Men's Basketball Plays For Title on Wednesday vs. UMass

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Game #5 • Creighton Men's Basketball vs. Massachusetts • Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015 • 8:30 p.m. Central

Creighton Bluejays vs. Massachusetts Minutemen
MGM Grand Garden Arena (17,000) • Las Vegas, Nev.
Radio: KOZN 1620 AM, www.1620thezone.com
Television: ESPN2; ESPN3.com
Series History: First Meeting
Last Meeting: None

• Creighton (3-1) will play for the championship belt awarded to the champion of the 2015 Men Who Speak Up Main Event on Wednesday when it takes on Massachusetts (4-0) at 8:30 pm Central at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.
   The game will be televised on ESPN2, will be video webcast on ESPN3.com, and can be heard in Omaha on 1620 AM or worldwide on www.1620theZone.com. Bob Picozzi and Craig Robinson will handle announcing duties for the television broadcast, while John Bishop and Josh Dotzler will cover the game on radio.

• Creighton can win the 2015 Men Who Speak Up Main Event with a win on Wednesday over UMass. The win would secure Creighton's first pre-conference tournament title since winning the 2012 Las Vegas Invitational (at The Orleans) with wins over Presbyterian, Longwood, Wisconsin and Arizona State.
   Under sixth-year coach Greg McDermott, Creighton also won the Dale Howard Classic in 2012 with a 23-point win over Iowa, as well as Missouri Valley Conference Tournament titles with a four-point overtime win over Illinois State (2012) and a three-point triumph versus Wichita State in 2013.

• Creighton and UMass have never met, and Greg McDermott has never faced UMass. McDermott is 4-2 on the Creighton sideline against teams currently in the Atlantic-10.

• Monday's 85-75 win over Rutgers was Creighton's eighth win in its last nine games against Big Ten competition. Seven of those wins have come by double-figures.

• Maurice Watson Jr. had his first double-double as a Bluejay, and sixth as a collegian, when he had 13 points and 10 assists in Monday's win over Rutgers. Watson is CU's first player with a point/assist double since Austin Chatman had 14 points and 10 assists vs. Missouri State on Jan. 30, 2013.
   Watson is the second Bluejay with 10 assists in a game in the last week, joining Malik Albert (Nov. 17).

• Maurice Watson Jr. has scored in double-figures in each of his first four games as a Bluejay. The last Creighton player to crack double-figures his first four games in White & Blue was Doug McDermott in 2010-11, who opened his record-setting career with eight such contests.

• Cole Huff, who spent his first two years of college at the University of Nevada, had a season-high 26 points on Monday night. It was the second-highest point total of his college career, trailing only a 31-point effort he scored in a double-overtime game vs. Fresno State in 2013-14. Monday was the fourth time in Huff's career he's scored 20 or more points at the Division I level.

• Monday marked Creighton's 53rd straight victory when scoring 40 or more points in the first half of a game.

• Junior center Zach Hanson continued his torrid shooting on Monday when he made 4-of-5 field goal attempts vs. Rutgers. Hanson has now made 12-of-14 shots from the floor (85.7 percent). In his career, Hanson has drained 85-of-139 field goal attempts, good for 61.2 percent.

• Freshman Marlon Stewart made his Creighton debut on Monday, playing the final 74 seconds. Stewart led North Scott (Iowa) High School to a state title last season and gives the Bluejays another option in the backcourt who can play either guard position.

• Greg McDermott will attempt to win his 125th game on the CU sideline on Wednesday night vs. UMass. If he does so, he'd need fewer games than all but one coach in school history to reach that mark.
   McDermott is currently 124-58 on the Bluejay sideline. Only Arthur A. Schabinger (175 games) reached that milestone in fewer games. By comparison, Tom Apke needed 188 games, Eddie Hickey 196 games, Dana Altman 211 games and Red McManus 222 games to win their 125th contest at CU.
   McDermott's current .681 winning percentage at Creighton is the best by any Bluejay basketball coach since Schabinger's .714 (165-66) from 1922-35.

Men's Basketball Plays For Title on Wednesday vs. UMass

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Players Mentioned

Malik Albert

Austin Chatman

Zach Hanson

Cole Huff

Marlon Stewart

Maurice Watson Jr.