    21,503
    4.    North Carolina    20,159
    5.    Wisconsin    17,181
    6.    Creighton    16,665
    7.    Tennessee    16,543
    8.    Ohio State    16,510
    9.    Indiana    16,462
    10.    Kansas    16,300

Highest Season Home Attendance, MVC History
    Home Att.    School    Year
    302,676    Creighton    2008-09
    297,161    Creighton    2010-11
    276,000    Creighton    2007-08
    266,632    Creighton    2011-12
    246,419    Creighton    2009-10

Highest Average Attendance, MVC History
    Avg. Att.    School    Year
    16,810    Creighton    2012-13
    16,665    Creighton    2011-12
    15,930    Creighton    2008-09
    15,909    Creighton     2006-07
    15,333    Creighton    2007-08

Inside The Numbers
Creighton's Doug McDermott (23.6) enters this weekend as the nation's top scoring junior. As can be seen below, good things have happened to the top-scoring juniors in the past nine years:
NCAA's Top-Scoring Juniors, Last Nine Years
            NBA
Year    Name, School    PPG    Draft #
2011-12    Damian Lillard, Weber St.    24.5    6th
2010-11    Kemba Walker, UConn.    23.5    9th
2009-10    Adnan Hodzic, Lipscomb    22.7    not picked
2008-09    Stephen Curry, Davidson    28.6    7th
2007-08    Lester Hudson, UT-Martin    25.7    58th
2006-07    Reggie Williams, VMI    28.1    not picked*
2005-06    Adam Morrison, Gonzaga    28.1    3rd
2004-05    Ike Diogu, Arizona State    22.6    9th
2003-04    Kevin Martin, W. Carolina    24.9    26th
*wasn't drafted, but currently in fourth year in NBA

BCS Bracket Buster
Some of Creighton's most thrilling victories in recent seasons have been against teams from the six major college football BCS Conferences (ACC, SEC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12, BIg East), as Creighton owns a 32-21 mark in the past 15 seasons.
    Among CU's victims in that time have been Nebraska (12 times), Iowa (three times) DePaul (twice), Florida (twice), Baylor (twice), Oklahoma State (once), Notre Dame (once), Providence (once), Missouri (once), Oregon (once), Northwestern (once), Alabama (once), Wisconsin (once), Cal (once), TCU (once) and Ohio State (once).

Jones Hangs Up High Tops
Josh Jones was hospitalized prior to Creighton's Dec. 6 game at Nebraska after he fainted during pre-game warm-ups on the Bob Devaney Sports Center court prior to Creighton's 64-42 win.
    Jones was released from a Lincoln hospital on Dec. 7th. Jones was underwent a nine-hour medical procedure on Dec. 18th, and on Dec. 26th announced his basketball career is done due to an atrial flutter.
    The senior guard was averaging 7.0 points per game as the team's top guard off the bench.

Top Four From Three
While Gregory Echenique has yet to attempt a three-point shot this season, Creighton's other top three scorers continue to fill it up from deep.
    Austin Chatman (.516), Ethan Wragge (.463) and Doug McDermott (.507) have combined to make 97-of-199 three-point attempts this season, good for 48.7 percent.
    Chatman is 15-for-25 from three-point range in the past 13 games, while McDermott is 31-of-53 from downtown in the past 11 contests. Wragge started the season 18-for-29 and leads the MVC with 44 three-pointers, including 16 in the past four games.
    Either Wragge or McDermott has had three or more three-pointers in 17 of Creighton's last 20 games dating back to late last season.
    Creighton owns four men on its roster who have made 106 or more career three-pointers.

Comparing Offenses
Last season Creighton had one of the nation's most effective and most efficient offenses. With all but one regular from that squad back, we thought we'd take a second to compare the 2011-12 and 2012-13 teams through 17 games:
Stat    2011-12    2012-13
Record    15-2    16-1
FG Made    502    481
FG%    .514    .522
3FG Made    150    168
3FG%    .457    .453
FT Made    244    227
FT%    .699    .754
Rebound Margin    +5.2    +5.3
Assists    336    309
Turnovers    219    202
Scoring Average    82.2    79.8
Scoring Margin    +12.9    +18.1

Pick Your Poison
Last season Creighton ranked third nationally in three-point percentage, making 42.4 percent from downtown.
    This year's team can still fill it up from long-range (45.3 percent, good for first nationally), but are off the charts from close-range as well.
    This year's Bluejay team is shooting 56.9 percent from two-point range, second-best in the nation.
    According to data from bbstate.com, no team since at least 2005-06 has shot better than 58.7 from two-point range.

Might As Well Jump
Creighton is 11-0 this season when Gregory Echenique wins the opening tip.
    Dating to last year, the Jays have won 19 straight games when Echenique wins the tip.
    Creighton is 41-9 all-time when Echenique wins the opening tip, but 13-7 when he loses the tip.

Pizza Pie, Piled High = Wins
Thanks to a promotion with Omaha-based Godfather's Pizza, Creighton season ticket-holders can get a free mini pizza any time the Jays score 75 points at home.
    History has proven that when the team earns the fans pizza, it often leads to a victory as well.
    The first three years of CenturyLink Center Omaha (2003-06), Creighton needed 70 points to earn its fans free pizza, and the Jays went 27-3 when reaching that threshold, closing out that run with 12 straight wins.
    Since upping the standard to 75 points prior to the 2006-07 campaign, Creighton is a perfect 63-0 when scoring 75 points or more at CenturyLink Center Omaha.
    In other words, Creighton is a perfect 75-0 in CenturyLink Center Omaha since Feb. 6, 2005 when scoring enough points to earn its fans some free pizza.

A New Streak
Now that the impressive streak when scoring 70 or more is over, it's time to look at a few other eye-opening streaks still in play.
    Since Greg McDermott took over three years ago, Creighton is averaging 77.20 points per home game (3,832 points in 49 home games).
    That's a vital number since Creighton is 87-0 at home (60-0 at CenturyLink Center Omaha) when scoring 78 points or more and 70-0 at home (47-0 at CenturyLink Center Omaha) when scoring 80 points or more at home dating to a 92-83 loss to Southern Illinois on Feb. 19, 2000.
    Creighton has scored 75 points or more just once in nine games against Northern Iowa at CenturyLink Center Omaha.

Stat Leaders
Statistically, Creighton ranks among the nation's top-18 in 10 different categories through games of Jan. 13th. The Jays lead the nation with 9.9 three-pointers per game while also ranking first with 45.3 percent marksmanship from three-point range. Creighton's also tied for first in win percentage (.941), second in field goal percentage (.522), sixth in assist/turnover ratio (1.53) and assists per game (18.2), ninth in both total points (1,357) and scoring margin (18.1), 10th in scoring offense (79.8) and 18th in free-throw percentage (.754).
    Individually, Grant Gibbs is fourth in assist/turnover ratio (4.26) and 27th in assists per game (5.76), Doug McDermott is third in points per game (23.6), 26th in field goal percentage (.570), 40th in free-throw percentage (.873) and and 156th in rebounds per game (7.4). In addition, Gregory Echenique ranks 84th in double-doubles (4), 108th in blocked shots per game (1.59) and 164th in rebounds per game (7.3). Also in the top-100 are Ethan Wragge, who is 18th in three-point percentage (.463), 65th with 2.59 three-pointers per game, and Austin Chatman who ranks 71st with 4.9 assists per game and 67th with a 2.27 assist/turnover ratio.

Big Road Win
Creighton's 64-42 win at Nebraska matched its largest victory margin in a true road win since an 82-60 win at Southern Illinois on Feb. 14, 2009.
    It was also the largest margin in a non-conference road win since winning at Drexel, 72-48, on Dec. 1, 2007.
    Before Dec. 6th, last time Creighton won a true road game by 22+ points vs. a BCS-league team was 12/18/76 at Oregon State (90-68).

Scoring On The Badgers
Creighton scored 84 points on Nov. 23rd against Wisconsin's vaunted defense that has ranked among the nation's top-10 in scoring defense in each of the past six seasons.
    It was the first time in either of the last two seasons that Wisconsin had allowed 80 points in a game, and the eighth-most allowed in regulation in Bo Ryan's 12 years as a head coach.

Third-Year Coaches Update
Greg McDermott was one of 53 head coaches hired to coach a school prior to 2010-11. His 68 wins in that span are easily the most of that group, and McDermott, Tad Boyle (Colorado) and Dana Altman (Oregon) are the only men to win a postseason game each of their first two seasons.
    Below is a list of the new coaches with 51 or more wins at their school since being hired.
School    Coach    W-L    Next Game
Creighton    Greg McDermott    68-23    1/15
Iona    Tim Cluess    61-26    1/18
Oregon    Dana Altman    59-30    1/17
Colorado    Tad Boyle    59-31    1/16
Robert Morris    Andy Toole    54-32    1/17
Marshall    Tom Herrion    51-35    1/19

Austin Powers
After spending last year as a back-up to Antoine Young, sophomore Austin Chatman has taken over as Creighton's starting point guard. Creighton's been blessed with a legacy of some of the MVC's best point guards in the last 15 years, a streak that began with four-year starters Ryan Sears (1997-2001), Tyler McKinney (2001-05) and Josh Dotzler (2005-09) at the point before Young ran the offense while starting the last three years.
    Here's a look at the stats, by year, of the men that Chatman is trying to replace.
        Freshman            Sophomore
Name    PPG    APG    CU W-L    PPG    APG    CU W-L
Sears    10.5    4.8    18-10    8.7    4.0    22-9
McKinney    4.3    2.1    23-9    5.0    4.1    29-5
Dotzler    6.4    4.2    20-10    2.2    2.0    22-11
Young    4.9    1.4    27-8    7.1    3.1    18-16
Chatman    2.4    1.9    29-6    7.6    4.9    16-1

Dime Time
Austin Chatman's 11 assists on Nov. 18 vs. Presbyterian were one shy of the CenturyLink Center Omaha record, set last season by Grant Gibbs vs. Northwestern. Chatman entered the game with a career-high of seven assists, then had nine by halftime.
    Chatman's 11 dimes led to 30 Bluejay points, and Creighton outscored the Blue Hose 63-26 in his 24 minutes of play.
    In addition, Chatman's 11 assists were the most by a Bluejay sophomore since Tyler McKinney had 12 assists in a 81-73 win at Nebraska on Dec. 21, 2002.

Quick Starts Key To Playing in Postseason
Creighton has started off 3-0 (or better) in 12 of the previous 14 seasons. Each of Creighton's previous 13 3-0 starts have been culminated in a postseason tournament appearance at the end of the year.

Not Half Bad
Doug McDermott outscored Presbyterian 20-17 in the first half in a Nov. 18 win. It was the second-most points McDermott has ever had at halftime, and the fourth-highest half of his career.
    McDermott's highest scoring half of his career has been 31 points, done last year in the second half at Bradley when he scored a career-best 44 points.
    McDermott has scored 15 points or more in a half 32 times during his career, and Creighton is 29-0 in those contests (three times he's scored 15 or more in both halves).

Rare Air
Gregory Echenique had one of the best all-around games of his career on Nov. 14 in the win vs. UAB, finishing with 13 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots. For good measure, he made 5-of-5 shots from the field and was a perfect 3-for-3 at the line.
    Echenique was the first Bluejay with at least 13 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots in the same game since Benoit Benjamin had 15 points, 17 rebounds and four swats on Feb. 28, 1985 at Dayton.
    Echenique was the first Bluejay to have a 13/16/4 game at home since Benjamin had 26 points, 18 rebounds and seven rejections in a win vs. Marquette on Jan. 27, 1985.
    Incredibly, Benjamin had nine different games in his junior season with at least 13 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks before Echenique ended the 27-year drought.

Playing With The Lead
In 164 games at CenturyLink Center Omaha all-time, Creighton has not trailed in 40 of those contests, a staggering 24.4 percent of the time, including seven wire-to-wire wins at home last season and four wins (Longwood, Saint Joseph's, Tulsa, Drake) this season.
    Creighton has trailed by double-digits in 37 career games at CenturyLink Center Omaha, only to rally to win 22 of those contests.

On The Trail
Creighton won six games last season after trailing by 10 or more points, including wins away from home at San Diego State and at Wichita State, on neutral floors vs. Drake and Alabama, and in home triumphs over Long Beach State and Evansville.
    In its Nov. 14 win vs. UAB, Creighton trailed 45-35 in the second stanza, only to rally for a 77-60 win. It was the first time since Feb. 3, 2010 (vs. Evansville) that Creighton trailed by double-digits at any point before rallying to win by double-figures. That UAB game was also the first time in CenturyLink Center Omaha history that Creighton trailed by double-figures in the second half, yet still won by double-digits.
    Creighton, which trailed 37-33 at the half to UAB, is 9-6 in the last two seasons when facing an intermission deficit.

Pencil Him In
According to STATS Inc., Doug McDermott is one of 13 juniors or seniors nationwide to start every game of his career (min. 2 years played):
Juniors/Seniors To Start Every Game
Source: STATS Inc., through 1/14
    Starts    Name, School    Next Game        124    Brandon Triche, Syracuse    1/19
    111    Dorian Green, Colorado State    1/16
    91    Doug McDermott, Creighton    1/15
    86    Ray McCallum, Detroit    1/17
    85    Cody Doolin, San Francisco    1/17
    84    Brian Voelkel, Vermont    1/16
    83    Frantz Massenat, Drexel    1/19
    83    Deonte Burton, Nevada    1/19
    81    Holton Hunsaker, Utah Valley    1/19
    78    Devon Saddler, Delaware    1/16
    78    Travis McKie, Wake Forest    1/15
    77    Daniel Miller, Georgia Tech    1/17
    77    Marshall Bjorklund, N. Dakota St.    1/17

Chasing History
Doug McDermott has scored 941 points in his first 49 career home games. He is the all-time leading scorer in CenturyLink Center Omaha history.
    McDermott also owns CenturyLink Center Omaha career records in points per game (19.2) and rebounds per game (7.6).
    McDermott enters Tuesday's game with 1,783 career points in all venues, good for sixth in school history.

Super Streak Ends At 37
Doug McDermott has scored in double-figures in 53 of Creighton's last 54 games dating to late in his freshman campaign. His streak of 37 straight games in double-figures came to an end when he was held to five points vs. UAB on Nov. 14th.
    McDermott had owned the nation's third-longest active streak in the country, and the longest by any Bluejay since Vernon Moore's stretch of 46 in a row in 1984 and 1985.
    McDermott's five points were the second-fewest in his career. His only game lower was his freshman season vs. Saint Joseph's, when he was scoreless in his ninth career contest.
CU's Top 10+ Point Streaks, Since 1981-82
    No.    Name    Dates
    46    Vernon Moore    Jan. 30, 1984 - Mar. 5, 1985
    37    Doug McDermott    April 1, 2011-Nov. 9, 2012
    32    Bob Harstad    Feb. 24, 1990-Feb. 25, 1991
    31    Benoit Benjamin    Mar. 8, 1984 - Feb. 20, 1985

Milestone Man
Because he's split his college career between Rutgers and Creighton, you might not realize the rather impressive college stats being generated by Gregory Echenique.
    Echenique owns 1,192 points, 875 rebounds and 233 blocked shots in his first 120 games as a collegian. He entered the season as the nation's only active player with at least 1,000 point, 750 rebounds and 200 blocked shots, and is currently the nation's only active player with 1,100 points, 850 rebounds and 225 or more blocked shots.
    Had all those stats been generated at Creighton, Echenique would rank 26th in career points, sixth in career rebounds and second in career blocked shots at CU.

I Know What You Did Last Summer
Senior center Gregory Echenique played for coach Eric Musselman on the Venezuelan National Team last summer, alongside the likes of former Maryland star and current Memphis Grizzlies guard Greivis Vasquez.
    Echenique averaged 7.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in two games at the FIBA Olympic Qualifier in Caracas in July against Lithuania and Nigeria, where he went head-to-head against NBA players such as Linas Kleiza, Jonas Valanciunas, and Al-Farouq Aminu.

Double-Double Opener
Doug McDermott opened his junior season with 21 points and 11 rebounds on Nov. 9 against North Texas in a 71-51 win.
    He was the first Creighton player to have a double-double in a season-opener since Kyle Korver opened his junior campaign with 14 points and 10 rebounds in a 72-51 victory over North Carolina A&T.
    Korver would go on to earn MVC Player of the Year accolades as both a junior and as a senior. Last year McDermott was the first player in MVC history named MVC Player of the Year as a sophomore.
    Creighton has won either the MVC regular-season title or MVC Tournament each of its previous six seasons it had a player with a double-double in the opener (2001-02, 1999-00, 1998-99, 1990-91, 1989-90, 1988-89).

Preseason MVC Poll
Creighton was picked to win the Missouri Valley Conference in the preseason poll of league coaches, SID's and media. The Bluejays earned 38-of-40 first-place votes and 398 points overall.
    Illinois State was second with 327 points and the remaining two first-place votes, while Northern Iowa was third with 316 points. Wichita State (298) and Evansville (240) rounded out the upper half of the league.
    In sixth was Drake (184), while Indiana State (165), Missouri State (122), Bradley (84) and Southern Illinois (66) round out the rest of the league predictions.
    Creighton junior Doug McDermott was named preseason MVC Player of the Year. He's joined on the team by repeat selections Jake Odum (Indiana State) and Colt Ryan (Evansville) as well as new picks Ben Simons (Drake) and Jackie Carmichael (Illinois State).
    Creighton's women were also picked to win the MVC, just the third time in league history the MVC favorites came from the same schools.

Portman To Enter MVC Hall of Fame
Bob Portman will enter the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame on March 8, 2013, during a banquet at the MVC Tournament in St. Louis, Mo.
    Portman played for Creighton from 1966-69 and averaged 24.6 points and 12.9 rebounds per game during his college career.
    Portman owns the Creighton records for single-game scoring (51), single-season scoring average (29.5) and career scoring average (24.7). He is also second for points in a season (738) and ranks fourth in career points (1,876), rebounds (979), free throws (382) and field goals made (747).

Going For 20, Again
Creighton has won 20 or more games in 13 of the last 14 seasons, an unprecedented feat in Missouri Valley Conference history that puts the Jays among an exclusive group, nationally.
    Just five schools nationally have had 20 or more wins each of the last 14 years: Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas and Syracuse.
    Creighton is one of six schools with 20 or more wins in exactly 13 of the past 14 years. That list consists of Creighton, Kent State, Kentucky, Texas, Utah State and Xavier.
    That's better than traditional powers Arizona, Connecticut and Memphis (12 each) and also ahead of Michigan State, Pittsburgh and Wisconsin (11 each).

Postseason x 15
Creighton has made the postseason in 15 consecutive seasons, the longest streak of postseason bids in MVC history.
    The only eight schools to make the postseason in each of the last 14 years are Creighton, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State and Syracuse.

Postseason Win Streak
Thanks to an NCAA Tournament win over Alabama, the Creighton men's basketball team has now won a postseason game in a school-record five straight seasons. The previous mark was three in a row from 1962-64.
    The following eight programs are the only ones that have won a postseason game in five straight seasons, including 2011-12: Creighton, Kansas, Kansas State, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Syracuse and Wisconsin.

Long-Distance Streak Alive
Creighton has made at least one three-pointer in a league-best 626 straight games since a 59-53 loss at Illinois State on Feb. 20, 1993. That's the longest active streak in the MVC.

CenturyLink Center Omaha Success
Creighton has played 164 regular and postseason contests at CenturyLink Center Omaha all-time in its 10 seasons at the facility.
    The Bluejays own an 140-24 (.854) record all-time at the facility, and have never lost there on a Thursday (7-0) or Friday (6-0).
    Creighton has outscored its opponents 12,328-10,386 in games at CenturyLink Center Omaha, an average margin of 11.8 points per game. Creighton has led wire-to-wire 40 different times, including seven times last season and four times this winter (Longwood, Saint Joseph's, Tulsa, Drake).

Piling Up The Points, and Wins
Creighton has won 56 straight games when scoring 90 points or more, dating to Jan. 11, 1988.
    Creighton has won 19 straight (at all sites) when scoring 100 points or more, dating to Feb. 26, 1977.
    In home games only, Creighton has won 98 straight games when scoring 71 or more points since a Feb. 5, 2005 loss to Missouri State.

Here's To History
With the 2012 MVC Tournament title, Creighton head coach Greg McDermott became the first head coach in league history to win a Valley Tournament title at more than one school.
    McDermott previously won a title in 2004 at Northern Iowa. The 1988 Northern Iowa grad McDermott also holds the honor of being the first coach in league history to win an MVC Tournament title at his alma mater.

Dance Partners
Only two schools won their league tournament in both men's and women's basketball in 2011-12: Creighton and South Dakota State.
    This was the fifth time in MVC history that the same school has won the men's and women's tournament titles in the same season. Creighton, however, was the first program to do it twice (UNI 2010, Creighton 2002 and 2012, Missouri State 1992, Illinois State 1983).

McDermott A Preseason All-American
Junior forward Doug McDermott became the first player in MVC history to be named a preseason First Team All-American by the Associated Press. The team was announced on October 28th.
    McDermott earned acclaim on 62-of-65 ballots, trailing only Indiana's Cody Zeller. The rest of the team consisted of Isaiah Canaan (Murray State), Deshaun Thomas (Ohio State), Trey Burke (Michigan) and C.J. McCollum (Lehigh).
    The preseason All-America team was first announced in 1986-87.

Watch This!
Junior Doug McDermott is on the preseason watch lists for both the Wooden Award and the Naismith Award, two of the top awards in college basketball.
    McDermott is the only man who was a finalist for either award to return to school this season.
    The Naismith Award is presented by the Atlanta Tipoff Club and will be presented on April 7, 2013, in Atlanta.
    The Wooden Award is presented by the Los Angeles Athletic Club and will handed out the weekend of April 12-13, 2013, in Los Angeles.

Everybody's All-American
Doug McDermott hauled All-America honors on a regular basis last year.
    He was named a First Team All-American by the Associated Press, NABC, USBWA, Basketball Times and ESPN.com, and a second-team selection by The Sporting News and CBSSports.com. He was also named to the 10-man John R. Wooden Award All-America team.
    Prior to McDermott, the only other player honored by the USBWA with All-America status had been second-team selection Kyle Korver in 2003, and the only prior NABC selections from Creighton had been second-teamer Paul Silas (1964) and third-team selections Benoit Benjamin (1985) and Kyle Korver (2003).
    Last year McDermott was named CollegeInsider.com's Lute Olson National Player of the Year. He was also a finalist for the Naismith and Wooden Award, though Anthony Davis won both awards.

Scoring In Numbers
Doug McDermott owned 801 points in 35 games last year, an average of 22.9 per contest that ranked him third nationally in scoring.
    McDermott's 22.9 points per game ranked fourth-most in CU single-season history and were the most since Bob Portman averaged 26.2 points per game in 1968-69.
    Portman, who finished fifth nationally in scoring in 1967-68 (29.5 ppg.), was the only previous Bluejay to ever rank in the top-10 of the year-end scoring leaders.
    McDermott's 22.9 points per game made him the first MVC player over 20 points per game since Illinois State's Tarise Bryson (2000-01) and the most by a MVC player since Northern Iowa's Randy Blocker (23.0 ppg.) in 1993-94. Bryson had been the only MVC player since 1989 to rank in the top-five nationally in scoring.
    No Bluejay had averaged more than 20 points per game since Bob Harstad's 22.2 average in 1989-90.

Oscar, Bird, Doug
Doug McDermott set a Creighton (and MVC) record for points by a freshman with 581 in 2010-11. Last season, McDermott had 801 points, the most single-season points in school history by any player.
    McDermott's 1,382 points after two seasons were the most in school history by a player in their first two seasons, passing Bob Portman (1,195). According to STATS Inc., the only other players since 1996-97 with at least 1,382 points or more by the end of their sophomore season had been Davidson's Stephen Curry (1,661 points from 2006-08), Eastern Washington's Rodney Stuckey (1,438 points from 2005-07) and VMI's Keydren Clark (1,497 points from 2002-04).
    He became just the third sophomore in MVC history to reach 800 points in a season, trailing only Oscar Robertson and Larry Bird on that list. His 801 points from last year rank 10th-most in MVC single-season history and were the most by any Valley player since 1988.
    Below is a list of the most prolific sophomore scorers in MVC history, as well as the top single-season scorers in Creighton history (all classes):
Top Scorers, MVC History (All Years)
    Pts.    Name, School    Years
1125    Hersey Hawkins, Bradley    1987-88
    1011    Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati    1959-60
984    Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati    1957-58
978    Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati    1958-59
973    Larry Bird, Indiana State    1978-79
959    Larry Bird, Indiana State    1977-78
918    Larry Bird, Indiana State     1976-77
844    Xavier McDaniel, Wichita State    1984-85
815    Lewis Lloyd, Drake    1979-80
801    Doug McDermott, Creighton    2011-12
788    Hersey Hawkins, Bradley    1986-87
788    Willie Biles, Tulsa    1972-73

Top Sophomore Scorers, MVC History
    Pts.    Name, School    Years
984    Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati    1957-58
918    Larry Bird, Indiana State     1976-77
801    Doug McDermott, Creighton    2011-12
680    Mitchell Anderson, Bradley     1979-80

Top Scorers, Creighton Single-Season History
    Pts.    Name (Class)    Year
    801    Doug McDermott (So.)    2011-12
    738    Bob Portman (Jr.)    1967-68
    734    Bob Harstad (Jr.)    1989-90

Familiar Fives
Creighton utilized the same starting line-up all season long in 2011-12, as Gregory Echenique, Doug McDermott, Grant Gibbs, Jahenns Manigat and Antoine Young started all 35 games.
    According to STATS Inc., the only schools with the same starting five every game were Creighton, Missouri, Nevada, Wisconsin and Youngstown State.
    Of those five schools above, the only team to use the same starting five for every game in 2012-13 is Creighton.

All-Around Doug
Last season Doug McDermott joined Texas' Kevin Durant (in 2006-07) as the nation's only player since 1996-97 to finish a season with at least 800 points, 280 rebounds and 50 three-pointers.
    It came on the heels of McDermott's remarkable freshman season with 581 points, 280 rebounds and 47 three-point baskets.
    According to research by STATS Inc., the last two freshmen (before McDermott) to attain 525 points, 270 rebounds and 40 three-pointers in a season were Durant and Carmelo Anthony (Syracuse) in 2002-03. The previous two freshmen before them to do so, Quentin Richardson (1998-99 at DePaul) and Eddie Griffin (2000-01 at Seton Hall), like Durant and Anthony, were also named the National Freshman of the Year.
    Below is the list, compiled by STATS Inc., of all 19 Division I players since 1996-97 to have McDermott's levels of at least 581 points, 280 rebounds and 47 three-pointers in one season.
    McDermott, who repeated the feat in 2011-12, joins Kyle Singler (Duke) as one of two men to do it twice.:
581+ Pts., 280+ Reb., 47+ 3FG Since 1996-97
Source: STATS Inc. & Creighton Sports Info
Name, School    Year    3FG    Reb.    Pts.
Kevin Durant, Texas*    2006-07    82    390    903
Doug McDermott, Creighton    2011-12    54    288    801
Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse*    2002-03    56    349    778
Shane Battier, Duke    2000-01    124    285    778
Kyle Singler, Duke    2009-10    85    280    707
Keith Van Horn, Utah    1996-97    58    303    705
Ryan Anderson, Cal    2007-08    64    328    697
Matt Harpring, Ga. Tech    1997-98    52    302    691
Rasual Butler, LaSalle    2001-02    57    283    670
Wendell McKinies, New Mex St.    2011-12    51    374    653
Brian Heinle, CS-Northridge    2000-01    52    293    646
Jae Crowder, Marquette    2011-12    61    295    614
Jamine Peterson, Providence    2009-10    51    315    609
James Posey, Xavier    1998-99    48    322    609
Kyle Singler, Duke    2008-09    69    284    609
Matt Howard, Butler    2010-11    53    285    608
Romain Sato, Xavier    2003-04    75    297    603
Draymond Green, Michigan St.    2011-12    52    392    601
Doug McDermott, Creighton*    2010-11    47    280    581
*Freshmen

Last Season Recap
Creighton went 29-6 and reached the third round of the MVC Tournament last season. Creighton started the year 7-0 to move into the Associated Press top-25, a spot they would hold for 12 of the final 15 weeks.
    Doug McDermott ranked third nationally in scoring (22.9), scoring a school-record 801 points. He became the first sophomore named MVC Player of the Year and was a consensus First Team All-American.
    Point guard Antoine Young (12.1 ppg., 4.5 apg.) was a second-team all-Valley pick, while center Gregory Echenique (9.7 ppg., 7.3 rpg., 1.6 bpg.) was named MVC Defensive Player of the Year. In addition, Grant Gibbs was runner-up for MVC Newcomer of the Year accolades after dishing a league-high 176 assists.
    The Jays ranked second nationally in field goal percentage (.504), third in three-point percentage (.424), fifth in assists (17.6), sixth in home attendance (16,665) and ninth in scoring offense (79.2).
    Creighton finished the regular-season second in the MVC before winning its league-record 11th Valley Tournament title to clinch an NCAA bid. At the NCAA's, Creighton topped Alabama 58-57 before falling to No. 4 North Carolina.

Creighton Will Host in 2015, Again
The NCAA announced on Nov. 12, 2012, that Creighton will serve as the host institution on March 20/22, 2015, when the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament returns to CenturyLink Center Omaha for second/third-round games.
    This will be the third time in a seven-year span the arena has hosted, having previously done so in 2008 and 2012 to much acclaim.
    CenturyLink Center Omaha has previously hosted NCAA finals for women's volleyball (2006, 2008) and wrestling (2010), as well as the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Swimming (2008, 2012). This January, it will host the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Shuttle Service Provided Again
Chief Bus will provide complimentary shuttle service from the Creighton University campus to CenturyLink Center Omaha for all men's basketball home games this season. The service is available to all fans, not just Creighton students.
    The shuttle will start 75 minutes before tip-off and shuttles will continue to operate the route during the game. The three designated stops for pick-up around the CU campus are: 24th & California (nearside/southbound); 20th & Cass (nearside/eastbound) and at Billy Blues Alumni Grill (outside the Mike & Josie Harper Center in the turnaround which is on the east side of the building).
    The shuttle will then go eastbound on Capitol Avenue and then go north up 10th Street for drop-off at the CenturyLink Center Omaha convention center 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 CenturyLink Center Omaha convention center entrance on 10th Street and loop the original route with the first of three stops at 24th & California Streets.

Ticket Information
Single-game tickets for the 2012-13 season went on sale on October 29th at 10 am.
    Fans can purchase single-game tickets at CenturyLink Center Omaha Box Office, Ryan Athletic Center, all Ticketmaster locations (Baker's, Younkers), Ticketmaster online at http://www.ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster and charging by phone at (800) 745-3000. Only upper bowl seats will be available for any game and cost is $12 for adults and $8 for youth ages 3-18 (children two and under are free). For more information, call the Creighton Ticket Office at (402) 280-JAYS.

Players Mentioned

Will Artino

Austin Chatman

Avery Dingman

Gregory Echenique

Grant Gibbs

Nevin Johnson

Josh Jones

Jahenns Manigat

Doug McDermott

Alex Olsen

Ethan Wragge

Antoine Young

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