Men's Basketball Returns Home, Hosts Missouri State Wednesday
1/29/2013 9:51:00 AM | Men's Basketball
2012-13 Creighton Men's Basketball
Game #22 vs. Missouri State • Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013 • 7:05 pm
Missouri State Bears at #21 Creighton Bluejays
CenturyLink Center Omaha (17,390) • Omaha, Neb.
Radio: KXSP 590 AM, www.am590espnradio.com
Television: FSN; ESPN3 (except NE, IA, IL, INS, KS, MO)
Series History: Creighton leads, 32-28
Last Meeting: Creighton 74, Missouri State 52 on 1/11/13 in Springfield, Mo.
Next Game
No. 21 Creighton (18-3, 7-2 MVC) returns home for the first time in 15 days when it hosts Missouri State (6-15, 4-5 MVC) to begin the second half of the MVC schedule.
Wednesday's tip-off will start at 7:05 pm at CenturyLink Center Omaha (17,390) in Omaha, Neb.
Radio Broadcast Information
KXSP (“AM 590 - Omaha's ESPN Radio”) will broadcast all Creighton men's basketball games during the 2012-13 season, including Wednesday. T. Scott Marr and Nick Bahe will call the action. The audio is also webcast live at www.AM590espnradio.com.
Television Information
Listed below are clearance information, satellite coordinates and on-air talent assignments for Wednesday's telecast. Scott Warmann and Mark Adams will call the contest.
The telecast will be cleared live on FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports Indiana (on FOX Sports Plus channels in the state of Indiana due to Indiana Pacers) and FOX Sports Kansas City (combined 5.9 million homes), FOX College Sports Atlantic (56 million digital homes), Comcast SportsNet Chicago (4.9 million homes -- on Comcast SportsNet Plus channels in the states of Illinois, Indiana and Iowa but will not clear Chicago DMA live), ESPN3 (outside the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska), DirecTV (Channel 671), Dish Network (Channel 418) and AT&T U-Verse (Channel 748).
Niles Media Group – the Missouri Valley Conference's production company – will televise the game digitally in SD 16:9 format via satellite.
On-Air: 7 p.m. Central
Tipoff: 7:07 p.m. Central
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
Announcers: Scott Warmann, Mark Adams
Webcast Information
Wednesday's game will air on ESPN3, but is blacked out in the states of Nebraska, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri. A direct link is at: http://es.pn/mbb-MSUvsCREIGHTON.
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. 21 Creighton
Creighton is 18-3 this season, including non-conference wins over Wisconsin, Arizona State, UAB, Saint Joseph's, Nebraska, Akron, Cal and Tulsa. Creighton snapped a two-game losing streak on Sunday with an 81-51 win at Southern Illinois.
After being named First Team All-American a year ago, junior forward Doug McDermott (23.7 ppg., 7.2 rpg.) has lived up to extensive preseason hype and was recently named the Midseason National Player of the Year by Dick Vitale, Seth Davis, Mike DeCourcy and Andy Katz (among others). McDermott has been named MVC Player of the Week five times this year and is 38-for-68 from three-point range in the past 15 games.
Second on the team in scoring is senior center Gregory Echenique (10.0 ppg., 7.5 rpg., 1.7 bpg.). Echenique has led the MVC in blocked shots each of the past two years.
Creighton also boasts a veteran backcourt consisting of Grant Gibbs (8.1 ppg., 6.0 apg., 4.0 rpg.), Austin Chatman (7.8 ppg., 4.6 apg.) and Jahenns Manigat (6.0 ppg.). Gibbs and Chatman rank 1-2 in the MVC in assists, while Manigat led The Valley in league play in three-point percentage a year ago.
Creighton's bench is led by sharpshooter Ethan Wragge (8.9 ppg., 3.0 rpg.), who leads the MVC with 52 three-pointers made and has drilled six three-pointers in a game on three occasions this season.
Creighton is shooting 51.9 percent from the floor (first nationally), 44.8 percent from downtown (first nationally), 74.7 percent at the line, and outrebounding foes by 4.9 caroms a game. CU scores 78.6 points per game.
Scouting Missouri State
Missouri State is 6-15 on the season, including a 1-9 mark away from home. The Bears opened the season 2-10 with a pair of non-Division I wins, but own league wins over Southern Illinois, Drake (twice) and Illinois State.
Anthony Downing leads MSU with 14.7 points and 1.2 steals per game. Downing's scored 17.3 points per league game.
Marcus Marshall is also scoring at an impressive clip, scoring 9.9 points per game. He's part of an impressive class that saw four freshmen start last Sunday for the first time in recorded school history.
As a team, Missouri State averages 60.2 points per game while shooting 40.6 percent from the floor, 30.9 percent from downtown and 64.3 percent at the line. The Bears surrender 64.0 points per game and are outrebounded by 3.7 rebounds per game.
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 70-25 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 350-220 in 19 seasons and is 219-156 in 12 Division I campaigns. McDermott is assisted by Darian DeVries, Steve Lutz and Steve Merfeld.
Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is in his second season at Missouri State, where he owns an 22-31 mark. Combined with a season at Dubuque in 2002-03, he owns a career record of 24-54. He is assisted by Jermaine Henderson, Pat Baldwin and Derrick Tilmon.
The Series With Missouri State
Creighton has won 10 of the last 16 meetings to claim a 32-28 lead over Missouri State in the series, but the Bears have six of the last eight contests.
MSU is on a two-game winning streak in Omaha after winning just two of its first 20 trips to town.
Greg McDermott is 8-11 in his career (and 2-4 as Creighton coach) against Missouri State, including a 79-74 double-overtime victory over the Bears to win the 2004 MVC Tournament (while coaching UNI). He is 2-1 against Paul Lusk.
Creighton's series history vs. Missouri State can be found on page 11 of these notes.
Last Game Recap
Creighton shot 63 percent from the floor and outrebounded Southern Illinois 39-19 in an 81-51 road win on Sunday night. Doug McDermott (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Gregory Echenique (12 points, 11 rebounds) led five men in double-figures. SIU was paced by 16 points from Desmar Jackson.
What To Watch For
A few facts and figures to keep an eye on during Wednesday's game.
-Creighton seeks its fifth consecutive home sellout.
-Creighton seeks its first regular-season sweep of Missouri State since the 2008-09 campaign.
-Creighton seeks to end a two-game home losing streak against Missouri State after losing 77-65 (12/28/11) and 67-55 (1/4/11) in the past two seasons in Omaha.
-Gregory Echenique is two blocked shots shy of 150 in his Creighton career.
-Ethan Wragge is two three-pointers shy of 200 in his Creighton career.
-Doug McDermott needs three points to reach 500 points this season and 28 points to become the first player to score 1,000 career points at CenturyLink Center Omaha.
Coaching Connection
Missouri State coach Paul Lusk made his debut as a head coach during the 2002-03 season with the University of Dubuque. Lusk would resign after one season to serve as an assistant coach to Matt Painter at Southern Illinois, who he later followed to Purdue.
When Lusk stepped down at Dubuque, the man who followed him was Marty McDermott, brother of Creighton head coach Greg McDermott and uncle to Creighton junior Doug McDermott.
Marty McDermott was replaced by his assistant coach and former Northern Iowa standout Robbie Sieverding, who starred for Greg McDermott at UNI.
Marty McDermott is currently the Director of Athletics at Muskegon Community College.
Chasing History
Doug McDermott has scored 972 points in his first 50 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 (19.4) and rebounds per game (7.6).
McDermott enters Wednesday's game with 1,879 career points in all venues, good for fourth in school history.
In case you're curious, CU's all-time leading scorer, Rodney Buford, scored 1,056 points in 56 career home games at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
McDermott Goes For 39
Junior Doug McDermott had a season-high 39 points on Jan. 11th 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 became the first player in the country this season with 39 points and 10 or more rebounds in the same game this season.
-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
Scoring Frenzy
Eight players have scored more than 1,000 points in the past two seasons. Doug McDermott owns the top spot on that list with 1,298 points in that span. Next up in a distant second on that list is South Dakota State's Nate Wolters (1,141).
Over .500, Again
Creighton has been better than .500 in either the first or second-half of the league season in 34 straight trips through the league, including this year's first half.
Creighton's 34 consecutive halves above .500 in league play is easily the Valley's longest active streak, with Wichita State next closest at eight.
Here's how Creighton's teams have fared in the various halves of the MVC season since 1995-96.
Year 1st Half 2nd Half
2012-13 7-2 ? ? ?
2011-12 8-1 6-3
2010-11 5-4 5-4
2009-10 5-4 5-4
2008-09 5-4 9-0
2007-08 5-4 5-4
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
Total 106-56 (.654) 103-50 (.673)
Bears Look For Three Straight
Missouri State has defeated Creighton in each of the past two years at CenturyLink Center Omaha, and three times overall when you include its 2005 triumph. Only Southern Illinois (four wins vs. Creighton) have more wins vs. the Jays at CenturyLink Center Omaha.
The Bears are one of five visiting teams in the history of CenturyLink Center Omaha history to have won in consecutive seasons in the 10-year old facility.
The Bears have defeated Creighton in each of the previous two years, as has Wichita State. UNI won two in a row in 2009-10, as did Drake in 2008-09. Southern Illinois claimed four straight wins there from 2004-07.
Winning Half The Battle
The team with the halftime lead has lost five of the last six meetings between Creighton and Missouri State.
Creighton is 15-0 this year when leading at half, improving to 54-9 under Greg McDermott when leading at the break.
Creighton has won 27 straight games when tied or leading at halftime, dating to Dec. 28, 2011 vs. Missouri State.
Last Five Meetings CU vs. MSU
Date Half Score Final Score
01/04/11 CU 29-20 MSU 67-55
01/22/11 CU 35-29 MSU 69-67
03/05/11 CU 30-25 MSU 60-50
12/28/11 CU 34-32 MSU 77-65
01/18/12 MSU 34-30 CU 66-65
01/11/13 CU 32-27 CU 74-52
Slowing Down The Freshmen
Missouri State's Marcus Marshall leads all MVC freshmen, scoring 9.9 points per game. This season Creighton has done a solid job of slowing down the league's freshmen that are averaging 5.0 points per game or more.
MVC's Top Scoring Freshmen vs. CU
Last Mtg.
Rk. Name, School PPG vs. CU
1. Marcus Marshall, MSU 9.9 DNP-Sick
2. Anthony Beane, SIU 9.8 8
3. DJ Balentine, UE 8.4 0
4. Gavin Thurman, MSU 7.9 10
5. Joey King, DU 7.1 0
6. Micah Mason, DU 6.4 4
7. Kristian Smith, INS 6.0 2
8. Egidijus Mockevicius, UE 5.5 4
Big Time Road Win
Creighton's 81-51 road win at Southern Illinois on Sunday night was a most memorable victory.
It was Creighton's largest win away from home since a 99-52 neutral site win (in Kansas City) over IUPUI on Nov. 25, 2002.
It was Creighton's largest road win since Feb. 19, 1974 (83-52 at UC Irvine).
It was Creighton's largest margin of victory in any MVC road game in program history.
It was Creighton's largest margin of victory in any conference road game since Feb. 16, 1925 (46-16 at Morningside in the North Central Conference).
Two Of The Best
Besides coaching at a pair of MVC schools, Greg McDermott and ex-Missouri State (and current Southern Illinois coach) Barry Hinson also have a lot of wins in common.
Both men rank in the top-16 in league history in wins as well as MVC wins, as seen below:
Most Coaching Wins, All Games, MVC History
1. 486 Henry P. Iba, Oklahoma State
2. 337 Eddie Hickey, Creighton & Saint Louis
3. 327 Dana Altman, Creighton
4. 225 Rich Herrin, Southern Illinois
5. 220 Ralph Miller, Wichita State
6. 211 Maury John, Drake
7. 197 Joe Stowell, Bradley
8. 194 Chuck Orsborn, Bradley
9. 185 Ken Hayes, Tulsa & New Mexico St.
10. 177 Barry Hinson, Missouri State & SIU
11. 174 Jim Molinari, Bradley
12. 169 Dr. F.C. Allen, Kansas
13. 168 Bob Donewald, Illinois State
14. 162 Greg McDermott, UNI & Creighton
15. 156 Dick Versace, Bradley
Most Coaching Wins, MVC Games Only
1. 187 Henry P. Iba, Oklahoma State
2. 162 Dana Altman, Creighton
3. 163 Eddie Hickey, Creighton & Saint Louis
4. 126 Dr. F.C. Allen, Kansas
5. 111 Rich Herrin, Southern Illinois
6. 110 Jim Molinari, Bradley
7. 97 Barry Hinson, Missouri State & SIU
8. 95 Maury John, Drake
9. 91 Joe Stowell, Bradley
10. 87 Gene Smithson, Wichita State
11. 86 Ken Hayes, Tulsa & New Mexico St.
86 Chuck Orsborn, Bradley
13. 84 W.O. Hamilton, Kansas
14. 81 Dick Versace, Bradley
81 Ralph Miller, Wichita State
16. 80 Greg McDermott, UNI & Creighton
I See Red People
Creighton looks to extend a lengthy trend of success over teams wearing a shade of red when it hosts Missouri State on Wednesday.
Creighton went a perfect 14-0 in the 2012 calendar year against teams that wear red/cardinal/crimson/scarlet/garnet/maroon, and has won its last 17 against teams wearing a similar color, as seen below:
Date Opponent Color Score
01/27/13 Southern Illinois Maroon W 81-51
01/11/13 Missouri State Maroon W 74-52
01/02/13 Illinois State Red W 79-72
12/06/12 Nebraska Scarlet W 64-42
12/01/12 Saint Joseph's Crimson W 80-51
11/24/12 Arizona State Maroon W 87-73
11/23/12 Wisconsin Cardinal W 84-74
11/18/12 Presbyterian Garnet W 87-58
03/16/12 Alabama Crimson W 58-57
03/04/12 Illinois State Red W 83-79
02/14/12 Southern Illinois Maroon W 88-69
02/01/12 Illinois State Red W 102-74
01/28/12 Bradley Red W 73-59
01/18/12 Missouri State Maroon W 66-65
01/15/12 Southern Illinois Maroon W 90-71
01/13/12 Illinois State Red W 87-78
01/07/12 Bradley Red W 92-83
Emerging Echenique
Gregory Echenique scored in double-figures during eight straight games from Dec. 1st - Jan. 5th, then went five straight games in single-figures before scoring 12 points on Sunday at SIU.
Creighton is 11-0 this year when Echenique scores in double-figures, and 36-11 all-time when he scores in double-figures.
Seeking 500 Points, Again
Doug McDermott is tied for the national lead with 497 points this season, just three points away from his third straight season of 500 or more points.
The only three men in Creighton history with three straight seasons of 500 or more points are Paul Silas (1961-64), Bob Harstad (1988-91) and Rodney Buford (1996-99).
His Own Game of H-O-R-S-E
Doug McDermott led the nation last year with 307 field goals made, and his 173 buckets this year are once again leading the country.
Of McDermott's 307 hoops last year, he made 56 baskets with his left hand and used the glass for 174 of his scores.
Though he's playing away from the basket even more this season, his numbers remain impressive, as he's used this left hand on 16 field goals and banked in a shot 82 times.
Could He Lead The Nation?
Doug McDermott enters Wednesday's game ranked second in the nation in scoring. McDermott's averaging 23.7 points per game, trailing Virginia Tech's Erick Green (25.2 ppg.).
Green has scored between 20 to 36 points in 18 of his 19 games this season, but many tough tests lie ahead in the ACC.
The odds don't favor a player at a “BCS” school to finish as the scoring champ. Since 1971-72, the only guy playing at the “BCS” school to lead the nation in scoring was Purdue's Glenn Robinson (30.3 ppg.) in 1993-94.
Key Stat
Need a stat to watch on Wednesday? Keep an eye on the rebound battle.
Creighton is 16-0 this season when it wins the rebound battle, while Missouri State is 0-13 when being outrebounded.
Dating to last season, Creighton has won 23 straight games when the rebounds are tied or in its favor.
Creighton is second in the league in rebound margin (+4.9), while Missouri State is 10th (-3.7) on the glass.
Just Win, Baby
Creighton is a perfect 61-0 at CenturyLink Center Omaha against home games against teams that enter with a winning percentage of .500 or worse.
Overall, Creighton has won 71 straight home games against teams that are .500 or worse, dating to a Feb. 25, 2002 loss to Drake on the final night of the regular-season. That setback cost the Jays an outright MVC title.
Missouri State enters Wednesday's game with a 6-15 mark.
What A Start!
Now in his third year, Greg McDermott is 70-25 in his first 95 games on the Creighton sideline. The 70 wins is tied for the most in Creighton history after 95 games. Here's a breakdown of how he compares to some other Creighton coaches after 95 games.
W-L After 95 Games, Select CU Coaches
Coach Years W-L After 95
Greg McDermott 2010-Pres. 70-25
Arthur A. Schabinger 1922-35 70-25
Tom Apke 1974-81 69-26
Eddie Sutton 1969-74 55-40
Red McManus 1959-69 53-42
Dana Altman 1994-10 43-52
Tony Barone 1985-91 40-55
Willis Reed 1981-85 40-55
Racing To 70
Greg McDermott enters Wednesday's game with 70 wins in his first three seasons at Creighton. According to research by MVC Associate Commissioner Mike Kern, McDermott has become the sixth coach in league history to win 70 games in his first three years at a school.
Ed Jucker and Denny Crum both won national titles and are MVC Hall of Famers, while Crum is also in the Naismith and NABC Hall of Fame.
Most Wins, 1st Three Years at an MVC School
W-L Name, School Years
91-19 Forddy Anderson, Bradley 1948-51
84-7 Ed Jucker, Cincinnati 1959-62
78-26 Chris Lowery, Southern Illinois 2004-07
71-31 Tim Jankovich, Illinois State 2007-10
70-19 Denny Crum, Louisville 1971-74
70-25 Greg McDermott, Creighton 2010-Pres.
Point, Counterpoint
No player in the MVC owns more assists in the past two seasons than Creighton senior Grant Gibbs' 303 in the first 56 games of his career.
Gibbs became the 12th player (and second-quickest) in Bluejay history to 300 assists.
MVC Assist Leaders, Since 2011-12
303 Grant Gibbs, Creighton
245 Jake Odum, Indiana State
204 Troy Taylor, Evansville
Creighton's Quickest Players to 300 Assists
Games Name
53 Ralph Bobik
56 Grant Gibbs
59 Randy Eccker
69 Ryan Sears
85 Tyler McKinney
89 Duan Cole
94 Josh Dotzler
92 Vernon Moore
100 Antoine Young
102 Kevin McKenna
110 Latrell Wrightsell
129 Nate Funk
10-5-5 Man
Grant Gibbs is averaging 8.1 points, 6.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game this season, but has upped those figures to 14.0 points, 7.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds per contest in the past four games.
Gibbs has had at least 10 points, five rebounds and five assists in three of CU's last four games, and six times overall in his Bluejay career.
By comparison, all other Creighton players have three such games in the previous three seasons, as Doug McDermott, Antoine Young and Jahenns Manigat have done it once each.
Perimeter Punch
Grant Gibbs is scoring more, in part because he's been knocking down wide open looks from three-point range.
After opening the season 5-for-19 from three-point territory, Gibbs is 7-for-8 from deep in the past five games.
Where There's A Will
Sophomore center Will Artino has given the Jays a nice lift off the bench in recent games. He's 9-for-10 from the field in the past six games, including a 3-for-3 showing at Drake last Wednesday.
In his career, Artino is 62-for-102 from the floor, good for 60.8 percent.
If it Ain't Broke
The Jays have had the fortune of using the same starting five in every game on both the men's (Austin Chatman, Jahenns Manigat, Grant Gibbs, Doug McDermott and Gregory Echenique) and women's (McKenzie Fujan, Ally Jensen, Carli Tritz, Sarah Nelson and Alyssa Kamphaus) side.
On a national basis, Creighton is the only team that has gone the entire basketball season without changing starting line-ups on both the men's or women's side.
Teach Me How To Stop Him
Doug McDermott owns 20 or more points in 45 of his first 95 career games in a Bluejay uniform.
He's put up 20 points or more against a Valley opponent 19 times, including 39 the last time he met Missouri State.
Doug McDermott Points vs. Opponents
Opponent Points Against 20+ 30+ 40+
Drake 152 4 1 -
Illinois State 117 3 1 -
Evansville 115 3 - -
Missouri State 114 1 1 -
Northern Iowa 108 1 1 -
Bradley 104 2 1 1
Indiana State 102 3 - -
Southern Illinois 91 2 - -
Wichita State 68 1 - -
Nebraska 61 2 - -
Tulsa 51 1 1 -
Saint Joseph's 49 2 - -
Akron 46 1 1 -
Northwestern 41 1 - -
Oregon 40 1 - -
Long Beach State 36 1 1 -
California 34 1 1 -
UAB 32 1 - -
Davidson 31 1 1 -
Campbell 31 1 1 -
Wisconsin 30 1 1 -
Arizona State 29 1 - -
San Jose State 26 1 - -
Iowa 25 1 - -
San Diego State 25 1 - -
Houston Baptist 25 1 - -
Presbyterian 24 1 - -
Chicago State 21 1 - -
North Texas 21 1 - -
Boise State 21 1 - -
BYU 20 1 - -
North Carolina 20 1 - -
Kennesaw State 18 - - -
Longwood 17 - - -
Alabama State 16 - - -
Iowa State 16 - - -
UCF 16 - - -
Alabama 16 - - -
Samford 14 - - -
North Carolina A&T 13 - - -
Louisiana 12 - - -
Idaho State 12 - - -
Northern Arizona 10 - - -
Western Illinois 9 - - -
Channeling Adam Morrison?
One player who Creighton's Doug McDermott has been compared to for his scoring ways is 2006 Wooden Award runner-up Adam Morrison from Gonzaga.
Morrison finished his career with 1,867 points and 128 three-pointers in 95 career games while playing 2,908 minutes.
McDermott, through 95 games, owns 1,879 career points and 145 career three-pointers in 2,906 career minutes.
McDermott owns healthy advantages when it comes to field goal percentage (.566 to .503), three-point percentage (.460 to .368), free-throw percentage (.801 to .761) and rebounds (720 to 485).
Number 3, For 3
Doug McDermott has made 50 percent or better of his three-point attempts during 11 of his last 15 games, and is shooting 50.0 percent from downtown overall this year.
McDermott's 145 career three-pointers are ninth-most in Bluejay history:
3FG Name Years
371 Kyle Korver 1999-03
245 Ryan Sears 1997-01
212 Rodney Buford 1995-99
200 Nate Funk 2002-07
194 Ethan Wragge 2009-Pres.
185 Matt Roggenburk 1986-90
177 Duan Cole 1987-92
147 Booker Woodfox 2007-09
145 Doug McDermott 2010-Pres.
144 Dane Watts 2004-08
Shooting Star
Avery Dingman ranks sixth in the MVC in three-point percentage, connecting on 48.3 percent of his shots from downtown this season.
In his career, Dingman is shooting 45.0 percent (54-120) from deep. That ranks fourth-best in Creighton history (min. 100 attempts).
The only men ahead of him (Doug McDermott, Booker Woodfox, Kyle Korver) have combined to win four MVC Player of the Year awards and three MVC Tournament Most Outstanding Player accolades.
Who Will Start?
Creighton has utilized the same starting five in every game this season, and four of their five starters have streaks of 56 or more straight starts:
Consecutive Starts, Creighton (Active)
Doug McDermott 95
Gregory Echenique 80
Jahenns Manigat 71
Grant Gibbs 56
Austin Chatman 21
Elite Company
Doug McDermott is averaging 23.7 points and 7.2 rebounds, while also shooting 50.0 percent from three-point range.
According to a graphic airing on ESPN on January 15th, McDermott could join Duke's Christian Laettner and UCLA's Tracy Murray as the only players in NCAA history to average at least 20 points, 7.0 rebounds while shooting 50 percent or better from downtown (min. 50 attempts).
Both Laettner and Murray did it in 1991-92, with Laettner taking home Wooden Award honors.
Did You See The 30-Pointer?
Junior Doug McDermott owns five games of 30 or more points this season, and 13 overall games in his career.
McDermott's five outings of 30 points or more this season lead the country through games of Jan. 23rd. Lehigh star C.J. McCollum has done it four times, while Darren White (Campbell), Ian Clark (Belmont), Matthew Dellavedova (Saint Mary's) and Stan Okoye (VMI) have done it three times each.
Poll Position
Creighton has been ranked in a program-record 16 consecutive Associated Press polls, breaking the mark of 15 in a row held by the 2002-03 squad.
Creighton dropped five spots to 17th in this week's USA Today Top 25 Coaches poll and four spots to 21st in the Associated Press poll that Creighton uses.
Creighton's best AP ranking this year was 11th on Nov. 26th, and its best caoches poll rank was 10th.
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. 21st poll, Creighton has now been ranked 25 times in 50 weeks of polls under Greg McDermott, and ranked between 26th-to-28th in five other polls. The 25 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. 25 (of 50)
Dana Altman, 1994-2010 18
Tom Apke, 1974-81 5
Eddie Sutton, 1969-74 5
Active Leaders
Creighton has four players that rank among the top-50 in a career category among the nation's active players. Doug McDermott is in the top-10 in four categories, while he is joined by Gregory Echenique, Jahenns Manigat and Ethan Wragge in the various categories, through games of Jan. 23rd.
Rank Player Category
2 Doug McDermott Points/Game
2 Doug McDermott FG Made
3 Doug McDermott 3FG%
7 Doug McDermott Points
8 Gregory Echenique Blocked Shots
10 Gregory Echenique Rebounds
12 Gregory Echenique Games Played
13 Gregory Echenique FG Pct.
21 Doug McDermott Double-Doubles
24 Jahenns Manigat 3FG%
24 Doug McDermott FG Attempts
28 Doug McDermott FG Pct.
28 Gregory Echenique Blocks/Game
30 Doug McDermott Rebounds
31 Gregory Echenique FT Attempted
37 Doug McDermott Rebounds/Game
38 Ethan Wragge 3FG%
42 Gregory Echenique FT Made
45 Doug McDermott FT Made
46 Ethan Wragge 3FG Made
On A Roll
Since the start of last season, Creighton is a remarkable 47-9. On a national basis, Creighton's 47 wins since the start of last season ranks tied for fourth, as seen below.
Most Wins, Since 2011-12 (through 1/28)
School '11-12 '12-13 W-L Next
Syracuse 34-3 18-2 52-5 2/2
Kentucky 38-2 13-6 51-8 1/29
Kansas 32-7 19-1 51-8 2/2
Creighton 29-6 18-3 47-9 1/30
Louisville 30-10 17-4 47-14 2/3
Murray State 31-2 15-5 46-7 2/2
Ohio State 31-8 15-4 46-12 1/29
North Carolina 32-6 13-6 45-12 1/29
Full House
Creighton has attracted five of its 14 largest home crowds in program history this season, which includes four consecutive sellouts.
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. 17,391 Northern Iowa 01/15/13
14. 17,390 Saint Joseph's 12/01/12
15. 17,371 Indiana State 01/19/08
Strong On the Road
Off to a 18-3 start overall, Creighton is 7-2 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.
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 62-51 in MVC road games in that span, a win percentage of .549. A distant second is Southern Illinois (53-60, .469). As a league, the road winning percentage has been .346 in the same span.
MVC Road Records (since 2000-01)
Team W L Pct.
Creighton 62 51 .549
Southern Illinois 53 60 .469
Wichita State 49 63 .438
Northern Iowa 45 67 .402
Missouri State 43 69 .384
Drake 32 81 .283
Illinois State 31 81 .277
Bradley 30 83 .265
Indiana State 24 88 .214
Evansville 20 93 .177
All MVC Teams 389 736 .346
The Road Less Traveled
Creighton won its final two road games last year (at Southern Illinois, at Indiana State) and won its first four road games this year too (Nebraska, Cal, Illinois State, Missouri State) before losing at Wichita State on January 19th.
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 - Jan. 11, 2013
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 7-2 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, a seven-point win at Illinois State and a 30-point win at Southern Illinois.
This season was the first time since 1942-43 that Creighton has won its first six games away from home.
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.
Nation's Best Offense?
You can make a case that Creighton has boasted the nation's best offensive production so far this year.
Through games of Jan. 27th, Creighton led the nation in field goal percentage (51.9) and three-point percentage (44.8) and was third in three-pointers per game (9.5), while ranking fifth in two-point field goal percentage (56.5).
According to data from bbstate.com, no team since at least 2005-06 has shot better than 58.7 from two-point range.
Last season Creighton ranked third nationally in three-point percentage, making 42.4 percent from downtown.
The only team to ever lead the nation in both 3-pointers per game and 3-point percentage was Princeton in 1987-88.
The only team to ever lead the nation in both field goal percentage and three-point percentage was Northern Arizona 1998-99.
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.
Nineteen of Creighton's first 21 opponents have been held under 1.03 points per possession this season.
Points Per Possession
2010-11 2011-12 2012-13
Offense 1.065 1.150 1.172
Offense Rank 46th 2nd 2nd
Defense 1.006 1.014 0.911
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 40.0 percent marksmanship. That figure ranked 69th-best nationally in 2012-13 through Sunday's games.
Only three teams (Boise State, UNI and Drake) have 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.
Doug On The Road
Doug McDermott has saved some of his best performances for the road this season. He's averaging 21.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in 12 home games, but those numbers surge to 26.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game in nine contests away from home.
In true road games only, McDermott's 25.7 points per game this season leads the nation.
About The Final Seconds
Creighton has played 21 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.
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.
In Creighton's three Valley road wins this year, Manigat is 9-for-11 (81.8 percent), while he is 0-for-5 (0.0 percent) in CU's MVC road loss.
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 17-of-29 three-pointers in Valley action this year, ranking second in three-point percentage.
Over the past two seasons, Manigat is 48-for-92 from downtown in league action, good for 52.2 percent.
Manigat has made at least half of his attempts and made multiple three-pointers in eight of Creighton's last 11 games, hitting 21-of-37 treys (56.8 percent) in that span.
Thank Heaven For Nevin
Nevin Johnson made the most of his career-high 12 minutes of playing time in a Jan. 8 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 on Jan. 11th.
Jays Reach 10 Home Wins, Again
With a Jan. 8th 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 vs. Drake on Jan. 8th, 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).
This month, Wragge is 24-for-50 from three-point range, good for 48.0 percent from deep.
Filling It Up
Ethan Wragge is tied for the MVC lead with 52 three-pointers made this season, giving him 198 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
198 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.).
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 $20,600. This year's auction raised $24,444, with seven jerseys selling for more than $1,000.
Midseason Wooden Award List
Creighton forward Doug McDermott is the lone MVC representative on the John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25. 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.
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.
Three-Point Barrage
Creighton started MVC play shooting the daylights out of the ball, making 50 percent or better of its 3-point shots in six straight games for the first time in program history.
The Jays were 12-of-24 from downtown vs. Evansville, went 13-of-25 at Illinois State, were 11-of-22 from deep vs. Indiana State, an absurd 16-of-27 vs. Drake, 9-of-17 from long-range at Missouri State and 6-of-12 vs. UNI.
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.
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.
Winning Against Them All
Creighton is 71-39 vs. MVC schools since the start of the 2007-08 season, owning a winning record against every Valley school except Wichita State and Drake (the last two teams to beat them).
Creighton vs. MVC Schools, Since 2007-08
Southern Illinois 10-1
Evansville 10-2
Bradley 9-3
Indiana State 8-3
Northern Iowa 7-5
Illinois State 7-6
Missouri State 7-6
Drake 7-7
Wichita State 6-6
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 606 straight games. That streak dates to a Feb. 5, 1994 win against Wichita State. In that time, 913 of Creighton's 3,030 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
Doug McDermott 95
Michael Lindeman 94
Tyler McKinney 89
Brody Deren 89
Joel Templeman 57
Grant Gibbs 56
Kaleb Korver 46
Pierce Hibma 27
Adam Reid 24
Casey Harriman 16
John Klein 2
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 13 of the last 15 games, and continues to lead the MVC in field goal percentage at 66.4 percent.
Echenique's 66.4 percent marksmanship from the field is on pace to approach 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 148 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
148 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 51.9 percent from the field, while holding foes to 40.0 percent from the field on the defensive end.
Through games of Monday, Creighton and Indiana were the nation's only teams shooting 50 percent or better on offense, and holding foes to less than 40.0 percent from the field.
Creighton's 51.9 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 28th, Creighton is ranked 30th in the RPI according to WarrenNolan.com, while Missouri State ranks 227th.
Creighton owns 10 wins against RPI teams in the top-110. By comparison, defending national champion Kentucky has two such wins.
As a league, the MVC is the ninth-best conference nationally.
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 won its first six MVC games this season before falling at Wichita State.
As good as Creighton's been since rejoining the MVC in 1977-78, it was 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)
6-0 2012-13 ? ? ?
5-0 1988-89 11-3/1st (won MVC Tourney
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.
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.
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 297 wins in the millennium, as well as 12 postseason appearances:
MVC Standings (start 2000-01 to Jan. 28, 2013)
MVC only All Games
Team W L Pct. W L Pct.
Creighton 156 69 .693 298 123 .708
Wichita State 133 92 .591 257 153 .624
Southern Illinois 135 90 .600 246 163 .601
Northern Iowa 122 103 .542 237 168 .585
Missouri State 121 104 .537 229 178 .560
Illinois State 102 123 .453 213 184 .534
Bradley 97 128 .431 201 206 .493
Drake 95 130 .422 189 202 .483
Indiana State 85 140 .377 175 219 .441
Evansville 79 146 .351 154 225 .406
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
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.
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 was sidelined, Dingman is averaging 5.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.5 steals in 13 games while sinking 19-of-38 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 45 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 23.7 points per game, became the first Creighton player with 30 points in consecutive contests since Bob Harstad in 1990.
McDermott also scored 30 or more in consecutive wins vs. Missouri State and Northern Iowa in January.
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 130-of-262 three-pointers (49.6 percent) in his past 75 games.
McDermott averaged 13.6 points in his first 20 games at Creighton, and has averaged 21.44 points in his past 75 games with the Jays.
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 44 weeks since enrolling at Creighton.
Chasing History, Part I
Doug McDermott has scored 21 or more points in 15 of the season's 21 games, moving up to fourth on Creighton's all-time scoring list with 1,879 career points.
At McDermott's current scoring average of 23.7 points per game this year he'll become Creighton's all-time leading scorer in 10 more games. Creighton has a minimum of 11 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
12. Marcus Wilson, Evansville 2,053
13. Kent Williams, Southern Illinois 2,012
14. Chad Gallagher, Creighton 1,983
15. Chet Walker, Bradley 1,975
16. Dave Stallworth, Wichita State 1,936
17. Colt Ryan, Evansville* 1,920
18. Antoine Carr, Wichita State 1,911
19. Lynbert Johnson, Wichita State 1,907
20. Doug McDermott, Creighton* 1,879
21. Larry Finch, Memphis State 1,869
22. Kyle Weems, Missouri State 1,868
*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. Doug McDermott, 2010-Pres.* 1,879
5. Bob Portman, 1966-69 1,876
6. Kyle Korver, 1999-03 1,801
*active
More Than The Rest
Doug McDermott has scored 1,879 points in his career, eighth-most among active players. He is the only active junior with at least 1,500 career points.
Most Points, Active Players (though 1/28)
Source: Stats Inc./MVC
Rk. Pts. Name, School Next Game
1. 2,361 C.J. McCollum, Lehigh 1/30
2. 2,118 Kevin Foster, Santa Clara 1/31
3. 2,048 Nate Wolters, S. Dakota State 1/31
4. 1,921 Markeith Cummings, Kennesaw St. 2/1
5. 1,920 Colt Ryan, Evansville 1/29
6. 1,902 C.J. Reed, Georgia Southern 1/31
7. 1,886 D.J. Cooper, Ohio 1/30
8. 1,879 Doug McDermott, Creighton 1/30
9. 1,864 Stan Okoye, VMI 1/30
10. 1,835 Shane Gibson, Sacred Heart 1/31
11. 1,833 Kenny Boynton, Florida 1/30
12. 1,809 Mike Muscala, Bucknell 1/30
13. 1,796 Isaiah Canaan, Murray State 2/2
14. 1,772 Seth Curry, Duke 1/30
15. 1,722 Matthew Dellavedova, St. Mary's 1/30
Most Career Points, Active Juniors
Source: Creighton Sports Info/STATS Inc. (1/29)
Rk. Pts. Name, School Next Game
1. 1,879 Doug McDermott, Creighton 1/30
2. 1,418 Devon Saddler, Delaware 1/30
3. 1,295 DeAndre Kane, Marshall 1/30
Ball Control Offense
Creighton owns a stellar 376/255 assist/turnover ratio (1.47) as a team to rank seventh 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
Full House
This year's Creighton team ranks seventh nationally in average home attendance, averaging 16,859 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.
Creighton has now surpassed 200,000 home fans in a season for the eighth time. No other school in the history of the MVC has ever done so even once.
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 in 2011-12.
2012-13 Attendance Leaders (1/28)
Rk. School Average Next Home
1. Kentucky 22,782 2/5
2. Louisville 21,249 2/3
3. Syracuse 20,147 2/4
4. North Carolina 18,384 2/2
5. Indiana 17,391 2/2
6. Tennessee 16,896 1/29
7. Creighton 16,859 1/30
8. Wisconsin 16,715 2/6
9. Kansas 16,507 2/2
10. BYU 16,481 2/2
11. Memphis 16,028 2/2
12. Ohio State 15,969 1/29
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
16,859 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 (23.7) continues to be 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.
Creighton outscored the opposition 249-92 off the bench in eight games with Josh Jones, but has been outscored 270-234 since he's been out of the line-up.
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 (.488), Ethan Wragge (.437) and Doug McDermott (.500) have combined to make 116-of-248 three-point attempts this season, good for 46.8 percent.
Chatman is 19-for-35 from three-point range in the past 17 games, while McDermott is 38-of-68 from downtown in the past 15 contests. Wragge started the season 18-for-29 and is tied for the MVC lead with 52 three-pointers, including 24 in the past eight games.
Either Wragge or McDermott has had three or more three-pointers in 19 of Creighton's last 24 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 21 games:
Stat 2011-12 2012-13
Record 19-2 18-3
FG Made 603 591
FG% .513 .519
3FG Made 181 199
3FG% .451 .448
FT Made 319 269
FT% .722 .747
Rebound Margin +5.9 +4.9
Assists 401 376
Turnovers 266 255
Scoring Average 81.2 78.6
Scoring Defense 68.2 62.3
Scoring Margin +13.0 +16.2
Might As Well Jump
Creighton is 13-1 this season when Gregory Echenique wins the opening tip. Creighton's streak of 20 straight wins when winning the jump ball to start the game ended in last Wednesday's loss at Drake.
Creighton is 43-10 all-time when Echenique wins the opening tip, but 13-8 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 64-0 when scoring 75 points or more at CenturyLink Center Omaha.
In other words, Creighton is a perfect 76-0 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 78.22 points per home game (3,911 points in 50 home games).
That's a vital number since Creighton is 88-0 at home (61-0 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.
Stat Leaders
Statistically, Creighton ranks among the nation's top-13 in nine different categories through games of Jan. 27th. The Jays lead the nation in field goal percentage (.519) and three-point percentage (.448) while also ranking third in three-pointers per game (9.5). The Jays are fourth with 17.9 assists per game, sixth in points (1650), seven in assist/turnover ratio (1.47), 11th in scoring offense (78.6) and scoring margin (+16.2) and 13th in winning percentage (.857).
The only team to ever finish a season leading the nation in both 3-pointers per game and 3-point percentage was Princeton in 1987-88., while the only team to ever lead the nation in both field goal percentage and three-point percentage was Northern Arizona 1998-99.
Individually, Doug McDermott is second in points per game (23.7), 25th in field goal percentage (.564), 46th in free-throw percentage (.863) and and 176th in rebounds per game (7.2). Grant Gibbs is ninth in assist/turnover ratio (3.18) and 23rd in assists per game (6.05). In addition, Gregory Echenique ranks 90th in blocked shots per game (1.71), 90th in double-doubles (5) and 144th in rebounds per game (7.5). Also in the top-100 are Ethan Wragge, who is 68th with 2.48 three-pointers per game, and Austin Chatman who ranks 84th with 4.6 assists per game and 107th with a 1.94 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 70 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 58 or more wins at their school since being hired.
School Coach W-L Next Game
Creighton Greg McDermott 70-25 1/30
Iona Tim Cluess 64-27 1/31
Oregon Dana Altman 63-30 1/30
Colorado Tad Boyle 62-32 2/2
Robert Morris Andy Toole 58-32 1/31
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 7.8 4.6 18-3
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 35 times during his career, and Creighton is 31-1 in those contests (three times he's scored 15 or more in both halves).
McDermott owns seven halves in his career with 20 or more points, and just five scoreless 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 165 games at CenturyLink Center Omaha all-time, Creighton has not trailed in 40 of those contests, a staggering 24.2 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 9-8 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 1/28
Starts Name, School Next Game 127 Brandon Triche, Syracuse 2/2
115 Dorian Green, Colorado State 1/30
95 Doug McDermott, Creighton 1/30
90 Ray McCallum, Detroit 1/30
89 Cody Doolin, San Francisco 1/30
88 Brian Voelkel, Vermont 1/30
87 Frantz Massenat, Drexel 1/31
86 Deonte Burton, Nevada 1/29
84 Holton Hunsaker, Utah Valley 2/2
82 Devon Saddler, Delaware 1/30
82 Travis McKie, Wake Forest 1/30
80 Marshall Bjorklund, N. Dakota St. 1/31
80 Daniel Miller, Georgia Tech 1/29
Super Streak Ends At 37
Doug McDermott has scored in double-figures in 57 of Creighton's last 58 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. Since then, he's started and built his streak back up to 19 in a row.
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 1,226 points, 908 rebounds and 242 blocked shots in 124 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 1,200 points, 900 rebounds and 240 or more blocked shots.
Had all those stats been generated at Creighton, Echenique would rank 25th in career points, fifth 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 630 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 165 regular and postseason contests at CenturyLink Center Omaha all-time in its 10 seasons at the facility.
The Bluejays own an 141-24 (.855) 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 12,407-10,454 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 99 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
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
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.
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.
Game #22 vs. Missouri State • Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013 • 7:05 pm
Missouri State Bears at #21 Creighton Bluejays
CenturyLink Center Omaha (17,390) • Omaha, Neb.
Radio: KXSP 590 AM, www.am590espnradio.com
Television: FSN; ESPN3 (except NE, IA, IL, INS, KS, MO)
Series History: Creighton leads, 32-28
Last Meeting: Creighton 74, Missouri State 52 on 1/11/13 in Springfield, Mo.
Next Game
No. 21 Creighton (18-3, 7-2 MVC) returns home for the first time in 15 days when it hosts Missouri State (6-15, 4-5 MVC) to begin the second half of the MVC schedule.
Wednesday's tip-off will start at 7:05 pm at CenturyLink Center Omaha (17,390) in Omaha, Neb.
Radio Broadcast Information
KXSP (“AM 590 - Omaha's ESPN Radio”) will broadcast all Creighton men's basketball games during the 2012-13 season, including Wednesday. T. Scott Marr and Nick Bahe will call the action. The audio is also webcast live at www.AM590espnradio.com.
Television Information
Listed below are clearance information, satellite coordinates and on-air talent assignments for Wednesday's telecast. Scott Warmann and Mark Adams will call the contest.
The telecast will be cleared live on FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports Indiana (on FOX Sports Plus channels in the state of Indiana due to Indiana Pacers) and FOX Sports Kansas City (combined 5.9 million homes), FOX College Sports Atlantic (56 million digital homes), Comcast SportsNet Chicago (4.9 million homes -- on Comcast SportsNet Plus channels in the states of Illinois, Indiana and Iowa but will not clear Chicago DMA live), ESPN3 (outside the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska), DirecTV (Channel 671), Dish Network (Channel 418) and AT&T U-Verse (Channel 748).
Niles Media Group – the Missouri Valley Conference's production company – will televise the game digitally in SD 16:9 format via satellite.
On-Air: 7 p.m. Central
Tipoff: 7:07 p.m. Central
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
Announcers: Scott Warmann, Mark Adams
Webcast Information
Wednesday's game will air on ESPN3, but is blacked out in the states of Nebraska, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri. A direct link is at: http://es.pn/mbb-MSUvsCREIGHTON.
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. 21 Creighton
Creighton is 18-3 this season, including non-conference wins over Wisconsin, Arizona State, UAB, Saint Joseph's, Nebraska, Akron, Cal and Tulsa. Creighton snapped a two-game losing streak on Sunday with an 81-51 win at Southern Illinois.
After being named First Team All-American a year ago, junior forward Doug McDermott (23.7 ppg., 7.2 rpg.) has lived up to extensive preseason hype and was recently named the Midseason National Player of the Year by Dick Vitale, Seth Davis, Mike DeCourcy and Andy Katz (among others). McDermott has been named MVC Player of the Week five times this year and is 38-for-68 from three-point range in the past 15 games.
Second on the team in scoring is senior center Gregory Echenique (10.0 ppg., 7.5 rpg., 1.7 bpg.). Echenique has led the MVC in blocked shots each of the past two years.
Creighton also boasts a veteran backcourt consisting of Grant Gibbs (8.1 ppg., 6.0 apg., 4.0 rpg.), Austin Chatman (7.8 ppg., 4.6 apg.) and Jahenns Manigat (6.0 ppg.). Gibbs and Chatman rank 1-2 in the MVC in assists, while Manigat led The Valley in league play in three-point percentage a year ago.
Creighton's bench is led by sharpshooter Ethan Wragge (8.9 ppg., 3.0 rpg.), who leads the MVC with 52 three-pointers made and has drilled six three-pointers in a game on three occasions this season.
Creighton is shooting 51.9 percent from the floor (first nationally), 44.8 percent from downtown (first nationally), 74.7 percent at the line, and outrebounding foes by 4.9 caroms a game. CU scores 78.6 points per game.
Scouting Missouri State
Missouri State is 6-15 on the season, including a 1-9 mark away from home. The Bears opened the season 2-10 with a pair of non-Division I wins, but own league wins over Southern Illinois, Drake (twice) and Illinois State.
Anthony Downing leads MSU with 14.7 points and 1.2 steals per game. Downing's scored 17.3 points per league game.
Marcus Marshall is also scoring at an impressive clip, scoring 9.9 points per game. He's part of an impressive class that saw four freshmen start last Sunday for the first time in recorded school history.
As a team, Missouri State averages 60.2 points per game while shooting 40.6 percent from the floor, 30.9 percent from downtown and 64.3 percent at the line. The Bears surrender 64.0 points per game and are outrebounded by 3.7 rebounds per game.
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 70-25 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 350-220 in 19 seasons and is 219-156 in 12 Division I campaigns. McDermott is assisted by Darian DeVries, Steve Lutz and Steve Merfeld.
Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is in his second season at Missouri State, where he owns an 22-31 mark. Combined with a season at Dubuque in 2002-03, he owns a career record of 24-54. He is assisted by Jermaine Henderson, Pat Baldwin and Derrick Tilmon.
The Series With Missouri State
Creighton has won 10 of the last 16 meetings to claim a 32-28 lead over Missouri State in the series, but the Bears have six of the last eight contests.
MSU is on a two-game winning streak in Omaha after winning just two of its first 20 trips to town.
Greg McDermott is 8-11 in his career (and 2-4 as Creighton coach) against Missouri State, including a 79-74 double-overtime victory over the Bears to win the 2004 MVC Tournament (while coaching UNI). He is 2-1 against Paul Lusk.
Creighton's series history vs. Missouri State can be found on page 11 of these notes.
Last Game Recap
Creighton shot 63 percent from the floor and outrebounded Southern Illinois 39-19 in an 81-51 road win on Sunday night. Doug McDermott (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Gregory Echenique (12 points, 11 rebounds) led five men in double-figures. SIU was paced by 16 points from Desmar Jackson.
What To Watch For
A few facts and figures to keep an eye on during Wednesday's game.
-Creighton seeks its fifth consecutive home sellout.
-Creighton seeks its first regular-season sweep of Missouri State since the 2008-09 campaign.
-Creighton seeks to end a two-game home losing streak against Missouri State after losing 77-65 (12/28/11) and 67-55 (1/4/11) in the past two seasons in Omaha.
-Gregory Echenique is two blocked shots shy of 150 in his Creighton career.
-Ethan Wragge is two three-pointers shy of 200 in his Creighton career.
-Doug McDermott needs three points to reach 500 points this season and 28 points to become the first player to score 1,000 career points at CenturyLink Center Omaha.
Coaching Connection
Missouri State coach Paul Lusk made his debut as a head coach during the 2002-03 season with the University of Dubuque. Lusk would resign after one season to serve as an assistant coach to Matt Painter at Southern Illinois, who he later followed to Purdue.
When Lusk stepped down at Dubuque, the man who followed him was Marty McDermott, brother of Creighton head coach Greg McDermott and uncle to Creighton junior Doug McDermott.
Marty McDermott was replaced by his assistant coach and former Northern Iowa standout Robbie Sieverding, who starred for Greg McDermott at UNI.
Marty McDermott is currently the Director of Athletics at Muskegon Community College.
Chasing History
Doug McDermott has scored 972 points in his first 50 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 (19.4) and rebounds per game (7.6).
McDermott enters Wednesday's game with 1,879 career points in all venues, good for fourth in school history.
In case you're curious, CU's all-time leading scorer, Rodney Buford, scored 1,056 points in 56 career home games at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
McDermott Goes For 39
Junior Doug McDermott had a season-high 39 points on Jan. 11th 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 became the first player in the country this season with 39 points and 10 or more rebounds in the same game this season.
-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
Scoring Frenzy
Eight players have scored more than 1,000 points in the past two seasons. Doug McDermott owns the top spot on that list with 1,298 points in that span. Next up in a distant second on that list is South Dakota State's Nate Wolters (1,141).
Over .500, Again
Creighton has been better than .500 in either the first or second-half of the league season in 34 straight trips through the league, including this year's first half.
Creighton's 34 consecutive halves above .500 in league play is easily the Valley's longest active streak, with Wichita State next closest at eight.
Here's how Creighton's teams have fared in the various halves of the MVC season since 1995-96.
Year 1st Half 2nd Half
2012-13 7-2 ? ? ?
2011-12 8-1 6-3
2010-11 5-4 5-4
2009-10 5-4 5-4
2008-09 5-4 9-0
2007-08 5-4 5-4
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
Total 106-56 (.654) 103-50 (.673)
Bears Look For Three Straight
Missouri State has defeated Creighton in each of the past two years at CenturyLink Center Omaha, and three times overall when you include its 2005 triumph. Only Southern Illinois (four wins vs. Creighton) have more wins vs. the Jays at CenturyLink Center Omaha.
The Bears are one of five visiting teams in the history of CenturyLink Center Omaha history to have won in consecutive seasons in the 10-year old facility.
The Bears have defeated Creighton in each of the previous two years, as has Wichita State. UNI won two in a row in 2009-10, as did Drake in 2008-09. Southern Illinois claimed four straight wins there from 2004-07.
Winning Half The Battle
The team with the halftime lead has lost five of the last six meetings between Creighton and Missouri State.
Creighton is 15-0 this year when leading at half, improving to 54-9 under Greg McDermott when leading at the break.
Creighton has won 27 straight games when tied or leading at halftime, dating to Dec. 28, 2011 vs. Missouri State.
Last Five Meetings CU vs. MSU
Date Half Score Final Score
01/04/11 CU 29-20 MSU 67-55
01/22/11 CU 35-29 MSU 69-67
03/05/11 CU 30-25 MSU 60-50
12/28/11 CU 34-32 MSU 77-65
01/18/12 MSU 34-30 CU 66-65
01/11/13 CU 32-27 CU 74-52
Slowing Down The Freshmen
Missouri State's Marcus Marshall leads all MVC freshmen, scoring 9.9 points per game. This season Creighton has done a solid job of slowing down the league's freshmen that are averaging 5.0 points per game or more.
MVC's Top Scoring Freshmen vs. CU
Last Mtg.
Rk. Name, School PPG vs. CU
1. Marcus Marshall, MSU 9.9 DNP-Sick
2. Anthony Beane, SIU 9.8 8
3. DJ Balentine, UE 8.4 0
4. Gavin Thurman, MSU 7.9 10
5. Joey King, DU 7.1 0
6. Micah Mason, DU 6.4 4
7. Kristian Smith, INS 6.0 2
8. Egidijus Mockevicius, UE 5.5 4
Big Time Road Win
Creighton's 81-51 road win at Southern Illinois on Sunday night was a most memorable victory.
It was Creighton's largest win away from home since a 99-52 neutral site win (in Kansas City) over IUPUI on Nov. 25, 2002.
It was Creighton's largest road win since Feb. 19, 1974 (83-52 at UC Irvine).
It was Creighton's largest margin of victory in any MVC road game in program history.
It was Creighton's largest margin of victory in any conference road game since Feb. 16, 1925 (46-16 at Morningside in the North Central Conference).
Two Of The Best
Besides coaching at a pair of MVC schools, Greg McDermott and ex-Missouri State (and current Southern Illinois coach) Barry Hinson also have a lot of wins in common.
Both men rank in the top-16 in league history in wins as well as MVC wins, as seen below:
Most Coaching Wins, All Games, MVC History
1. 486 Henry P. Iba, Oklahoma State
2. 337 Eddie Hickey, Creighton & Saint Louis
3. 327 Dana Altman, Creighton
4. 225 Rich Herrin, Southern Illinois
5. 220 Ralph Miller, Wichita State
6. 211 Maury John, Drake
7. 197 Joe Stowell, Bradley
8. 194 Chuck Orsborn, Bradley
9. 185 Ken Hayes, Tulsa & New Mexico St.
10. 177 Barry Hinson, Missouri State & SIU
11. 174 Jim Molinari, Bradley
12. 169 Dr. F.C. Allen, Kansas
13. 168 Bob Donewald, Illinois State
14. 162 Greg McDermott, UNI & Creighton
15. 156 Dick Versace, Bradley
Most Coaching Wins, MVC Games Only
1. 187 Henry P. Iba, Oklahoma State
2. 162 Dana Altman, Creighton
3. 163 Eddie Hickey, Creighton & Saint Louis
4. 126 Dr. F.C. Allen, Kansas
5. 111 Rich Herrin, Southern Illinois
6. 110 Jim Molinari, Bradley
7. 97 Barry Hinson, Missouri State & SIU
8. 95 Maury John, Drake
9. 91 Joe Stowell, Bradley
10. 87 Gene Smithson, Wichita State
11. 86 Ken Hayes, Tulsa & New Mexico St.
86 Chuck Orsborn, Bradley
13. 84 W.O. Hamilton, Kansas
14. 81 Dick Versace, Bradley
81 Ralph Miller, Wichita State
16. 80 Greg McDermott, UNI & Creighton
I See Red People
Creighton looks to extend a lengthy trend of success over teams wearing a shade of red when it hosts Missouri State on Wednesday.
Creighton went a perfect 14-0 in the 2012 calendar year against teams that wear red/cardinal/crimson/scarlet/garnet/maroon, and has won its last 17 against teams wearing a similar color, as seen below:
Date Opponent Color Score
01/27/13 Southern Illinois Maroon W 81-51
01/11/13 Missouri State Maroon W 74-52
01/02/13 Illinois State Red W 79-72
12/06/12 Nebraska Scarlet W 64-42
12/01/12 Saint Joseph's Crimson W 80-51
11/24/12 Arizona State Maroon W 87-73
11/23/12 Wisconsin Cardinal W 84-74
11/18/12 Presbyterian Garnet W 87-58
03/16/12 Alabama Crimson W 58-57
03/04/12 Illinois State Red W 83-79
02/14/12 Southern Illinois Maroon W 88-69
02/01/12 Illinois State Red W 102-74
01/28/12 Bradley Red W 73-59
01/18/12 Missouri State Maroon W 66-65
01/15/12 Southern Illinois Maroon W 90-71
01/13/12 Illinois State Red W 87-78
01/07/12 Bradley Red W 92-83
Emerging Echenique
Gregory Echenique scored in double-figures during eight straight games from Dec. 1st - Jan. 5th, then went five straight games in single-figures before scoring 12 points on Sunday at SIU.
Creighton is 11-0 this year when Echenique scores in double-figures, and 36-11 all-time when he scores in double-figures.
Seeking 500 Points, Again
Doug McDermott is tied for the national lead with 497 points this season, just three points away from his third straight season of 500 or more points.
The only three men in Creighton history with three straight seasons of 500 or more points are Paul Silas (1961-64), Bob Harstad (1988-91) and Rodney Buford (1996-99).
His Own Game of H-O-R-S-E
Doug McDermott led the nation last year with 307 field goals made, and his 173 buckets this year are once again leading the country.
Of McDermott's 307 hoops last year, he made 56 baskets with his left hand and used the glass for 174 of his scores.
Though he's playing away from the basket even more this season, his numbers remain impressive, as he's used this left hand on 16 field goals and banked in a shot 82 times.
Could He Lead The Nation?
Doug McDermott enters Wednesday's game ranked second in the nation in scoring. McDermott's averaging 23.7 points per game, trailing Virginia Tech's Erick Green (25.2 ppg.).
Green has scored between 20 to 36 points in 18 of his 19 games this season, but many tough tests lie ahead in the ACC.
The odds don't favor a player at a “BCS” school to finish as the scoring champ. Since 1971-72, the only guy playing at the “BCS” school to lead the nation in scoring was Purdue's Glenn Robinson (30.3 ppg.) in 1993-94.
Key Stat
Need a stat to watch on Wednesday? Keep an eye on the rebound battle.
Creighton is 16-0 this season when it wins the rebound battle, while Missouri State is 0-13 when being outrebounded.
Dating to last season, Creighton has won 23 straight games when the rebounds are tied or in its favor.
Creighton is second in the league in rebound margin (+4.9), while Missouri State is 10th (-3.7) on the glass.
Just Win, Baby
Creighton is a perfect 61-0 at CenturyLink Center Omaha against home games against teams that enter with a winning percentage of .500 or worse.
Overall, Creighton has won 71 straight home games against teams that are .500 or worse, dating to a Feb. 25, 2002 loss to Drake on the final night of the regular-season. That setback cost the Jays an outright MVC title.
Missouri State enters Wednesday's game with a 6-15 mark.
What A Start!
Now in his third year, Greg McDermott is 70-25 in his first 95 games on the Creighton sideline. The 70 wins is tied for the most in Creighton history after 95 games. Here's a breakdown of how he compares to some other Creighton coaches after 95 games.
W-L After 95 Games, Select CU Coaches
Coach Years W-L After 95
Greg McDermott 2010-Pres. 70-25
Arthur A. Schabinger 1922-35 70-25
Tom Apke 1974-81 69-26
Eddie Sutton 1969-74 55-40
Red McManus 1959-69 53-42
Dana Altman 1994-10 43-52
Tony Barone 1985-91 40-55
Willis Reed 1981-85 40-55
Racing To 70
Greg McDermott enters Wednesday's game with 70 wins in his first three seasons at Creighton. According to research by MVC Associate Commissioner Mike Kern, McDermott has become the sixth coach in league history to win 70 games in his first three years at a school.
Ed Jucker and Denny Crum both won national titles and are MVC Hall of Famers, while Crum is also in the Naismith and NABC Hall of Fame.
Most Wins, 1st Three Years at an MVC School
W-L Name, School Years
91-19 Forddy Anderson, Bradley 1948-51
84-7 Ed Jucker, Cincinnati 1959-62
78-26 Chris Lowery, Southern Illinois 2004-07
71-31 Tim Jankovich, Illinois State 2007-10
70-19 Denny Crum, Louisville 1971-74
70-25 Greg McDermott, Creighton 2010-Pres.
Point, Counterpoint
No player in the MVC owns more assists in the past two seasons than Creighton senior Grant Gibbs' 303 in the first 56 games of his career.
Gibbs became the 12th player (and second-quickest) in Bluejay history to 300 assists.
MVC Assist Leaders, Since 2011-12
303 Grant Gibbs, Creighton
245 Jake Odum, Indiana State
204 Troy Taylor, Evansville
Creighton's Quickest Players to 300 Assists
Games Name
53 Ralph Bobik
56 Grant Gibbs
59 Randy Eccker
69 Ryan Sears
85 Tyler McKinney
89 Duan Cole
94 Josh Dotzler
92 Vernon Moore
100 Antoine Young
102 Kevin McKenna
110 Latrell Wrightsell
129 Nate Funk
10-5-5 Man
Grant Gibbs is averaging 8.1 points, 6.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game this season, but has upped those figures to 14.0 points, 7.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds per contest in the past four games.
Gibbs has had at least 10 points, five rebounds and five assists in three of CU's last four games, and six times overall in his Bluejay career.
By comparison, all other Creighton players have three such games in the previous three seasons, as Doug McDermott, Antoine Young and Jahenns Manigat have done it once each.
Perimeter Punch
Grant Gibbs is scoring more, in part because he's been knocking down wide open looks from three-point range.
After opening the season 5-for-19 from three-point territory, Gibbs is 7-for-8 from deep in the past five games.
Where There's A Will
Sophomore center Will Artino has given the Jays a nice lift off the bench in recent games. He's 9-for-10 from the field in the past six games, including a 3-for-3 showing at Drake last Wednesday.
In his career, Artino is 62-for-102 from the floor, good for 60.8 percent.
If it Ain't Broke
The Jays have had the fortune of using the same starting five in every game on both the men's (Austin Chatman, Jahenns Manigat, Grant Gibbs, Doug McDermott and Gregory Echenique) and women's (McKenzie Fujan, Ally Jensen, Carli Tritz, Sarah Nelson and Alyssa Kamphaus) side.
On a national basis, Creighton is the only team that has gone the entire basketball season without changing starting line-ups on both the men's or women's side.
Teach Me How To Stop Him
Doug McDermott owns 20 or more points in 45 of his first 95 career games in a Bluejay uniform.
He's put up 20 points or more against a Valley opponent 19 times, including 39 the last time he met Missouri State.
Doug McDermott Points vs. Opponents
Opponent Points Against 20+ 30+ 40+
Drake 152 4 1 -
Illinois State 117 3 1 -
Evansville 115 3 - -
Missouri State 114 1 1 -
Northern Iowa 108 1 1 -
Bradley 104 2 1 1
Indiana State 102 3 - -
Southern Illinois 91 2 - -
Wichita State 68 1 - -
Nebraska 61 2 - -
Tulsa 51 1 1 -
Saint Joseph's 49 2 - -
Akron 46 1 1 -
Northwestern 41 1 - -
Oregon 40 1 - -
Long Beach State 36 1 1 -
California 34 1 1 -
UAB 32 1 - -
Davidson 31 1 1 -
Campbell 31 1 1 -
Wisconsin 30 1 1 -
Arizona State 29 1 - -
San Jose State 26 1 - -
Iowa 25 1 - -
San Diego State 25 1 - -
Houston Baptist 25 1 - -
Presbyterian 24 1 - -
Chicago State 21 1 - -
North Texas 21 1 - -
Boise State 21 1 - -
BYU 20 1 - -
North Carolina 20 1 - -
Kennesaw State 18 - - -
Longwood 17 - - -
Alabama State 16 - - -
Iowa State 16 - - -
UCF 16 - - -
Alabama 16 - - -
Samford 14 - - -
North Carolina A&T 13 - - -
Louisiana 12 - - -
Idaho State 12 - - -
Northern Arizona 10 - - -
Western Illinois 9 - - -
Channeling Adam Morrison?
One player who Creighton's Doug McDermott has been compared to for his scoring ways is 2006 Wooden Award runner-up Adam Morrison from Gonzaga.
Morrison finished his career with 1,867 points and 128 three-pointers in 95 career games while playing 2,908 minutes.
McDermott, through 95 games, owns 1,879 career points and 145 career three-pointers in 2,906 career minutes.
McDermott owns healthy advantages when it comes to field goal percentage (.566 to .503), three-point percentage (.460 to .368), free-throw percentage (.801 to .761) and rebounds (720 to 485).
Number 3, For 3
Doug McDermott has made 50 percent or better of his three-point attempts during 11 of his last 15 games, and is shooting 50.0 percent from downtown overall this year.
McDermott's 145 career three-pointers are ninth-most in Bluejay history:
3FG Name Years
371 Kyle Korver 1999-03
245 Ryan Sears 1997-01
212 Rodney Buford 1995-99
200 Nate Funk 2002-07
194 Ethan Wragge 2009-Pres.
185 Matt Roggenburk 1986-90
177 Duan Cole 1987-92
147 Booker Woodfox 2007-09
145 Doug McDermott 2010-Pres.
144 Dane Watts 2004-08
Shooting Star
Avery Dingman ranks sixth in the MVC in three-point percentage, connecting on 48.3 percent of his shots from downtown this season.
In his career, Dingman is shooting 45.0 percent (54-120) from deep. That ranks fourth-best in Creighton history (min. 100 attempts).
The only men ahead of him (Doug McDermott, Booker Woodfox, Kyle Korver) have combined to win four MVC Player of the Year awards and three MVC Tournament Most Outstanding Player accolades.
Who Will Start?
Creighton has utilized the same starting five in every game this season, and four of their five starters have streaks of 56 or more straight starts:
Consecutive Starts, Creighton (Active)
Doug McDermott 95
Gregory Echenique 80
Jahenns Manigat 71
Grant Gibbs 56
Austin Chatman 21
Elite Company
Doug McDermott is averaging 23.7 points and 7.2 rebounds, while also shooting 50.0 percent from three-point range.
According to a graphic airing on ESPN on January 15th, McDermott could join Duke's Christian Laettner and UCLA's Tracy Murray as the only players in NCAA history to average at least 20 points, 7.0 rebounds while shooting 50 percent or better from downtown (min. 50 attempts).
Both Laettner and Murray did it in 1991-92, with Laettner taking home Wooden Award honors.
Did You See The 30-Pointer?
Junior Doug McDermott owns five games of 30 or more points this season, and 13 overall games in his career.
McDermott's five outings of 30 points or more this season lead the country through games of Jan. 23rd. Lehigh star C.J. McCollum has done it four times, while Darren White (Campbell), Ian Clark (Belmont), Matthew Dellavedova (Saint Mary's) and Stan Okoye (VMI) have done it three times each.
Poll Position
Creighton has been ranked in a program-record 16 consecutive Associated Press polls, breaking the mark of 15 in a row held by the 2002-03 squad.
Creighton dropped five spots to 17th in this week's USA Today Top 25 Coaches poll and four spots to 21st in the Associated Press poll that Creighton uses.
Creighton's best AP ranking this year was 11th on Nov. 26th, and its best caoches poll rank was 10th.
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. 21st poll, Creighton has now been ranked 25 times in 50 weeks of polls under Greg McDermott, and ranked between 26th-to-28th in five other polls. The 25 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. 25 (of 50)
Dana Altman, 1994-2010 18
Tom Apke, 1974-81 5
Eddie Sutton, 1969-74 5
Active Leaders
Creighton has four players that rank among the top-50 in a career category among the nation's active players. Doug McDermott is in the top-10 in four categories, while he is joined by Gregory Echenique, Jahenns Manigat and Ethan Wragge in the various categories, through games of Jan. 23rd.
Rank Player Category
2 Doug McDermott Points/Game
2 Doug McDermott FG Made
3 Doug McDermott 3FG%
7 Doug McDermott Points
8 Gregory Echenique Blocked Shots
10 Gregory Echenique Rebounds
12 Gregory Echenique Games Played
13 Gregory Echenique FG Pct.
21 Doug McDermott Double-Doubles
24 Jahenns Manigat 3FG%
24 Doug McDermott FG Attempts
28 Doug McDermott FG Pct.
28 Gregory Echenique Blocks/Game
30 Doug McDermott Rebounds
31 Gregory Echenique FT Attempted
37 Doug McDermott Rebounds/Game
38 Ethan Wragge 3FG%
42 Gregory Echenique FT Made
45 Doug McDermott FT Made
46 Ethan Wragge 3FG Made
On A Roll
Since the start of last season, Creighton is a remarkable 47-9. On a national basis, Creighton's 47 wins since the start of last season ranks tied for fourth, as seen below.
Most Wins, Since 2011-12 (through 1/28)
School '11-12 '12-13 W-L Next
Syracuse 34-3 18-2 52-5 2/2
Kentucky 38-2 13-6 51-8 1/29
Kansas 32-7 19-1 51-8 2/2
Creighton 29-6 18-3 47-9 1/30
Louisville 30-10 17-4 47-14 2/3
Murray State 31-2 15-5 46-7 2/2
Ohio State 31-8 15-4 46-12 1/29
North Carolina 32-6 13-6 45-12 1/29
Full House
Creighton has attracted five of its 14 largest home crowds in program history this season, which includes four consecutive sellouts.
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. 17,391 Northern Iowa 01/15/13
14. 17,390 Saint Joseph's 12/01/12
15. 17,371 Indiana State 01/19/08
Strong On the Road
Off to a 18-3 start overall, Creighton is 7-2 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.
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 62-51 in MVC road games in that span, a win percentage of .549. A distant second is Southern Illinois (53-60, .469). As a league, the road winning percentage has been .346 in the same span.
MVC Road Records (since 2000-01)
Team W L Pct.
Creighton 62 51 .549
Southern Illinois 53 60 .469
Wichita State 49 63 .438
Northern Iowa 45 67 .402
Missouri State 43 69 .384
Drake 32 81 .283
Illinois State 31 81 .277
Bradley 30 83 .265
Indiana State 24 88 .214
Evansville 20 93 .177
All MVC Teams 389 736 .346
The Road Less Traveled
Creighton won its final two road games last year (at Southern Illinois, at Indiana State) and won its first four road games this year too (Nebraska, Cal, Illinois State, Missouri State) before losing at Wichita State on January 19th.
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 - Jan. 11, 2013
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 7-2 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, a seven-point win at Illinois State and a 30-point win at Southern Illinois.
This season was the first time since 1942-43 that Creighton has won its first six games away from home.
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.
Nation's Best Offense?
You can make a case that Creighton has boasted the nation's best offensive production so far this year.
Through games of Jan. 27th, Creighton led the nation in field goal percentage (51.9) and three-point percentage (44.8) and was third in three-pointers per game (9.5), while ranking fifth in two-point field goal percentage (56.5).
According to data from bbstate.com, no team since at least 2005-06 has shot better than 58.7 from two-point range.
Last season Creighton ranked third nationally in three-point percentage, making 42.4 percent from downtown.
The only team to ever lead the nation in both 3-pointers per game and 3-point percentage was Princeton in 1987-88.
The only team to ever lead the nation in both field goal percentage and three-point percentage was Northern Arizona 1998-99.
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.
Nineteen of Creighton's first 21 opponents have been held under 1.03 points per possession this season.
Points Per Possession
2010-11 2011-12 2012-13
Offense 1.065 1.150 1.172
Offense Rank 46th 2nd 2nd
Defense 1.006 1.014 0.911
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 40.0 percent marksmanship. That figure ranked 69th-best nationally in 2012-13 through Sunday's games.
Only three teams (Boise State, UNI and Drake) have 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.
Doug On The Road
Doug McDermott has saved some of his best performances for the road this season. He's averaging 21.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in 12 home games, but those numbers surge to 26.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game in nine contests away from home.
In true road games only, McDermott's 25.7 points per game this season leads the nation.
About The Final Seconds
Creighton has played 21 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.
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.
In Creighton's three Valley road wins this year, Manigat is 9-for-11 (81.8 percent), while he is 0-for-5 (0.0 percent) in CU's MVC road loss.
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 17-of-29 three-pointers in Valley action this year, ranking second in three-point percentage.
Over the past two seasons, Manigat is 48-for-92 from downtown in league action, good for 52.2 percent.
Manigat has made at least half of his attempts and made multiple three-pointers in eight of Creighton's last 11 games, hitting 21-of-37 treys (56.8 percent) in that span.
Thank Heaven For Nevin
Nevin Johnson made the most of his career-high 12 minutes of playing time in a Jan. 8 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 on Jan. 11th.
Jays Reach 10 Home Wins, Again
With a Jan. 8th 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 vs. Drake on Jan. 8th, 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).
This month, Wragge is 24-for-50 from three-point range, good for 48.0 percent from deep.
Filling It Up
Ethan Wragge is tied for the MVC lead with 52 three-pointers made this season, giving him 198 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
198 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.).
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 $20,600. This year's auction raised $24,444, with seven jerseys selling for more than $1,000.
Midseason Wooden Award List
Creighton forward Doug McDermott is the lone MVC representative on the John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25. 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.
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.
Three-Point Barrage
Creighton started MVC play shooting the daylights out of the ball, making 50 percent or better of its 3-point shots in six straight games for the first time in program history.
The Jays were 12-of-24 from downtown vs. Evansville, went 13-of-25 at Illinois State, were 11-of-22 from deep vs. Indiana State, an absurd 16-of-27 vs. Drake, 9-of-17 from long-range at Missouri State and 6-of-12 vs. UNI.
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.
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.
Winning Against Them All
Creighton is 71-39 vs. MVC schools since the start of the 2007-08 season, owning a winning record against every Valley school except Wichita State and Drake (the last two teams to beat them).
Creighton vs. MVC Schools, Since 2007-08
Southern Illinois 10-1
Evansville 10-2
Bradley 9-3
Indiana State 8-3
Northern Iowa 7-5
Illinois State 7-6
Missouri State 7-6
Drake 7-7
Wichita State 6-6
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 606 straight games. That streak dates to a Feb. 5, 1994 win against Wichita State. In that time, 913 of Creighton's 3,030 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
Doug McDermott 95
Michael Lindeman 94
Tyler McKinney 89
Brody Deren 89
Joel Templeman 57
Grant Gibbs 56
Kaleb Korver 46
Pierce Hibma 27
Adam Reid 24
Casey Harriman 16
John Klein 2
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 13 of the last 15 games, and continues to lead the MVC in field goal percentage at 66.4 percent.
Echenique's 66.4 percent marksmanship from the field is on pace to approach 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 148 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
148 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 51.9 percent from the field, while holding foes to 40.0 percent from the field on the defensive end.
Through games of Monday, Creighton and Indiana were the nation's only teams shooting 50 percent or better on offense, and holding foes to less than 40.0 percent from the field.
Creighton's 51.9 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 28th, Creighton is ranked 30th in the RPI according to WarrenNolan.com, while Missouri State ranks 227th.
Creighton owns 10 wins against RPI teams in the top-110. By comparison, defending national champion Kentucky has two such wins.
As a league, the MVC is the ninth-best conference nationally.
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 won its first six MVC games this season before falling at Wichita State.
As good as Creighton's been since rejoining the MVC in 1977-78, it was 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)
6-0 2012-13 ? ? ?
5-0 1988-89 11-3/1st (won MVC Tourney
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.
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.
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 297 wins in the millennium, as well as 12 postseason appearances:
MVC Standings (start 2000-01 to Jan. 28, 2013)
MVC only All Games
Team W L Pct. W L Pct.
Creighton 156 69 .693 298 123 .708
Wichita State 133 92 .591 257 153 .624
Southern Illinois 135 90 .600 246 163 .601
Northern Iowa 122 103 .542 237 168 .585
Missouri State 121 104 .537 229 178 .560
Illinois State 102 123 .453 213 184 .534
Bradley 97 128 .431 201 206 .493
Drake 95 130 .422 189 202 .483
Indiana State 85 140 .377 175 219 .441
Evansville 79 146 .351 154 225 .406
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
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.
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 was sidelined, Dingman is averaging 5.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.5 steals in 13 games while sinking 19-of-38 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 45 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 23.7 points per game, became the first Creighton player with 30 points in consecutive contests since Bob Harstad in 1990.
McDermott also scored 30 or more in consecutive wins vs. Missouri State and Northern Iowa in January.
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 130-of-262 three-pointers (49.6 percent) in his past 75 games.
McDermott averaged 13.6 points in his first 20 games at Creighton, and has averaged 21.44 points in his past 75 games with the Jays.
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 44 weeks since enrolling at Creighton.
Chasing History, Part I
Doug McDermott has scored 21 or more points in 15 of the season's 21 games, moving up to fourth on Creighton's all-time scoring list with 1,879 career points.
At McDermott's current scoring average of 23.7 points per game this year he'll become Creighton's all-time leading scorer in 10 more games. Creighton has a minimum of 11 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
12. Marcus Wilson, Evansville 2,053
13. Kent Williams, Southern Illinois 2,012
14. Chad Gallagher, Creighton 1,983
15. Chet Walker, Bradley 1,975
16. Dave Stallworth, Wichita State 1,936
17. Colt Ryan, Evansville* 1,920
18. Antoine Carr, Wichita State 1,911
19. Lynbert Johnson, Wichita State 1,907
20. Doug McDermott, Creighton* 1,879
21. Larry Finch, Memphis State 1,869
22. Kyle Weems, Missouri State 1,868
*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. Doug McDermott, 2010-Pres.* 1,879
5. Bob Portman, 1966-69 1,876
6. Kyle Korver, 1999-03 1,801
*active
More Than The Rest
Doug McDermott has scored 1,879 points in his career, eighth-most among active players. He is the only active junior with at least 1,500 career points.
Most Points, Active Players (though 1/28)
Source: Stats Inc./MVC
Rk. Pts. Name, School Next Game
1. 2,361 C.J. McCollum, Lehigh 1/30
2. 2,118 Kevin Foster, Santa Clara 1/31
3. 2,048 Nate Wolters, S. Dakota State 1/31
4. 1,921 Markeith Cummings, Kennesaw St. 2/1
5. 1,920 Colt Ryan, Evansville 1/29
6. 1,902 C.J. Reed, Georgia Southern 1/31
7. 1,886 D.J. Cooper, Ohio 1/30
8. 1,879 Doug McDermott, Creighton 1/30
9. 1,864 Stan Okoye, VMI 1/30
10. 1,835 Shane Gibson, Sacred Heart 1/31
11. 1,833 Kenny Boynton, Florida 1/30
12. 1,809 Mike Muscala, Bucknell 1/30
13. 1,796 Isaiah Canaan, Murray State 2/2
14. 1,772 Seth Curry, Duke 1/30
15. 1,722 Matthew Dellavedova, St. Mary's 1/30
Most Career Points, Active Juniors
Source: Creighton Sports Info/STATS Inc. (1/29)
Rk. Pts. Name, School Next Game
1. 1,879 Doug McDermott, Creighton 1/30
2. 1,418 Devon Saddler, Delaware 1/30
3. 1,295 DeAndre Kane, Marshall 1/30
Ball Control Offense
Creighton owns a stellar 376/255 assist/turnover ratio (1.47) as a team to rank seventh 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
Full House
This year's Creighton team ranks seventh nationally in average home attendance, averaging 16,859 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.
Creighton has now surpassed 200,000 home fans in a season for the eighth time. No other school in the history of the MVC has ever done so even once.
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 in 2011-12.
2012-13 Attendance Leaders (1/28)
Rk. School Average Next Home
1. Kentucky 22,782 2/5
2. Louisville 21,249 2/3
3. Syracuse 20,147 2/4
4. North Carolina 18,384 2/2
5. Indiana 17,391 2/2
6. Tennessee 16,896 1/29
7. Creighton 16,859 1/30
8. Wisconsin 16,715 2/6
9. Kansas 16,507 2/2
10. BYU 16,481 2/2
11. Memphis 16,028 2/2
12. Ohio State 15,969 1/29
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
16,859 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 (23.7) continues to be 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.
Creighton outscored the opposition 249-92 off the bench in eight games with Josh Jones, but has been outscored 270-234 since he's been out of the line-up.
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 (.488), Ethan Wragge (.437) and Doug McDermott (.500) have combined to make 116-of-248 three-point attempts this season, good for 46.8 percent.
Chatman is 19-for-35 from three-point range in the past 17 games, while McDermott is 38-of-68 from downtown in the past 15 contests. Wragge started the season 18-for-29 and is tied for the MVC lead with 52 three-pointers, including 24 in the past eight games.
Either Wragge or McDermott has had three or more three-pointers in 19 of Creighton's last 24 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 21 games:
Stat 2011-12 2012-13
Record 19-2 18-3
FG Made 603 591
FG% .513 .519
3FG Made 181 199
3FG% .451 .448
FT Made 319 269
FT% .722 .747
Rebound Margin +5.9 +4.9
Assists 401 376
Turnovers 266 255
Scoring Average 81.2 78.6
Scoring Defense 68.2 62.3
Scoring Margin +13.0 +16.2
Might As Well Jump
Creighton is 13-1 this season when Gregory Echenique wins the opening tip. Creighton's streak of 20 straight wins when winning the jump ball to start the game ended in last Wednesday's loss at Drake.
Creighton is 43-10 all-time when Echenique wins the opening tip, but 13-8 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 64-0 when scoring 75 points or more at CenturyLink Center Omaha.
In other words, Creighton is a perfect 76-0 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 78.22 points per home game (3,911 points in 50 home games).
That's a vital number since Creighton is 88-0 at home (61-0 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.
Stat Leaders
Statistically, Creighton ranks among the nation's top-13 in nine different categories through games of Jan. 27th. The Jays lead the nation in field goal percentage (.519) and three-point percentage (.448) while also ranking third in three-pointers per game (9.5). The Jays are fourth with 17.9 assists per game, sixth in points (1650), seven in assist/turnover ratio (1.47), 11th in scoring offense (78.6) and scoring margin (+16.2) and 13th in winning percentage (.857).
The only team to ever finish a season leading the nation in both 3-pointers per game and 3-point percentage was Princeton in 1987-88., while the only team to ever lead the nation in both field goal percentage and three-point percentage was Northern Arizona 1998-99.
Individually, Doug McDermott is second in points per game (23.7), 25th in field goal percentage (.564), 46th in free-throw percentage (.863) and and 176th in rebounds per game (7.2). Grant Gibbs is ninth in assist/turnover ratio (3.18) and 23rd in assists per game (6.05). In addition, Gregory Echenique ranks 90th in blocked shots per game (1.71), 90th in double-doubles (5) and 144th in rebounds per game (7.5). Also in the top-100 are Ethan Wragge, who is 68th with 2.48 three-pointers per game, and Austin Chatman who ranks 84th with 4.6 assists per game and 107th with a 1.94 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 70 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 58 or more wins at their school since being hired.
School Coach W-L Next Game
Creighton Greg McDermott 70-25 1/30
Iona Tim Cluess 64-27 1/31
Oregon Dana Altman 63-30 1/30
Colorado Tad Boyle 62-32 2/2
Robert Morris Andy Toole 58-32 1/31
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 7.8 4.6 18-3
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 35 times during his career, and Creighton is 31-1 in those contests (three times he's scored 15 or more in both halves).
McDermott owns seven halves in his career with 20 or more points, and just five scoreless 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 165 games at CenturyLink Center Omaha all-time, Creighton has not trailed in 40 of those contests, a staggering 24.2 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 9-8 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 1/28
Starts Name, School Next Game 127 Brandon Triche, Syracuse 2/2
115 Dorian Green, Colorado State 1/30
95 Doug McDermott, Creighton 1/30
90 Ray McCallum, Detroit 1/30
89 Cody Doolin, San Francisco 1/30
88 Brian Voelkel, Vermont 1/30
87 Frantz Massenat, Drexel 1/31
86 Deonte Burton, Nevada 1/29
84 Holton Hunsaker, Utah Valley 2/2
82 Devon Saddler, Delaware 1/30
82 Travis McKie, Wake Forest 1/30
80 Marshall Bjorklund, N. Dakota St. 1/31
80 Daniel Miller, Georgia Tech 1/29
Super Streak Ends At 37
Doug McDermott has scored in double-figures in 57 of Creighton's last 58 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. Since then, he's started and built his streak back up to 19 in a row.
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 1,226 points, 908 rebounds and 242 blocked shots in 124 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 1,200 points, 900 rebounds and 240 or more blocked shots.
Had all those stats been generated at Creighton, Echenique would rank 25th in career points, fifth 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 630 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 165 regular and postseason contests at CenturyLink Center Omaha all-time in its 10 seasons at the facility.
The Bluejays own an 141-24 (.855) 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 12,407-10,454 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 99 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
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
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.
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
C
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballMeet the Jays - MBB Blake Harper
Friday, August 15
Meet the Jays - MBB Austin Swartz
Friday, August 15
Meet the Jays - MBB Jasen Green
Friday, August 15
Meet the Jays - MBB Ty Davis
Friday, August 15
