Creighton University
5-0,0-0Big East
Texas Tech
3-1,0-0Big 12
#10 Men's Basketball Wins Maui Opener vs. #21 Texas Tech
11/21/2022 3:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball
All five starters score in double-figures
The Bluejays improved to 5-0 with the win while handing Texas Tech (3-1) its first loss of the season. It's the first time since 2012-13 that Creighton has opened the season with five straight double-digit triumphs.
Creighton had five turnovers in the first four minutes and Texas Tech took advantage to the tune of a 9-2 lead. Still down 12-5 a few minutes later, Creighton unleashed an 8-0 run to take its first lead of the game at 13-12. The stingy Red Raider defense forced 13 turnovers in the first half, but Creighton shot 55 percent from the field (11-20) and made 5-of-11 three-point shots to tie the game at 31 by halftime.
Baylor Scheierman made 3-of-5 three-pointers and led CU with nine points, while Kaluma and Nembhard each chipped in with seven points. CU had a 17-11 lead on the glass at the break.
The Bluejays opened the second half on a 7-2 run thanks to baskets by Alexander, Ryan Kalkbrenner and Nembhard and never trailed after the break. CU's lead moved into double-figures on a three-ball by Nembhard, pushing the advantage to 52-41 with just under 12 minutes to play. Creighton's lead never dipped below eight the rest of the way, as the sophomore trio scored 20-of-22 Bluejay points in one stretch.
All five Creighton starters scored in double-figures, led by 18 from Kaluma. Scheierman had a double-double with a game-leading 12 rebounds. Creighton shot 55.1 percent for the game and drained 9-of-20 three-pointers. The Bluejays also won the rebound battle 33-28 and converted seven offensive rebounds into a 14-5 lead in second chance points. After 13 turnovers in the first half, CU did not turn the ball over after the break.
Texas Tech was paced by 17 points and five rebounds from Daniel Batcho. The Red Raiders shot 43.5 percent from the field and made 5-of-7 free throws.
Creighton returns to the court on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Central (3 p.m. HST) for a game on ESPN against the winner of the Louisville/No. 9 Arkansas victor.
NOTES: Both Creighton and Texas Tech were making their first appearance in the Maui Invitational ... Creighton's last trip to Hawaii came in 2006 for the Rainbow Classic, and the Jays are 14-10 all-time on the island ... Creighton has made at three-pointer in 953 straight games ... Creighton has beaten at least one ranked team in nine straight seasons ... Creighton is 48-157 all-time against top-25 teams, with 30 of those victories coming under Greg McDermott ... Creighton is now 14-15 all-time as a ranked team when playing a ranked team, including a 13-11 mark under Greg McDermott ... Creighton is now 4-1 all-time against Texas Tech, including a 3-0 mark on neutral floors ... Creighton is now 5-0 for the sixth time in 13 years under Greg McDermott ... Creighton has won 26 games in a row when five players score in double-figures.
1 down in Maui, still two to go #GoJays pic.twitter.com/ydGGWN7fbo
— Creighton Men's Basketball (@BluejayMBB) November 22, 2022
Maui Jim Maui Invitational
Monday, November 21, 2022
Maui, Hawaii, USA
Creighton Bluejays
Lahaina Civic Center
Greg McDermott
Ryan Nembhard
Arthur Kaluma
Postgame Press Conference
Creighton - 76, Texas Tech - 65
THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with an opening statement from Coach and then take questions for the student-athletes.
GREG MCDERMOTT: Well, as you saw by the start of the game Texas Tech is really hard to play against. You can prep all you want but it's so hard to simulate the physicality of their defense and the quickness of their rotations.
We were in a little bit of a hurry the first half and obviously created some offense for them with some of our turnovers. As I told the team in the locker room and in particular Art and Trey after the game, I thought they did an unbelievable job of adjusting to the game. Every game's different. You've got to kind of feel it out, what's the ball screen coverage, where's the help coming from, what are they doing in the post.
I thought those two, while they got rushed a little bit in the first half and made some mistakes, I thought they really settled in and made plays for themselves and for their teammates the second half, and that has to be who we are.
I'm really proud of the team because this is a really good win and anytime you can beat a team coached by Mark Adams you feel pretty good about it.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.
Q. Ryan, there were times in the second half when you kind of asserted yourself and kind of got the tempo, it seemed like you kind of put yourself in and kind of asserted. When do you decide that you need to kind of pick it up and kind of take control and kind of get the team going in the right direction?
RYAN NEMBHARD: Yeah, I just kind of take what the game gives me. There's flows in the game. There's different runs that we go on as a teams. There's lulls in the game. So I just take what the defense gives me, try and make plays for my teammates and try and just help us get a win anyway possible.
Q. Coach talked about kind of adjusting to the game. You're used to running off the high screen and lobbing it to Kalk. That wasn't there as much today. How did you go about adjusting to the game and the flow of the game? And who were you kind of looking for there in the second half? Because the thing seemed to flow a lot quicker.
RYAN NEMBHARD: The way they played defense they ice a lot of things and they switched a lot of things and their bottom side help, really helps over a lot. So it's hard to get those flip-ups. So we just made some adjustments at halftime. We kind of had a game plan going into the game and we just kind of executed in the second half a little better than the first half.
We got to get a little more comfortable. Their pressure didn't bother as much in the second half. We just felt a little more comfortable out there.
Q. Art, what did you feel like in the second half that made you more comfortable? You had a big second half, obviously. What kind of worked for you in the second half?
ARTHUR KALUMA: Well, we had a good game plan coming in, so just listening to what the coaches had to say and then really put it into action in the game and just easing into the game. We're in a big place. This is a big tournament, Maui Invitational, it's just fun to be here. Got it going in the second half and I'm glad we got the win out today.
THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you. We'll take questions for coach.
Q. What are the keys to a game planning and then executing against Texas Tech's defense?
GREG MCDERMOTT: Things look open. They sit on your side and they really force you to that baseline, try to keep you out of the middle. As you start to probe, it looks like it's open, and then everything gets closed off. Then you have to make the right read. You have to space the floor such that the guy with the ball has some options. If two guys are standing next to each other or too close to each other they can cover that.
When we got spaced and then played on our second attack on the other side, we had, we got pretty good shots. So it's hard to simulate. I thought we had a good plan. We scrimmaged Iowa State in October, who has a very similar plan defensively. I think that helped us some.
But I don't know, first time on the road with this team, maybe the anxious and excited, we certainly weren't ourselves early in that game. We had as many turnovers in the first 20 possessions I think as we've had in four games. So once we settled in, I thought we were pretty good. But it's not easy to prepare for.
Q. Some of those second chance points and the way y'all attacked the offensive boards were key. Was that something going in you thought y'all could do or was that just a part of the game plan?
GREG MCDERMOTT: We always want to try to put some pressure there. When they're in rotations and you shoot it, a lot of times you got a guy running free on the offensive glass, it's hard to get to that crack down in time.
Thank goodness Kalkbrenner was tough enough to play through a pretty good sprained ankle because his presence at the rim and on the glass for us is so important.
Q. Baylor with double-digit rebounds again. He's come close or hit that almost every game. What makes him such a good rebounder?
GREG MCDERMOTT: He's very instinctive. Some guys can watch the ball leave the shooter's hands and have an idea where it's going to go and some guys can't. He's blessed with the ability to have an idea of whether it's going to be long or short, coming off right or left, and then he goes and gets it.
He's got a great nose for the basketball. He's not afraid to stick his nose in there with a lot of contact, a lot of physicality, and go get basketballs. Now, it requires that we got to create some space with our boxouts, and I think for the most part we did a good job of that. Still have to get better. 11 offensive rebounds and whatever they had, 35 missed shots. I would like that to be a little bit lower. But for the most part I thought we were pretty good in that regard.
Q. Did he surprise you a little bit, his all-around game? Rebounding, he's able to push it up the floor and obviously great shooter.
GREG MCDERMOTT: Yeah, I had watched him a lot simply because a bunch of my former staff members are coaching at South Dakota State. I think the head coach played for me and worked for me and two of the assistants. So it's a team that I followed and watched. So I've known about Baylor's game and obviously being from Nebraska saw him some in high school, and then watched his development at South Dakota State.
Then when he made the decision to leave, just really fit seamlessly with that group we had coming back. He obviously can shoot the basketball and, as you mentioned, really good rebounder. But his ability to move the defense with his eyes and with pass fakes and shot fakes is really elite. We're so glad we have him. He's been a great addition to this team.
Maui Jim Maui Invitational
Monday, November 21, 2022
Maui, Hawaii, USA
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Lahaina Civic Center
Mark Adams
Daniel Batcho
De'Vion Harmon
Postgame Press Conference
Creighton - 76, Texas Tech - 65
THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement from coach and then take questions for the student-athletes.
MARK ADAMS: Well, it probably goes without saying, but Creighton's just a very, very good basketball team. They're just extremely efficient. Their guys all know their roles. They play very solid defense. They don't foul. Extremely good three-point shooting team.
So we had our work cut out for us. There were some real bright spots for us that we can build on as we move forward.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes, please.
Q. Daniel, I noticed you got hurt a couple times. How are you feeling right now?
DANIEL BATCHO: I'm feeling better. I was just cramping.
Q. For both the players, I know the result was disappointing, but what was it like in this environment, the smaller gym, really loud crowd?
DE'VION HARMON: It was great, a lot of fun. It's a blessing to be out here in Hawaii doing what you love. Like coach said, Creighton's a great team. They're ranked No. 10 for a reason. But we got to bounce back and we will.
Q. Daniel, I'm from Arizona, wondering if you, they have got some key guys left from when you were there that season, and did you see them this weekend and have any relationship with those guys?
DANIEL BATCHO: Yeah, I soon my friend Adama. He's from France too. He used to be my teammate. It was good to see him.
Q. Can I ask you, since you left Arizona and came to Texas Tech, it seemed like your career really took off. Can you reflect just briefly on the difference, you know, what happened? And I know you were sick that year and some things happened and then you really took off when you got to Texas Tech.
DANIEL BATCHO: I wasn't sick or anything. I was just injured.
Q. Anything else about Texas Tech that's really helped you?
DANIEL BATCHO: They really like believe in me. They pushing me.
Q. De'Vion, you guys were playing a lot of defensive pressure in the first half, forcing a bunch of turnovers. I'm wondering if you saw an adjustment on Creighton's part in the second half that, how they took better care of the ball?
DE'VION HARMON: Yeah, they hit a lot of threes, so we didn't take care of that as well. They all drive right. We let 'em drive right. So just little things like that. They're really good at shooting the ball. Shoot at a very high clip as a team.
But you learn. You learn from games like this and just bounce back.
THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you, guys. We'll take questions for coach.
Q. How do you feel Creighton adjusted in the second half? Obviously shot better, but what did they do specifically offensively?
MARK ADAMS: The biggest difference was that first four minutes. They came out and just punched us in the mouth and I thought that was the difference. They came out with just a really aggressive mindset on both ends of the floor. It set the tone for the rest of the game.
Q. Second-chance points was kind of a big part of the game. They ended up with a pretty big advantage there. I know that's something you talked about earlier in the season, but was it just their length or what happened there on the boards?
MARK ADAMS: You know, that's a great question. We're going to go back and watch the film. I know that they exposed us in so many ways that we can improve on.
But they're really, really good at walling up and not fouling. I was just begging the referee, just, I would like just one free throw in the game, just give us one. But to their credit they're very disciplined. If you would have said, look, we're going to hold them to seven offensive rebounds and we're going to have 11 and we're going to only have nine turnovers and we have 13, I would think, man we got a great chance to win this thing. And then we shoot the ball 62 times and they shoot it 49. Of course they had more free throws. But I thought we would be right in the game.
Second half we really weren't in the game. But it goes back to their great shooting and their shot selection. They had 9-20 from the three-point line. So that was the big difference.
Q. You folks looked like you had to fight for every basket or every point you got. Do you think that was more them or was it more you folks?
MARK ADAMS: It's a little of both. But you have to give them a lot of credit. We're just, again, so young and we're not to that place with our team where our guys still know exactly where to take their shots. We passed up some and we took some bad ones. It's just going to be a learning process.
But, again, give Creighton a lot of credit for that, for making us shoot those tough shots.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
127378-1-1044 2022-11-21 21:59:00 GMT
