Men's Basketball Closes Paradise Jam vs. Southern Illinois

Game #6: Creighton Bluejays vs. Southern Illinois Salukis
Monday, Nov. 22, 2021 • 4:45 p.m. CST
Sports and Fitness Center (3,000) • St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Radio: KOZN 1620 AM, www.1620thezone.com
Broadcast: ESPN3.com (Brad Wells, Kevin Lehman)
Series History: Creighton leads, 53-36
Last Meeting: Creighton 59, Southern Illinois 45 in Omaha, Neb. on Feb. 19, 2013
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF)

• Creighton (4-1) closes out play at the Paradise Jam on Monday at 4:45 p.m. Central when it takes on former Missouri Valley Conference rival Southern Illinois (2-2) in the third-place game. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3, and on radio on KOZN (1620 The Zone) and 1620TheZone.com.

• Creighton leads the all-time series against Southern Illinois 53-36 in a series that dates to 1970, but has not been played since 2013. The teams were fierce rivals in the Missouri Valley Conference from 1977-2013 until Creighton departed for the BIG EAST.
   Creighton has won 11 straight meetings in the series, which came not long after snapping an eight-game skid to SIU from 2004-07, when Saluki teams that included current coach Bryan Mullins gave the Bluejays fits unlike no other.
   Creighton is 6-0 all-time on neutral floors vs. the Salukis, including wins in the MVC Tournament title game in 1989, 2002, 2003 and 2007.
   Greg McDermott is 10-7 in his career against Southern Illinois, including a 6-0 mark as Creighton's head coach. He was also 4-7 as head coach at Northern Iowa against the Salukis.

• Since the 2002 MVC Tournament final, Creighton is 12-0 against Southern Illinois when scoring 70 points or more, but 3-10 when scoring less than 70 against the Salukis.

• There's no denying that Creighton vs. Southern Illinois was an elite rivalry in the Missouri Valley Conference in the late 2000s. When the teams last met in 2013, the following was true...
- On Jan. 26, 2008, ESPN's "College GameDay" visited Carbondale for a CU/SIU showdown.
- Seven of the last 12 MVC regular-season champions.
- Six of the last 12 MVC Coaches of the Year.
- Seven of the last 11 MVC Players of the Year.
- Eight of the last 14 MVC Tourney champs.
- Either Creighton or Southern Illinois (or both) had made the postseason in 22 of the past 24 years.

• Creighton shot 55.0 percent from the field on Sunday night vs. Colorado State, yet still lost 95-81.
   Greg McDermott entered the night 207-17 in his Division I career when his teams shot 50 percent or better, and 153-10 when that happened and he was on the Bluejay sidelines.
   In fact, since 1994-95, the only previous time that Creighton has shot better than 53.5 percent from the field and lost had been Feb. 17, 2018, when it shot 56.1 percent but lost 90-86 to Marquette.

• Creighton has played 273 games since leaving the Missouri Valley Conference on July 1, 2013, but Monday's tilt against Southern Illinois will be its first against a school that was in The Valley when the Jays departed.
   Creighton has played Loyola (Chicago) in both 2015 and 2019, but the Ramblers replaced CU in America's Renaissance Conference and the two were never in the league at the same time.
   Creighton is 83-63 in the BIG EAST since leaving the MVC, compared to a 98-48 mark in its final 146 league games in The Valley.

• All five Creighton starters are averaging in double-figures this season, a fact made all the more impressive when you consider that these men owned a total of ZERO career starts as a Bluejay entering this winter.
   Creighton has won 22 straight games when five or more players have 10 points or more.

• Ryan Nembhard scored 15 points vs. Colorado State on Sunday, the fifth time in as many games that he's reached double-digits.
   Nembhard is the third Bluejay freshman in the last 27 seasons to score in double-figures during CU's first five games, joining Doug McDermott (2010-11) and Justin Patton (2016-17). Both McDermott and Patton did it in eight straight games to open their freshmen seasons. Both men went on to be named Conference Freshman of the Year and later, were top-20 draft picks in the NBA.

• Creighton plays Southern Illinois University Carbondale on Monday, then is off until Sunday when it plays Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

• Creighton held its first four opponents under 40 percent from the field, the first time its started a season like that since at least 1980-81, before Colorado State shot 53.0 percent from the field on Sunday.
   After holding foes to 26.5 percent shooting from deep in its first four games (all wins), Creighton allowed Colorado State to shoot 20-for-34 (58.8 percent) from downtown on Sunday. The 20 three-pointers were a Paradise Jam single-game record (was 17), a Colorado State single-game record (was 19) and was tied for the most three-pointers in a game this season against any Division I opponent.
   CSU's 20 three-pointers are the most ever allowed by Creighton in a single game, surpassing the mark of 19 set on Feb. 1, 2018 by No. 1 Villanova. That Wildcats team went on to win the NCAA title.

• Creighton had eight dunks in last night's game, getting jams in Paradise from Ryan Kalkbrenner (4), Arthur Kaluma (2), KeyShawn Feazell (1) and Alex O'Connell (1). Those four men have accounted for all 24 of Creighton's dunks this season, led by 11 from Kalkbrenner. CU now has 13 slams in two games at the Paradise Jam.
   CU's 24 dunks are easily its most through five games during any of Greg McDermott's five seasons as Creighton head coach, surpassing the 20 last year at this point. That team had 90 dunks in 31 games all year.

• Creighton has outrebounded the opposition by 10.0 rebounds per game this season, winning the board battle by six or more in every contest.
   The commitment to rebounding has been a team effort. All seven Bluejays to appear in all five games this winter are averaging at least 4.0 rebounds per game, led by Ryan Hawkins (7.2 rpg.). Hawkins enters Monday's contest with 984 career rebounds when you include his Division II stats.

• Sunday's loss vs. Colorado State was the first time in the six-year college career of Ryan Hawkins that one of his teams lost on a neutral floor, as the Northwest Missouri State transfer fell to 38-1 on neutral sites.
   Even after Sunday's setback, his teams are 163-9 (.948) at all sites.
   Hawkins has never lost consecutive games at the college level.

• Creighton has just seven non-freshmen on this year's roster, and is likely to play multiple freshmen on a consistent basis this season. Creighton has had at least one freshman on the floor for every second of every game this season, and actually had a late stretch of 1:28 vs. Colorado State when all five of its players on the floor were freshmen.
   Creighton has outscored teams by 67 when it two freshmen or less on the court, but have been outscored by 28 when it has three or more freshmen on the floor.
   All told, 444:55 of Creighton's 1,000 total minutes (44.9 percent) have been played by freshmen this season.
   By comparison, last season Creighton had a freshman on the floor just 32.4 percent of the time and had multiple freshmen on the floor just 17 minutes (of 1,250) all season (1.4 percent).
Freshmen   Time   Score   Margin
0 freshmen:   Never   --   --
1 freshmen:   16:37   27-26   +5
2 freshmen:   127:41   262-200   +62
3 freshmen:   51:20   76-109   (-33)
4 freshmen:   2:54   7-5   +2
5 freshmen:   1:28   5-2   +3

• Creighton has had some great success in tournament play in recent seasons, especially under Greg McDermott. In McDermott's tenure, CU is 33-7 in regular-season tournament action with five titles in 10 completed events.
   Creighton has lost multiple games in the same preseason tournament just once under McDermott, with that coming in a 1-2 showing at the Wooden Legacy in 2013-14, with losses to San Diego State and George Washington.
   Preseason Tournament Performances, Last 20 Seasons
Year   Tourney (Site)   W-L (Home W-L)
2002-03   Guardians Classic (Omaha/KC)   4-0 (2-0)
2004-05   Guardians Classic (Omaha/KC)   4-0 (2-0)
2006-07   Rainbow Classic (Honolulu)   2-1
2008-09   Las Vegas Classic (Omaha/Las Vegas)   4-0 (2-0)
2009-10   Old Spice Classic (Orlando)   0-3
2010-11   Hy-Vee Challenge (Omaha/Des Moines)   3-1 (3-0)
2011-12   Dale Howard Classic (Omaha/Des Moines)   4-0 (3-0)
2012-13   Las Vegas Invite (Omaha/Las Vegas)   4-0 (2-0)
2013-14   Wooden Legacy (Fullerton/Anaheim)   1-2
2014-15   Emerald Coast Classic (Omaha/Niceville)   3-1 (2-0)
2015-16   MGM Grand Main Event (Omaha/Las Vegas)   4-0 (2-0)
2016-17   Paradise Jam (U.S. Virgin Islands)   3-0
2017-18   Hall of Fame Classic (Omaha/Kansas City)   3-1 (2-0)
2018-19   Cayman Islands Classic (Omaha/Cayman Islands)   4-0 (1-0)
2019-20   Las Vegas Invite (Omaha/Las Vegas)   3-1 (2-0)
2021-22   Paradise Jam (U.S. Virgin Islands)   1-1

Men's Basketball Closes Paradise Jam vs. Southern Illinois

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Players Mentioned

KeyShawn Feazell

Ryan Hawkins

Ryan Kalkbrenner

Arthur Kaluma

Ryan Nembhard

Alex O'Connell