Men's Basketball Aims For Cayman Islands Classic Title Tonight vs. No. 16 Clemson

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Game #6: #16 Clemson Tigers vs. Creighton Bluejays
Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018 • 6:30 p.m. CST
John Gray Gymnasium (2,000) • George Town, Grand Cayman
Radio:? KOZN 1620 AM, www.1620thezone.com
Television:?None
Series History: Creighton leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Creighton 87, Clemson 67 on Dec. 15, 1962 in Omaha, Neb.

• Creighton (4-1) plays for the title of the Cayman Islands Classic on Wednesday, Nov. 20, when it meets No. 16 Clemson (5-0) at 6:30 p.m. CST.

• Wednesday's game vs. Clemson will not be televised, but will be broadcast on Stadium at
http://watchstadium.com/live.
   The game will also air in Omaha on the radio on KOZN (1620 The Zone), with John Bishop and Nick Bahe on the call.

• Creighton is 1-0 all-time against Clemson, taking an 87-67 win in Omaha on Dec. 15, 1962. In that game, Paul Silas had 23 points and 29 rebounds for Creighton, while Jim Brennan paced the Tigers with 25 points. Creighton won the rebound battle, 72-37.
   Greg McDermott has never faced Clemson, and is 1-4 in his career against ACC schools. That win came in 2016 at the Paradise Jam by a 112-94 margin against North Carolina State.

• Creighton scored 94 points on Monday vs. Boise State, then poured in 93 points on Tuesday against Georgia State.
   It's not the first time the Bluejays have piled up on the points on a neutral floor. Creighton scored 100 points vs. UCLA in the first neutral-site game of the Hall of Fame Classic, and in 2016 torched Washington State for 103 points in the first neutral site game of the Paradise Jam before dropping 112 points on North Carolina State. CU then scored 86 points in the final, a victory over Ole Miss.

• After the last two nights, Greg McDermott is 56-2 as a Division I head coach when his teams score 90 or more points, including a 50-2 mark on the Creighton sideline.

• Len Gordy, Creighton's Diversity and Inclusion Officer since 2005, was an assistant coach at Clemson from 1985-92 under Cliff Ellis.

• Of Creighton's 187 points this week at the Cayman Islands Classic, the sophomore class has scored a combined 112 points (59.9%), and the freshmen have added 42 points.
   For the season, Creighton's sophomores have accounted for 219 of CU's 400 overall points (54.8%).
   Each of Creighton's top three scorers are sophomores, and the fourth-leading scorer is a freshman.

• Creighton has had the opportunity to give its starters some rest during a pair of fairly lopsided victories, which could be key when Creighton takes the floor on Wednesday for the third time in 48 hours.
   Creighton's bench has provided 69 points, 32 rebounds and 15 assists in a combined 160 minutes of work in two games at the Cayman Islands Classic.

• Mitch Ballock had the best all-around night of his career on Tuesday vs. Georgia State, finishing with team-highs of 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists. His 23 points were a career-high, one more than the 22 he scored exactly one year earlier in a win over UCLA.
   Ballock is the first Creighton player with at least 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the same game since Ryan Sears had a 25/8/8 line at Southern Illinois on Jan. 8, 2000.
   In Monday's win over Boise State, Ballock dished seven assists, one shy of his career-best. He leads CU with 22 assists against just seven turnovers this winter, and is averaging 15.5 points, 6.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game in this week's games.

• Sophomore Damien Jefferson has posted a career-high in scoring each of the last two nights. He arrived in the Cayman Islands with a career-high of 14 points, done twice previously. He had 16 points against Boise State on Monday, then added 20 points a night later against Georgia State.
   Jefferson ranks second on the team with 12.0 points per game and leads the club with 6.0 rebounds per contest. He is shooting 68.6 percent (24-35) from the field this year, including 80 percent (16-20) this week, after Tuesday's 9-for-10 marksmanship.

• Though Clemson and Creighton haven't met on the hardwood since 1962, it was just eight months ago that the Tigers were in Omaha playing a game at Creighton's home venue, CHI Health Center Omaha.
   The Tigers reached the Sweet 16 of last year's NCAA Tournament, which was hosted by Creighton, where it lost 80-76 to Kansas. Kansas would beat Duke in overtime two nights later to advance to the Final Four.

• Creighton has had some great success in tournament play in recent seasons, especially under Greg McDermott. In McDermott's tenure, CU is 27-5 in regular-season tournament action with four titles (most recently the 2016 Paradise Jam). Under McDermott Creighton has won the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands (2016), MGM Grand Main Event in Las Vegas (2015), Las Vegas Invite in Las Vegas (2012) and the Dale Howard Classic in Des Moines (2011).
   Since 2002-03, Creighton is 41-9 (21-0 at home) with seven titles in 14 (including the Cayman Islands Classic) preseason tournaments.

• Creighton is 31-141 all-time against teams that are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, as Clemson (#16) is. That includes a 13-26 mark under Greg McDermott, and a 6-28 mark on neutral floors.
   McDermott's 13 wins and 39 games against top-25 foes are both school records.
   Creighton's last win over a top-25 team came on Feb. 24, 2018, when the Jays handed No. 3 Villanova its final loss of its national championship season.
   Creighton has beaten four ranked teams in each of the past two seasons.

• Creighton has shot the lights out in each of its first two games in the Grand Cayman's, sinking 12-of-22 treys vs. Boise State and 14-for-32 from deep in the win over Georgia State.

• One reason for Creighton's success has been the ability to share the ball. The Bluejays own 45 assists on 69 baskets this week, compared to 36 helpers on 78 hoops in three games entering the Cayman Islands Classic.
   Creighton's opponents, on the other hand, own just 16 assists in two games on the island.

• There were 53 head coaches hired nationwide prior to the 2010-11 season, including Creighton's Greg McDermott and Clemson's Brad Brownell. Entering 2018-19, McDermott was tied for first on that list in NCAA trips (5), and second on that list in wins (187), trailing only his predecessor at Creighton, Dana Altman. Brownell is 12th on that list in wins, and tied for seventh with a pair of NCAA Tournament trips.

Men's Basketball Aims For Cayman Islands Classic Title Tonight vs. No. 16 Clemson

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Players Mentioned

Mitch Ballock

Damien Jefferson