Men's Basketball Meets Xavier in Friday's BIG EAST Tourney Semifinal

Download Notes as a PDF

Game #33: Creighton vs. Xavier • Friday, March 10, 2017 • 8:00 p.m. CST
BIG EAST Tournament Semifinal #2
Madison Square Garden (19,979) • New York, N.Y.
Radio: KOZN 1620 AM; www.1620thezone.com
Television: FS1 (Gus Johnson, Jim Jackson, Lisa Byington)
Series History: Xavier leads, 13-11
Last Meeting: Xavier 82, #22 Creighton 80 on Feb. 4, 2017 in Omaha, Neb.

- Sixth-seeded Creighton (24-8) takes on seventh-seeded Xavier (21-12) on Friday night at 8 p.m. Central in semifinal round action of the 2017 BIG EAST Tournament, presented by Jeep.
   Friday night's winner advances to the championship game, which will be at 4:30 p.m. Central on Saturday. Top-seeded Villanova meets fifth-seeded Seton Hall in Friday's 5:30 p.m. Central semifinal.
   Gus Johnson, Jim Jackson and Lisa Byington will announce the game on FS1, while John Bishop and Nick Bahe will have the call on KOZN (1620 AM) in Omaha.

- Creighton and Xavier split a pair of regular-season meetings, with the visiting club winning both times. Creighton won 72-67 in Cincinnati on January 16, but Xavier won the rematch 82-80 on Feb. 4 in Omaha.
   Xavier leads the all-time series, 13-11, including a 2-1 mark on neutral floors. The series began with a 34-29 win in Cincinnati on Jan. 3, 1938.

- Creighton is 1-0 all-time against Xavier in the BIG EAST Tournament, winning a 2014 semifinal match-up over the Musketeers, 86-78. That remains Creighton's only previous semifinal appearance.

- Greg McDermott is 6-3 all-time against Xavier and Chris Mack, while Mack is 3-7 against Creighton. Creighton's Jan. 16 win in Cincinnati made the Bluejays the first visiting team ever to post three wins at Cintas Center.

- Eight of the nine meetings since Creighton and Xavier both joined the BIG EAST in the summer of 2013 have been decided by eight points or less. Creighton has won its last 11 conference tournament games decided by four points or less.

- Neither Xavier nor Creighton have ever won the BIG EAST Men's Basketball Tournament, though the Bluejays did top the Musketeers to win the BIG EAST Volleyball Championship last November.

- Both Creighton and Xavier are competing short-handed, as each team lost its star point guards in January. The similarities are striking.
    Creighton's Maurice Watson Jr. was hurt on Jan. 16 in a road win at Xavier while converting a hoop on a three-point play.
    Xavier's Edmond Sumner was hurt on Jan. 29 in a road win at St. John's while converting a hoop on a three-point play.
    Both Watson and Sumner tore the anterior cruciate ligaments in their left knee.
    Both men were preseason all-BIG EAST picks.
    Both men redshirted the 2014-15 season and were in their third year in their respective programs.
    Both men were leading their teams (and still own at least a share of the team lead) in assists.

- Despite stepping up a weight class (or two) when joining the BIG EAST, Creighton and Xavier have enjoyed consistent success over the years. Both Creighton and Xavier have won 20 or more games in 17 of the last 19 seasons. Creighton has been .500 or better in league play in 21 of the past 22 years, while Xavier has done it a nation-leading 35 straight campaigns.

- Creighton improved to 4-3 all-time in the BIG EAST Tournament with last night's win, including a 2-2 mark in the quarterfinal round. Creighton is 1-0 all-time in the semifinal round of the BIG EAST Tournament, defeating Xavier in the 2014 BIG EAST Tournament, and 13-7 all-time in the semifinal round action of conference tournaments when you include its play in the Missouri Valley Conference.

- Creighton has won eight league tournament titles in the previous 18 seasons, which trails only Gonzaga (15, including 2016-17), Duke (10) and Winthrop (9, including 2016-17) nationally. In that time, Creighton won MVC titles in 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2012 and 2013.

- Creighton has won the league tournament nine of the last 15 times it won its first game in a conference tournament.

- Creighton is now 10-4 in its last 14 conference tournament games when playing an opponent with a better seed than the Bluejays. Should Creighton reach the final, both Villanova and Seton Hall are seeded better than the Bluejays.

- Thursday's upsets that saw the No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7 seeds advance to Friday's semifinals ensure that another streak will continue. The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds have not met in the title game of the BIG EAST Tournament since 2004.

- Creighton is the fourth No. 6 seed to win a BIG EAST Tournament game in the last six seasons. The sixth seed in 2015 (Xavier) and 2013 (Notre Dame) both went on to reach the league tournament final. No No. 6 seed has won the BIG EAST Tournament since 1981, when Syracuse took the title inside the Carrier Dome.
   Friday will mark the first semifinal match-up between No. 6 and No. 7 seeds since sixth-seeded Syracuse topped seventh-seeded West Virginia in a 2009 overtime contest.

- More than 1,000 Creighton fans made the trip from Omaha to "Blue" York City for this weekend's tournament. Creighton's fan base has long been a point of pride for the program, which has now led its conference in home attendance each of the last 14 seasons. Creighton averaged 17,413 fans per home game this season, fifth-best nationally (trailing only Kentucky, Syracuse, Louisville and North Carolina). Thursday's New York Post referred to Creighton's travelling contingent to NYC as "Omaha East".
   Last night's crowd of 16,003 was the largest for a conference tournament game involving Creighton since a 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title game win over Wichita State (16,659).

- Creighton's 24 victories this season are in a three-way tie for sixth-most in program history for a single season. A win on Friday would give Creighton 25 victories for just the sixth time ever, and fourth time in seven seasons under Greg McDermott (29 wins in 2011-12, 28 wins in 2012-13, 27 wins in 2013-14).

- Last night's win was the 165th on the Creighton sideline for Greg McDermott (165-80), tied for second-most in school history with Arthur A. Schabinger (165-66 from 1922-35).

- Creighton improved to 14-0 this season in non-conference games with last night's win, including a 4-0 record on neutral floors. Creighton (14-0) is one of four teams in the country that are unbeaten in non-conference games, joining Gonzaga (15-0), Villanova (14-0) and UCLA (14-0).

- Creighton is 11-1 this season on FS1, and 46-22 all-time on the network. Friday's game will air on FS1.

- Creighton forced 22 Providence turnovers on Thursday, the most all season by a Bluejay opponent. Creighton converted those into 26 points, with 22 of those coming after halftime.

- Creighton overcame a 30-27 halftime deficit in Thursday's victory over Providence. It was just the second victory this season when trailing at the break, joining a Nov. 21 win over Ole Miss in CU's last neutral site game. In that contest, the title game of the Paradise Jam, Creighton trailed 46-40 at intermission.

- Creighton's Justin Patton was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year on Wednesday. He's the first Creighton player named league Freshman of the Year since Doug McDermott won Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year in 2010-11.

- Justin Patton is shooting 69.2 percent from the field this season, which keeps him on pace to break the NCAA record for field goal percentage in a season by a freshman that is currently owned by Hampton's Michael Freeman (67.8 percent in 2006-07). The best mark by a 'major conference' freshman are Arkansas' Sidney Moncrief (65.6 percent in 1975-76) and Duke's Jahlil Okafor (66.4 percent in 2014-15).
   Patton has shot 54 percent or better in every game this year except one, a 2-for-5 showing in the most recent meeting with Xavier.

- Creighton had two dunks on Thursday, both by Justin Patton. Patton now owns 67 of his team's 136 dunks this season.

- Zach Hanson became the first Bluejay in program history to appear in four different BIG EAST Tournaments with yesterday's appearance. Hanson has also played in four wins and six games, also program records for the BIG EAST Tournament.

- Creighton has made at least one three-pointer in 780 straight games, a streak that dates back to February of 1993. Khyri Thomas has made at least one three-pointer in each of Creighton's last 11 contests.

- Sophomore Khyri Thomas was a notable omission on the All-Conference Team despite a season that has seen him average 12.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game while also earning BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year acclaim. Thomas led Creighton with 19 points on Thursday night, adding three steals. He led Creighton's second half comeback with 11 points and three steals, and finished the night a perfect 8-for-8 at the charity stripe. One year ago, Thomas played just two minutes in a BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinal loss vs. Seton Hall.
   In the last four games, Thomas leads Creighton in scoring (18.3), rebounding (7.0), assists (4.8) and steals (1.8) per game.

- Marcus Foster had 15 points despite being limited to 24 foul-plagued minutes on Thursday. He now owns a team-best 589 points this year, the most in history by a Bluejay newcomer. That figure is eight more than the 581 points by Doug McDermott in 2010-11.
   With 11 or more points on Friday, Foster can become the 11th different Creighton player to reach 600 or more points in a season.
   Foster has now scored in double-figures in each of his last 15 games, the first Bluejay with a streak that long since Doug McDermott's streak of 28 straight games to close his career from Dec. 3, 2013 to March 23, 2014.

- Isaiah Zierden had a streak of 26 straight made free throws snapped when he missed his fourth attempt of last night's game. The streak of 26 consecutive from the stripe ranks 10th-longest in Creighton history, and was the program's longest streak since Doug McDermott made a school-record 45 in a row from Dec. 1, 2013 to Jan. 4, 2014.

- Cole Huff has played at Madison Square Garden twice, and is averaging 22.5 points per game in those contests after Thursday's 10 point performance.
   Huff has now played seven career games on neutral floors since joining the CU program, with his team winning six of those. In those games, he has averaged 18.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game while shooting 39-for-73 from the field (.534), 26-of-47 from three-point range (.553) and 24-of-26 at the line (.923).

- Last night's victory was Creighton's first win ever as a No. 6 seed in any conference tournament. The Bluejays were 0-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference and 0-1 in the BIG EAST Conference in its history as a six seed before the 70-58 win over Providence.

Men's Basketball Meets Xavier in Friday's BIG EAST Tourney Semifinal

Players Mentioned

Marcus Foster

Zach Hanson

Cole Huff

Justin Patton

Khyri Thomas

Maurice Watson Jr.

Isaiah Zierden

Related Videos