#23 Men's Basketball Visits Seton Hall on Wednesday

Game #25: #23 Creighton Bluejays (15-8, 9-3 BIG EAST) at Seton Hall Pirates (15-9, 8-5 BIG EAST)
Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023 • 5:30 p.m. CST • Newark, N.J. • Prudential Center
| LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF) | SHU NOTES (PDF) |

Next Game
For the second straight Wednesday, No. 23 Creighton (15-8, 9-3 BIG EAST) will head back to the East Coast for a midweek test on Feb. 8 at Seton Hall (15-9, 8-5 BIG EAST) in a battle of two of the league's hottest teams.
   Prudential Center (18,711) in Newark, N.J., will host the action, which tips at 5:30 p.m. Central.

Radio Broadcast Information
KOZN (1620 AM) and KOOO (101.9 FM) will carry all Creighton men's basketball games during the 2022-23 season. John Bishop will call the action.
   The audio is webcast at 1620thezone.com and can be heard on SiriusXM channel 380 and on SXM app channel 970.

Telecast Information
Wednesday's game will be called by Jason Benetti and Donny Marshall and be televised on FS1.
   The game will also be video webcast at https://www.foxsports.com/live.

Live Stats Information
All of Creighton's games this season will have free live stats. Visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the small bar graph icon on the scoreboard at the top of the page for the event of your choosing.
   Home games can also be followed on mobile devices at www.gocreightonstats.com.

Scouting No. 23 Creighton
No. 23 Creighton started 6-0, including wins at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational over No. 21 Texas Tech and No. 9 Arkansas, then dropped its next six games. Since losing its BIG EAST opener at Marquette in mid-December, the Jays are 9-2 in league play with seven double-digit wins.
   All-BIG EAST center Ryan Kalkbrenner (15.2 ppg., 6.9 rpg., 2.4 bpg.), who was named 2022 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, is second in the nation in field goal percentage (.733) this season. CU is 15-5 with him in the line-up this year, but 0-3 without him.
   CU had three men named to the BIG EAST's All-Freshman Team last winter who are now sophomores. That trio includes Ryan Nembhard (11.5 ppg., 5.3 apg.) as well as Arthur Kaluma (12.5 ppg., 6.4 rpg.) and Trey Alexander (13.5 ppg., 4.0 rpg.).
   Creighton's highest-impact newcomer to date has been South Dakota State transfer Baylor Scheierman (13.0 ppg., 8.3 rpg.), who also owns the team lead with 10 double-doubles and 57 three-pointers made.
   Creighton was picked to win the BIG EAST Conference and earned its best preseason AP poll ranking ever (No. 9), thanks to the return of 10 lettermen and three starters from last year's team that finished 23-12.
   CU averages 76.8 points while allowing just 67.3 points per contest. CU shoots 46.8 percent from the floor, 34.6 percent from deep and 74.4 percent at the line.

Scouting Seton Hall
Seton Hall is 15-9 overall and 8-5 in BIG EAST play. The Pirates fell to 1-4 in league play with its Jan. 3 loss at Creighton, but have since bounced back to win 7-of-8 games to get back in the at-large mix.
   Three Pirates average at least 10 points per game, a trio led by Al-Amir Dawes (12.0 ppg.). The Clemson transfer has made 58 of The Hall's 140 three-pointers this season.
   Tyrese Samuel (10.4 ppg., 5.7 rpg.) and Kadary Richmond (10.3 ppg., 5.6 rpg., 4.1 apg.) also score in double-figures.
   Seton Hall averages 69.4 points per game on 44.0 percent shooting from the field, 31.7 percent shooting from deep and 67.7 percent marksmanship at the line. The Pirates outrebound teams by 2.6 caroms per contest, hold foes to 64.0 points per game and limit the opposition to 29.4 percent shooting from deep.

The Series With Seton Hall
Seton Hall leads the all-time series with Creighton 16-11, and is 10-5 in home games.
   Creighton has won five of the last seven games in the series at all sites, including a 77-60 win in Omaha to clinch a share of the 2020 BIG EAST regular-season title and an 89-53 dismantling in 2021 in Omaha.
   Greg McDermott is 10-10 against Seton Hall and 1-0 against Shaheen Holloway.

The Creighton Coaches
Greg McDermott (Northern Iowa, 1988) owns a 291-145 record in his 13th season with the Bluejays. He owns a career mark of 571-340 in his 29th season, and is 440-276 in his 22nd Division I campaign.
   McDermott led Creighton to its first BIG EAST regular-season title in 2019-20, taking a Bluejay team that was picked seventh in the league's preseason poll and ending the year ranked seventh nationally. The Cascade, Iowa native then coached Creighton to its first Sweet 16 since 1974 in 2020-21 and to a share of its first regular-season BIG EAST title in 2019-20.
   McDermott has previously been a head coach at Iowa State (2006-10), Northern Iowa (2001-06), North Dakota State (2000-01) and Wayne State (1994-2000).
   He is assisted by Alan Huss, Ryan Miller and Jalen Courtney-Williams.

With A Win...
- Creighton would win its seventh straight BIG EAST game, its longest win streak in league play since an 11-game streak in 2011-12 as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
- Creighton would extend the league's longest active win streak to seven, and the team's longest win streak this season.
- Creighton would win its third straight BIG EAST road game, which would trail only Seton Hall (4) for the longest active road winning streak among Power 5 or BIG EAST schools.
- Creighton would sweep Seton Hall for the third time, joining 2013-14 and 2021-22.
- Creighton would guarantee it'll be .500 or better in league play for the 27th time in the last 28 years.
- Greg McDermott will win his 105th career regular-season BIG EAST game, tied for 12th in league history with former Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard.

Establish The Run Game
Creighton has embarked on some scintillating runs against Seton Hall in its past four wins over the Pirates.
   In March of 2020 in Omaha, Creighton made 12 of its final 13 shots to end a 77-60 win on a 30-10 run.
   In 2020-21 in Omaha, Creighton converted its first seven shots and raced to a 17-4 lead that Seton Hall never recovered from. In the second half of the same game, a 28-5 run helped Creighton turn a 54-37 lead into an 82-42 advantage.
   In 2020-21 in Newark, Creighton trailed 68-52 with 10:39 left and 79-71 with 3:00 left before a game-ending 14-2 run to claim an 85-81 victory.
   Earlier this season in Omaha, Creighton used to a 12-0 run to take a 22-10 lead and later made its first seven shots of the second half to build a lead as large as 65-33.

.500 Or Better in League Play Possible
Creighton is 9-3 in league play and with a victory vs. Seton Hall would clinch a .500 mark or better in league play once again. It would be the 27th time in the last 28 seasons that Creighton has gone .500 or better in league play.
   The only BIG EAST teams to finish .500 or better in league play each of the previous five seasons are Creighton, Villanova and Seton Hall. The Wildcats are currently 4-8 in conference play, while Seton Hall is 8-5.

Winning Time
Though Creighton led for more than 28 minutes in Saturday's victory vs. Villanova, the Jays found themselves trailing 61-60 after Eric Dixon buried a three-pointer with 34.3 seconds left.
   Creighton would score the final six points of the game, all at the free throw line, as Trey Alexander scored four points before Baylor Scheierman iced the game with 1.4 seconds left.
   Saturday was the first Creighton win when trailing in the final 30 seconds of a game since March 20, 2021 when the Bluejays used two Christian Bishop free throws with 16.0 seconds left to defeat UC Santa Barbara, 63-62, in the First Round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Two days later that team whipped Ohio to reach the program's first Sweet 16 since 1974.

Defensive Mentality
Creighton and Seton Hall have established themselves as two of the best defensive teams in the BIG EAST.
   In all games, Seton Hall leads the league in points per game allowed (64.0), field goal percentage defense (.404) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.294).
   In league games only, Creighton leads the BIG EAST in points per game (65.5) and field goal percentage defense (.405), while the Pirates are second in three-point field goal percentage defense (.307).
   In KenPom's Defensive Team Efficiency metrics, Seton Hall ranked 14th and Creighton 16th through games of Sunday, Feb. 5.

Home Grown Bluejays
The BIG EAST owns 57 transfers spread out amongst its 11 teams, but Creighton owns just two of them (Francisco Farabello and Baylor Scheierman). Only Villanova (1) has fewer. Seton Hall owns a league-high 10 transfers.
Transfers On Roster, Current BIG EAST
   10   Seton Hall
   9   DePaul
   8   Georgetown
   7   Providence
   5   St. John's
   4   Connecticut
   4   Xavier
   4   Butler
   3   Marquette
   2   Creighton
   1   Villanova

Toughest Thing In Sports
How tough is it to win on the road?
   Of the 76 men's college basketball teams in the "Power 5" or BIG EAST, only three had won their last three road games through games of Sunday...Seton Hall (4), Kentucky (3) and Pitt (3).
   Only four others have road win streaks of exactly two (Arizona, Creighton, Marquette and UConn).

Among The Best
Since the league's 2013 realignment, Villanova has 134 league wins to lead the BIG EAST by a wide margin, but Creighton's 104 league victories are second-most.
Most Men's Basketball BIG EAST Wins
(2013-14 to 2/6/23)
Team   W   L   Pct.
Villanova   134   39   .775
Creighton   104   73   .588
Providence   101   72   .584
Xavier   99   72   .579
Seton Hall   95   82   .537
Marquette   90   87   .508
Butler   81   98   .453
St. John's   67   110   .379
Georgetown   59   115   .339
DePaul   39   136   .223
Connecticut   31   18   .633

It's A WWWWWWinning Streak
Creighton has won six games in a row, and can grow that total with a seventh straight win on Wednesday.
   As it is now, this is the third time that the Bluejays have won six straight BIG EAST games in the same season, having also done so in 2020-21 and last year. CU also won its final five league games in 2018-19, then won its 2019-20 conference opener.
   Creighton last won seven conference games in a row during the same season in 2011-12, when it won 11 games in a row in the Missouri Valley Conference.
    Creighton has now had at least one streak of five or more wins (including non-conference games) in 24 of the last 26 seasons.
    Here's a list of Creighton's longest win streaks in BIG EAST play since joining the league in 2013.
CU's Longest Same Season BIG EAST Win Streaks
Wins   Dates   Snapped by
   6   Dec. 17, 2020 - Jan. 9, 2021   at Butler
   6   Feb. 8-23, 2022   at Providence
   6   Jan. 14, 2023 - Present   ????
   5   Dec. 31, 2013 - Jan. 14, 2014   at Providence
   5   Feb. 20-March 9, 2019   End of League Play
   5   Feb. 8-23, 2020   at St. John's

Let's Go Streaking!
Creighton has outscored the opposition by an average of 14.5 points (77.2 - 62.7) during its six-game winning streak, which includes victories over No. 19 Providence and No. 13 Xavier.
   The Jays have shot 47.8 percent from the field and 80.2 percent at the line during this stretch while dishing 91 assists against just 55 turnovers.
   Defensively, Creighton is holding foes to 40.4 percent shooting from the field in those six games and CU has outscored the opposition 241-172 before halftime. CU has led by eight points or more at the break in each contest.
   Eight different Bluejays have averaged at least 3.0 points per game in the run, led by Ryan Kalkbrenner (16.2 ppg., 7.0 rpg., 3.2 bpg., 71.9 FG)%. At the line, Arthur Kaluma is 22-for-25 (88.0 percent) in the last six games after starting the season 43-for-65 (66.2 percent).
   Not to be overlooked is the play of Trey Alexander in the past six games. The sophomore guard has averaged 15.7 points per game and has 15 assists against just two turnovers in 195 minutes of action.

Pure Charity
Creighton has made 77-of-96 free throw attempts (80.2 percent) during its six game winning streak.
   For the season, Creighton is shooting 74.4 percent as a team from the charity stripe. That's the team's best mark since shooting 74.8 percent in 2017-18, and would be the fourth-best figure in Greg McDermott's 13-year tenure at CU.

Double-Digit BIG EAST Wins
Creighton leads all teams in BIG EAST play with a +10.25 scoring margin, so it shouldn't be a shock that it also owns the league lead with seven double-digit conference wins this winter.
   Creighton's six league victories by 15 points or more also top the conference, and are the most by any league school since Creighton had seven league wins by 15 or more in both 2020-21 and 2019-20. No BIG EAST team has had more than seven league wins by 15 or more points since Villanova had nine in 2017-18.
   10 Pt. BE Wins   15 Pt. BE Wins   Team
   7   6   Creighton
   6   3   Marquette
   5   4   Seton Hall
   5   3   Providence
   4   2   Connecticut
   4   1   Xavier
   3   2   St. John's
   2   2   Villanova
   1   1   Butler
   1   0   DePaul
   0   0   Georgetown

Deep Dive Into The Rankings
The Creighton men's basketball team was ranked ninth in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 poll, its highest preseason AP ranking ever.
   The Oct. 17th announcement marked just the fifth time in program history the writers have voted CU to the top-25 in the preseason, joining 2006-07 (No. 19), 2012-13 (No. 16) and 2016-17 (No. 22) and 2020-21 (No. 11). All four of those Bluejay teams would end up in the NCAA Tournament.
   Creighton was 10th in the AP poll released on Nov. 14th and Nov. 21 and was seventh last Nov. 28th. The team fell to No. 21 on Dec. 5th. After a two-month absence, Creighton returned to the Top 25 on Feb. 6th when it was tabbed 23rd.
   The Nov. 28 week was the 21st time in program history that Creighton has been in the top-10 at any point, with all but one of those weeks happening under head coach Greg McDermott. Creighton's best ranking in program history is seventh, done five times (Jan. 16, 2017, March 10, 2020, March 18, 2020, Jan. 7, 2021 and Nov. 28, 2022).
   Including Feb. 6th, Creighton has been ranked 119 times in program history, with 91 of those weeks under the direction of McDermott. Creighton is 148-59 all-time as a ranked team, including a 114-47 mark under McDermott. Creighton has been ranked at least one week in nine of McDermott's 13 seasons on The Hilltop after doing it just five different seasons in program history before his 2010 arrival.
   Creighton was also ninth in the preseason USA Today Coaches poll, its best preseason mark ever in the Coaches poll. The Jays remained ninth in the Nov. 14 Coaches poll and climbed to eighth in the Nov. 21 Coaches poll and were seventh on Nov. 28. CU was 21st on Dec. 5th.
   The program's best slotting ever in the Coaches poll is fifth, done on Jan. 4, 2021.

Multiple Choices
For the first time since 1964-65, Creighton had five men average in double-figures for an entire season last season. Last year's double-figure group included Ryan Hawkins (13.8 ppg.), Ryan Kalkbrenner (13.1), Alex O'Connell (11.8), Ryan Nembhard (11.3) and Arthur Kaluma (10.4).
   Creighton had not had five or more men finish a season averaging 10 or more points per game since the 1964-65 club had SIX men average in double- figures (Neil Johnson, 17.3; Elton McGriff, 15.0; Fritz Pointer, 14.3; Tim Powers, 12.6; Bob Miles, 11.9; Charlie Brown, 11.6), though Johnson only played in 8-of-23 games.
   This year's team has five players averaging 11.0 points per game or more, Ryan Kalkbrenner (15.2), Trey Alexander (13.5), Ryan Nembhard (11.5), Arthur Kaluma (12.5), Baylor Scheierman (13.0).
   Creighton has won 29 of its last 30 games when five or more players score in double-figures, losing only at No. 12 Xavier on Jan. 11, 2023.

Finding Ways To Win
Creighton went 2-0 last week, defeating Georgetown 63-53 and Villanova 66-61, despite not scoring a single point off its bench.
   Making that figure incredible is that CU entered the week having not won without getting any bench points since a 68-62 win at Drake on Feb. 24, 1986 when its reserves played one total minute.
   Since that 1986 night, CU had played 1,182 times but had just five other games without a bench point (all losses).
   After being blanked twice last week, Creighton averages 11.57 bench points per game to rank 344th nationally in that category. Seton Hall averages a BIG EAST-best 23.33 bench points per contest, 81st in the country.
   Last Saturday's win over Villanova was Creighton's first game since at least 1986 in which neither team had a bench point.

Spin Zone
Before you bemoan the fact that Creighton's bench ranks 340th in the country in points per game, keep in mind that the Bluejays rank ninth in the nation with 65.23 points per game by its starters.
   If you're curious, Seton Hall is 296th with 45.66 points per game by its starting five.

Foul Play
Creighton has committed just six personal fouls in two of the its last three games, which no doubt contributes to its nation-low 12.7 fouls per game.
   Creighton is one of four teams this year with multiple games of six fouls or fewer (joining Notre Dame, Richmond and South Diego State), and is the first club with back-to-back games of six fouls or less since Hofstra on Nov. 22 & 24, 2021 vs. Richmond and Molloy.
   Creighton's defense is keyed by 2022 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Ryan Kalkbrenner, who leads the league in blocks per game. In the past two seasons, Kalkbrenner has swatted 137 shots in 54 games played while collecting as many as four personal fouls just four times.

Bizarro World
In the preseason, most human "experts" had Creighton as a top-10 team, while the computers had the Jays closer to the 20-30 range.
   Now that the season is past the midway point and into February, the tables have turned.
   Creighton is currently ranked 23rd in the Associated Press poll but is not ranked in the USA Today Coaches polls.
   However, the Bluejays are 12th in KenPom, 14th in Bart Torvik, 12th in the Sagarin ratings and 16th in the NET through games of Feb. 5. Since Ryan Kalkbrenner returned on Dec. 22nd, Bart Torvik's site ranks Creighton fifth.

Nembhard vs. the World
Saturday was the 50th game in a Creighton uniform for sophomore Ryan Nembhard.
   His numbers compare favorably to some of the best distributors in modern Bluejay history after 50 games, sorted below by assists.
After 50 games
Name   PTS   AST   TO   STL
Maurice Watson Jr.   692   361   171   58
Grant Gibbs   349   267   91   55
Ryan Nembhard   568   240   128   47
Ryan Sears   495   219   99   101
Marcus Zegarowski   644   196   103   47
Josh Dotzler   208   154   109   76
Austin Chatman   208   138   74   29
Tyler McKinney   245   130   63   46
Antoine Young   249   94   64   21

Top BIG EAST Starts
Creighton is off to a 9-3 start in BIG EAST play this season, matching its second-best mark through 12 games since joining the league in the summer of 2013.
   Creighton started 10-2 in its debut season of 2013-14, and has previously been 9-3 in its Sweet 16 season of 2020-21.
   Creighton won its 13th league game to improve to 11-2 in 2013-14, the only other time it's started 10-3 or better since joining the BIG EAST.

Just Call Him Trey-lor Scheierman
Baylor Scheierman has made a three-point basket in all 23 games he's played this season, stretching his streak dating to last year to 33 in a row if you include the end of his time at South Dakota State.
   Ty-Shon Alexander owns the longest streak in Creighton history of 33, done from Feb. 27, 2018 - March 6, 2019.
    It's worth noting that Kyle Korver's third-place streak of 28 games with a trey was snapped when he did not attempt a field goal in 24 minutes of play during an 83-56 win over UNI (and head coach Greg McDermott) on Feb. 9, 2002. Korver then drained a triple in 27 more games in a row, a stretch from Feb. 13, 2002 to Jan. 20, 2003 before it was snapped against Evansville (and head coach Steve Merfeld).
Consecutive Games With A 3-Pointer
   Streak   Name   Dates of Streak
   33   Ty-Shon Alexander   Feb. 27, 2018-March 6, 2019
   31   Booker Woodfox   Nov. 25, 2008-March 23, 2009
   28   Kyle Korver   Feb. 4, 2001-Feb. 6, 2002
   27   Kyle Korver   Feb. 13, 2002-Jan. 20, 2003
   25   Rodney Buford   Jan. 25, 1997-Jan. 10, 1998
   23   Ethan Wragge   Nov. 8, 2013-Feb. 9, 2014
   23   Mitch Ballock   Nov. 12, 2019-Feb. 8, 2020
   23   Marcus Zegarowski   Dec. 17, 2020 - March 28, 2021
   23   Baylor Scheierman   Nov. 7, 2022 - Present
   22   Khyri Thomas   Jan. 28-Dec. 5, 2017
   21   Ethan Wragge   Jan. 3-March 24, 2010
   20   Johnny Mathies   Dec. 22, 2004-Feb. 28, 2005
   20   Marcus Foster   Dec. 31, 2017-March 16, 2018

Nembhard Nears Triple-Double
Benoit Benjamin owns all three triple-doubles in Creighton history, but each were of the point/rebound/block variety and done in the 1980's.
   The Bluejays have never had a traditional point/rebound/assist triple-double, though Ryan Nembhard flirted with one on Jan. 28th when he had 11 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists vs. Xavier.
   Nembhard is the third Bluejay with at least eight points, eight rebounds and eight assists in a game under Greg McDermott, joining Damien Jefferson (10 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists at St. John's on 12/17/20) and Khyri Thomas (16 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists vs. DePaul on 2/27/18).

Giving It 100
Creighton won a 104-76 game vs. St. John's on Jan. 25, bringing up a bevy of numbers related to the century mark.
   Creighton improved to 64-3 all-time when scoring 100 or more points, while Greg McDermott rose to 22-1 as a Division I head coach when his teams score 100 or more points.
   Creighton's 104 points were its second-most ever in regulation in a conference game, trailing only its 115 in a 35-point win vs. Indiana State on Jan. 19, 1985. No BIG EAST team had scored 104 points or more in regulation since 2017.
   It was Creighton's first game with 100+ points in regulation since Dec. 20, 2018 vs. Coe and the first time with 100+ points in regulation against a Division I team since Dec. 20, 2017 vs. USC Upstate.
    It was Creighton's first game scoring 50 points or more in both halves since Dec. 20, 2018 vs. Coe and first time exceeding 50 points in both halves since posting 58 in each half of a 116-62 rout of USC Upstate on Dec. 20, 2017.
   Creighton has not scored 100 points in a true road game since a 106-86 victory at UMKC on Dec. 18, 1989, though it has surpassed the century mark three times on neutral floors since then (most recently 100 on Nov. 20, 2017 vs. No. 22 UCLA).
   After never coaching a team to 100 or more points in nine combined seasons at Northern Iowa and Iowa State, Creighton has now scored 100 or more points 23 times under Greg McDermott, tied for the 10th-most nationally as seen below:
Most Games With 100+ Points Since 2010-11
   Rk.   100+ Pt. Games   School
   1.   45   Gonzaga
   2.   36   VMI
   3.   35   The Citadel
   4.   34   North Carolina
   5.   27   Charleston Southern
   6.   26   Central Michigan
       26   Fort Wayne
   8.   25   Houston Christian
   9.   24   Portland State
   10.   23   Creighton
       23   Indiana
       23   Winthrop

Kalkbrenner Recognized For Defense
Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner is one of 15 men on the Watch List for this year's Naismith Trophy Men's Defensive Player of the Year award, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced on Jan. 26.
   Kalkbrenner leads the BIG EAST with 2.37 blocked shots per game, which also ranks 11th nationally. Kalkbrenner also paces the conference with 3.09 blocked shots per league game.
   Last season the Florissant, Mo., native became Creighton's third BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year in six seasons following a vote of league coaches.
   Kalkbrenner has also been named to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Watch List, the USBWA Oscar Robertson Midseason Watch List, the Wooden Award Preseason Watch List and Preseason Jersey Mike's Naismith Award Watch List during his junior campaign.
   Last year the 10 semifinalists for the award were named on March 1st, with the list being trimmed to four finalists on March 16. Auburn's Walker Kessler was announced as the winner on April 3rd at the Final Four. Other past winners include Baylor's Davion Mitchell (2020-21), Kansas' Marcus Garrett (2019-20), Washington's Matisse Thybulle (2018-19) and West Virginia's Jevon Carter (2017-18).

Another Top 25 Foe Bites The Dust
The Jan. 28 win vs. No. 13 Xavier was the eighth top-25 team that Creighton has faced this season, but just the second such home game.
   Through games of Feb. 5, Creighton's eight top-25 games are tied for third-most nationally with Texas, and Iowa State and trailing only Kansas and Texas Tech.
   Through games of Feb. 5th, the only teams with more than Creighton's four top-25 victories this year are Iowa State (6), Alabama (5), Arizona (5) and Texas (5).
   And when it comes to ranked teams, keep in mind that Creighton also played both Arizona State and Marquette before both teams moved into the top-25 later in the season after facing the Bluejays.
Creighton's Most Top-25 Wins, Season
   Wins   Season   Top-25 Victims
   6   2019-20   #8 Villanova, #10 Seton Hall,
           #12 Texas Tech, #19 Marquette,
           #21 Butler, #8 Seton Hall
   5   2021-22   #9 Villanova, #11 Providence,
           #17 UConn, #18 UConn, #24 BYU
   4   2016-17   #9 Wisconsin, #12 Butler,
           #16 Butler, #22 Xavier
   4   2017-18   #3 Villanova, #19 Seton Hall,
           #20 Northwestern, #23 UCLA
   4   2022-23   #9 Arkansas, #13 Xavier,
           #19 Providence, #21 Texas Tech
   3   2020-21   #5 Villanova, #22 Xavier, #23 UConn
   2   1973-74   #6 Marquette, #16 Louisville
   2   2001-02   #15 Florida, #17 Western Kentucky
   2   2006-07   #11 Southern Illinois, #24 Xavier
   2   2013-14   #4 Villanova, #6 Villanova
   2   2015-16   #5 Xavier, #18 Butler
   2   2018-19   #10 Marquette, #16 Clemson

Most Games vs. Top 25 Teams, Season
   Games   Season   Coach
   12   2021-22   Greg McDermott
   10   2017-18   Greg McDermott
   8   2014-15   Greg McDermott
   8   2015-16   Greg McDermott
   8   2019-20   Greg McDermott
   8   2022-23   Greg McDermott
   7   2016-17   Greg McDermott
   6   1971-72   Eddie Sutton
   6   2018-19   Greg McDermott
   6   2020-21   Greg McDermott

Give Me 10
Currently 11-1 inside CHI Health Center Omaha, Creighton now owns at least 10 home wins for the 26th time in the last 27 seasons.
    The only exception in that time came in 2014-15, when the Jays won nine times at home.
   Creighton also surpassed 200,000 total home fans for the season on Saturday for the 17th time in the last 18 years. The only exception was the 2020-21 season that was impacted by COVID-19, which restricted crowds nationwide.

Filling The Gym
Creighton ranks sixth nationally this season with 17,010 fans per home game.
2022-23 NCAA Home Attendance Per Game Leaders
Through 2/5/23
   Rank   School   Average
   1.   Kentucky   19,775
   2.   North Carolina   19,381
   3.   Arkansas   19,006
   4.   Tennessee   18,212
   5.   Syracuse   17,907
   6.   Creighton   17,010
   7.   Kansas   16,300
   8.   Indiana   15,756
   9.   Illinois   14,951
   10.   Purdue   14,876

Run It Up On The Road
The last two times Creighton has taken the floor outside of Omaha, the Bluejays posted a 73-52 road win at Butler and a 63-53 win over Georgetown. The Butler triumph was Creighton's seventh road win of 21 points or larger under Greg McDermott, and fourth-biggest in BIG EAST play.
   The 52 points surrendered were also the fifth-fewest in a road game under McDermott, and second-least allowed in a BIG EAST road game.
CU's Largest Winning Road Margins, Since 2010-11
   Margin   Score   Opponent (*BIG EAST)   Date
   35   93-58   at DePaul*   2/11/17
   30   81-51   at Southern Illinois   1/27/13
   28   96-68   at #4 Villanova*   1/20/14
   24   90-66   at Georgetown*   1/6/18
   22   64-42   at Nebraska   12/6/12
   22   74-52   at Missouri State   1/11/13
   21   73-52   at Butler*   1/17/23

Least Points Allowed in a Road Game, Since 2010-11
   Opp Pts.   Score   Opponent (*BIG EAST)   Date
   42   64-42   at Nebraska   12/6/12
   48   63-48   at Georgetown*   2/9/21
   51   81-51   at Southern Illinois   1/27/13
   52   74-52   at Missouri State   1/11/13
   52   73-52   at Butler*   1/17/23
   53   63-53   at Georgetown*   2/1/23

The Double-Digit Kid
Ryan Nembhard had his first points/rebounds double-double at Butler when he finished with 12 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
   It was the second double-double of his career, as he had 15 points and 10 assists in his Bluejay debut in November of 2021.
   It took the sophomore all of 10 days to do it again, as he had 11 points and 10 rebounds (as well as eight assists) on Jan. 28 vs. No. 13 Xavier.
   Though Creighton's never had a traditional points/rebounds/assists triple-double, Nembhard is the first Creighton player with (different) games of 10+ points, 10+ rebounds and 10+ assists in his CU career since Austin Chatman in his career from 2011-15.
   The last Bluejay with (different) games of 10+ points, 10+ rebounds and 10+ assists in the same season was Grant Gibbs in 2011-12.
   No Creighton player has had double-doubles in points/assists and points/rebounds in the same season since at least 1981-82.

Kalkbrenner On Watch List For An Oscar
Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner is one of 50 players nationally to be named to the Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List, the United States Basketball Writers Association announced.
   Kalkbrenner is one of five BIG EAST players on the list, joining Souley Boum (Xavier), Bryce Hopkins (Providence), Adama Sonogo (Connecticut) and Joel Soriano (St. John's).
   He is just the second different Creighton player in head coach Greg McDermott's 13 seasons to make the Midseason Watch list for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, joining Doug McDermott in 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. McDermott became the lone Creighton recipient ever to win the Oscar Robertson Trophy when he was recognized following the 2013-14 campaign.
   Kalkbrenner leads Creighton with 15.1 points per game and leads the BIG EAST with 2.4 blocked shots per contest. He ranks first nationally in field goal percentage (.747) and is second on the Bluejays with 6.9 rebounds per game.

Butler's Two-Point Conversions Failed
Creighton held Butler to just 27.3 percent shooting from two-point range on Jan. 18th, the seventh-best defensive mark in Greg McDermott's 13 years on the Bluejay sideline.
Creighton's Best Defensive 2FG%, Since 2010-11
   2FG%   2FG-2FGA   Opponent (*BIG EAST)   Date
   .222   8-36   Maryland-Eastern Shore   12-15-17
   .259   7-27   at Georgetown*   02-09-21
   .263   5-19   Coe   12-20-18
   .273   12-44   at Butler*   01-17-23
   .282   11-39   Wagner   03-19-16
   .289   11-38   Bemidji State   02-13-18
   .292   14-48   Butler*   01-23-16

Jays Surpass 26K at CHI
Creighton has scored 26,192 points all-time at CHI Health Center Omaha, surpassing 26,000 in the facility on Jan. 25 vs. St. John's.
   Creighton has outscored the opposition 26,192-21,942 at the 20-year old facility in 335 all-time games in the building that count.
   Creighton is 25-1 all-time in games where it moves over any 1,000 point milestone at CHI Health Center Omaha, as seen below:
Date   Pts-Opp (CLCO Game #)   Who/How vs. Opp.
02/18/04   1,000-787 (14)   Lindeman FG vs. Indiana State
02/05/05   2,000-1,696 (28)   Funk FG vs. Missouri St.
01/18/06   3,000-2,504 (41)   Watts FT vs. Bradley
01/09/07   4,000-3,359 (56)   Tolliver FG vs. Drake
12/17/07   5,000-4,174 (69)   Kaleb Korver 3FG vs. Hou. Baptist
11/16/08   6,000-5,048 (82)   Dotzler FG vs. New Mexico
02/11/09   7,000-5,870 (95)   Witter 3FG vs. Bradley
01/16/10   8,000-6,750 (109)   Young FG vs. Wichita State
12/20/10   9,000-7,645 (123)   Wragge FG vs. W. Illinois
03/23/11   10,000-8,500 (136)   Lawson FG vs. UCF
01/21/12   11,000-9,310 (148)   McDermott FG vs. Ind. St.
12/19/12   12,000-10,136 (161)   Echenique FG vs. Tulsa
11/23/13   13,000-10,922 (173)   Artino FG vs. Tulsa
02/23/14   14,000-11,711 (185)   Gibbs FG vs. Seton Hall
01/28/15   15,000-12,612 (198)   Hanson FT vs. St. John's
12/28/15   16,000-13,498 (211)   Huff FG vs. Coppin State
11/15/16   17,000-14,349 (224)   Patton FG vs. #9 Wisconsin
01/28/17   18,000-15,166 (235)   Hanson FG vs. DePaul
12/18/17   19,000-15,927 (246)   Foster 3FG vs. UT Arlington
11/06/18   20,000-16,741 (258)   Ballock 3FG vs. W. Illinois
02/03/19   21,000-17,619 (270)   Zegarowski FG vs. Xavier
12/07/19   22,000-18,463 (282)   Ballock 3FG vs. Nebraska
03/07/20   23,000-19,280 (294)   Mahoney 3FG vs. #8 Seton Hall
02/13/21   24,000-20,103 (306)   Zegarowski FG vs. #5 Villanova
02/14/22   25,000-20,950 (320)   Hawkins 3FG vs. Georgetown
01/25/23   26,000-21,786 (333)   Nembhard 3FG vs. St. John's

McDermott Among The Best
A Nov. 10th article on CBSSports.com ranked the nation's best Top 25 And 1 coaches, with Creighton's Greg McDermott making that list.
   McDermott and Providence's Ed Cooley were the lone BIG EAST coaches named to the list.
   McDermott and Cooley both rank in the top-13 in league history for BIG EAST victories and are the only two active coaches with 100 regular-season BIG EAST wins. The list contains six different coaches who have won at least one national title.
   McDermott has been at his current job (13 seasons) longer than any active BIG EAST coach, but since his first three years were as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, Cooley's 12 years in the BIG EAST lead all active league coaches.
   McDermott needed to coach in 173 BIG EAST regular-season games to earn his 100th conference win, 10th-fastest in league history.
Most League Wins, BIG EAST MBB Coaches (1/30)
   Rk.   Wins   Name, School
   1.   366   Jim Boeheim, Syracuse
   2.   274   Jim Calhoun, UConn
   3.   244   Jay Wright, Villanova
   4.   198   John Thompson Sr., Georgetown
   5.   136   Mike Brey, Notre Dame
   6.   131   John Thompson III, Georgetown
   7.   127   Lou Carnesecca, St. John's
   8.   115   Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh
       115   Ed Cooley, Providence
   10.   111   Rick Pitino, Providence/Louisville
   11.   110   Rollie Massimino, Villanova
   12.   105   Kevin Willard, Seton Hall
   13.   104   Greg McDermott, Creighton
   14.   87   Steve Lappas, Villanova

Fewest BIG EAST Games To 100 MBB League Wins
   Rk.   Wins   Name, School
   1.   136   John Thompson Sr., Georgetown
   2.   145   Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh
   3.   152   Lou Carnesecca, St. John's
   4.   154   Jim Boeheim, Syracuse
   5.   156   Rick Pitino, Providence/Louisville
   6.   157   John Thompson III, Georgetown
   7.   168   Jim Calhoun, UConn
   8.   169   Mike Brey, Notre Dame
   9.   172   Jay Wright, Villanova
   10.   173   Greg McDermott, Creighton
   11.   174   Rollie Massimino, Villanova
   12.   190   Ed Cooley, Providence
   13.   211   Kevin Willard, Seton Hall

Offense Under The Christmas Tree
Trey Alexander was averaging 4.5 points per game in mid-January a year ago before averaging 9.6 points in his final 20 outings for an overall 7.4 points per game average for his rookie campaign.
   This season Alexander is averaging 13.5 points per game and has scored seven points or more in all but two contests.
   Alexander is in the midst of a career-long streak of 10 straight double-figure scoring games, averaging 16.8 points per game in a stretch that started with his career-high 32 points on Christmas Day.
   Alexander continues to be rock solid at the free throw line, making 82.1 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe. He made 10-of-11 foul shots on Jan. 14 vs. Providence, including 6-for-6 marksmanship down the stretch.

What's Luck Got To Do With It?
In the KenPom.com rankings through Feb. 5th, Creighton ranks 350th of 363 teams in the site's "Luck" category, while Seton Hall is 150th-luckiest.
   The KenPom.com site defines "Luck" as the deviation in winning percentage between a team's actual record and their expected record using the correlated gaussian method. The luck factor has nothing to do with the rating calculation, but a team that is very lucky (positive numbers) will tend to be rated lower by his system than their record would suggest.

Turning Point, Again?
This year has some similarities to the 2019-20 season, shooting 46.8 percent from the field, 34.6 percent from deep and 74.4 percent at the line while scoring 76.8 points per game and allowing 67.3 per contest.
   Through 23 games the 2019-20 squad shot 48.5 percent from the field, 36.7 percent from deep and 65.7 percent at the line while scoring 78.6 points per game and allowing 68.8 per contest.
   Creighton started the 2019-20 season with a 2-3 league record but the season flipped with a home win over Providence in mid-January. That team defeated Providence 78-74 on a go-ahead three-pointer by Marcus Zegarowski with 3.2 seconds left to start a four-game win streak. The Jays would win 11 of their final 13 games to finish 13-5 in league play and tie for the program's lone BIG EAST title in program history.
   This year's team started with a 3-3 league record before a 73-67 win over Providence and is now 9-3 in conference play.

Scheierman Drains 200th Trey
Baylor Scheierman enters Wednesday's tilt vs. Seton Hall having made 216 three-pointers in his college career, doing so at a 40.7 percent clip. He made a season-high four treys on Jan. 11 at Xavier to surpass the 200-trifecta milestone in his career.
   Scheierman also owns 1,413 points, 825 rebounds, 391 assists and 111 career steals.
   Per Basketball-Reference.com, Scheierman is the nation's only player in the last 30 years with career totals of at least 200 three-pointers, 350 assists and 710 defensive rebounds.

The Schedule...It Is Strong
Creighton ranks 82nd nationally in winning percentage, but owns an NET of 16 (through Feb. 5) thanks in part to a challenging schedule that ranks 12th-toughest nationally among average opponent NET rankings.
   That ranks as Creighton's best NET at any point of a season since it was 14th on Jan., 14, 2021.
   Creighton has already played 17 games against teams with a top-112 NET ranking:
   NET   Opponent   CU Result
   7   at UConn   L 60-69
   7   UConn   Saturday
   8   at Texas   L 67-72
   9   vs. Arizona   L 79-81
   14   at Marquette   L 58-69
   24   at Xavier   L 87-90
   24   Xavier   W 84-67
   29   vs. Arkansas   W 90-87
   36   Providence   W 73-67
   53   Seton Hall   W 83-61
   53   at Seton Hall   Wednesday
   67   vs. Arizona State   L 71-73
   71   vs. Texas Tech   W 76-65
   86   vs. BYU   L 80-83
   90   Villanova   W 66-61
   96   Nebraska   L 53-63
   99   St. John's   W 104-76
   112   Butler   W 78-56
   112   at Butler   W 73-52
   150   UC Riverside   W 80-51
   159   DePaul   W 80-65
   204   St. Thomas   W 72-60
   236   at Georgetown   W 63-53
   306   North Dakota   W 96-61
   326   Holy Cross   W 94-65

Kaluma Pounds The Glass
Arthur Kaluma grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds on Jan. 7 at No. 4 UConn, four more than his previous best done twice previously.
   Kaluma's 16 rebounds were the most by a Bluejay since joining the BIG EAST 10 years ago, and last matched on Nov. 12, 2012 when Gregory Echenique also had 16 boards vs. UAB.
   After just one double-double in his first 45 career games, Kaluma posted back-to-back double-doubles vs. Seton Hall and UConn. He finished the Jan. 11 game at Xavier with 11 points and nine rebounds, coming up just one board short of joining Baylor Scheierman, Ryan Hawkins, Martin Krampelj and Doug McDermott (twice) as the only Bluejays to record three straight double-doubles since 1994-95.
Most Rebounds, Game, Since 1994-95
   Reb.   Player vs. Opponent   Date
   18   Kenny Lawson Jr. vs. St. Joseph's   12-11-2010
   17   Doug McDermott at Bradley   02-11-2011
   16   Donald Davenport at Missouri St.   01-21-1995
   16   Kenny Lawson Jr. vs. Drake   01-01-2011
   16   Doug McDermott at Akron   02-19-2011
   16   Gregory Echenique vs. UAB   11-12-2012
   16   Arthur Kaluma at UConn   01-07-2023
   15   Ben Walker at Baylor   12-04-1999
   15   Justin Carter vs. Kentucky   03-23-2009
   15   Doug McDermott vs. Tulsa   11-23-2013
   15   Ronnie Harrell Jr. vs. #23 UCLA   11-20-2017
   15   Christian Bishop vs. Ohio   03-22-2021
   15   Ryan Kalkbrenner at Georgetown   02-12-2022

The Kalkbrenner Difference
Here's a look at the difference with and without Ryan Kalkbrenner this season.
Stat   Kalkbrenner Plays   Kalkbrenner Out
Team W-L   15-5   0-3
Team FG%   .478   .403
Team 3FG%   .347   .338
Team FG/Game   28.6   27.0
Rebound Margin   +6.0   -8.6
Off. Rebounds/Game   9.3   5.7
CU Points/Game   77.9   69.7
Opp. Points/Game   66.1   75.0
Scoring Margin   +11.8   -5.3
Turnovers/Game   10.9   13.0
Opp. FG%   .419   .440

SWAT Team
Creighton owned nine blocked shots in its Jan. 3rd victory over Seton Hall. The nine blocked shots were tied for the most in a game under 13th-year head coach Greg McDermott (also done 2/13/18 vs. Bemidji State and 11/27/21 vs. SIU Edwardsville).
   The nine rejections also tied Creighton's CHI Health Center Omaha record for team blocked shots in a game (also done 1/9/08 vs. Evansville, 2/13/18 vs. Bemidji State and 11/27/21 vs. SIU Edwardsville).
   Combined with its 11 three-pointers made, Creighton fell just one block away from its first game with 10 blocks and 10 three-pointers for the first time since Feb. 17, 2002 vs. Wichita State when it had 10 of each.

Kalkbrenner Invites You To His Block Party
Ryan Kalkbrenner tied his career-high with six blocked shots on Jan. 3 vs. Seton Hall, giving him exactly 150 swats as a Bluejay. The six blocks are tied for the most by any BIG EAST player in a game this season, and the most in a conference game.
   In 30 regular-season conference games played since the start of last season, Kalkbrenner owns 85 blocked shots compared to just 50 fouls.
   Kalkbrenner ranks third in program history in blocked shots with 175, passing Gregory Echenique for third place on Saturday vs. Villanova.
Most Creighton Blocked Shots, Since 1979-80
   Blk.   Name   Years
   411   Benoit Benjamin   1982-85
   183   Chad Gallagher   1987-91
   175   Ryan Kalkbrenner   2020-Pres.
   174   Gregory Echenique   2010-13
   153   Kenny Lawson Jr.   2006-11
   138   Brody Deren   2001-04
   136   Anthony Tolliver   2003-07
   109   Doug Swenson   1997-99
   104   Joe Dabbert   2000-04
   82   Christian Bishop   2018-21

Arc's-manship
Creighton shoots 34.8 percent from three-point range in BIG EAST play, and it's been a telling stat.
   In nine league wins, Creighton is shooting 79-for-214 from deep (36.9 percent).
   In three league losses, Creighton is shooting 16-for-59 from deep (27.1 percent).
    Creighton is 71-4 under Greg McDermott when making at least half of its three-point attempts, including a 43-1 mark in the past 10 seasons. The lone loss as a BIG EAST member was a 106-104 overtime setback to No. 21 Marquette on Jan. 9, 2019.
   According to Basketball-Reference.com, since McDermott was hired in 2010, Creighton's 75 games shooting 50 percent or better from downtown trail only Weber State (80).

Fool Me Once...But Nine Times?
Creighton has met or exceeded its preseason BIG EAST prognostication every year since joining the league, as seen below.
   Last year marked the sixth straight season that Creighton has finished in fourth place or better.
Creighton's BIG EAST Preseason Poll History
Year    Preseason    Actual    Preseason All-BIG EAST
2013-14    3rd    2nd    Doug McDermott (1st)
2014-15    9th    T-9th    -
2015-16    9th    6th    -
2016-17    3rd    T-3rd    Maurice Watson Jr. (1st); Marcus Foster (HM)
2017-18    5th    T-3rd    Marcus Foster (1st); Khyri Thomas (HM)
2018-19    9th    T-3rd    Martin Krampelj (HM)
2019-20    7th    T-1st   Ty-Shon Alexander (1st)
2020-21    2nd    2nd   Marcus Zegarowski (1st); Mitch Ballock (2nd)
2021-22   8th   4th   None
2022-23   1st   ??   Ryan Kalkbrenner (1st); Arthur Kaluma (2nd)
           Ryan Nembhard (2nd); Baylor Scheierman (HM)

Nationally Relevant
Through games of Feb. 5, Creighton ranked first in the country in fewest fouls per game (12.7). The Jays are also sixth in defensive rebounds per game (28.91) and 18th in assist/turnover ratio (1.43).
   Individually, Baylor Scheierman ranks 20th nationally with 10 double-doubles and 15th with 7.39 defensive rebounds per game.
   Teammate Ryan Kalkbrenner is second in field goal percentage (73.3%) among players to make five field goals per game.
   Ryan Nembhard ranks 26th in assist/turnover ratio (2.81), 28th in assists per game (5.3) and 30th in total assists (121).

On The Rebound
Baylor Scheierman gets lots of attention for his shooting and passing skills, but he did lead the Summit League in rebounding last year as well.
   Scheierman has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in 11 games this season, and has 10 double-doubles to date. The 10 double-doubles rank 20th nationally, while his 7.39 defensive rebounds per game are 15th-most in the country.
   Since 2012-13, the only BIG EAST player to finish a season averaging at least 8.0 defensive rebounds per game was Seton Hall's Angel Delgado (8.03) in 2016-17, and the only BIG EAST player to average at least 8.25 defensive rebounds per game since 2004-05 was Notre Dame's Luke Harangody (8.29) in 2008-09.
   Since 2009-10, Scheierman is close to being the nation's only major conference player to average at least 8.00 defensive rebounds and 2.00 three-pointers per game.
   The Aurora, Neb., product's current 8.3 rebounds per game average is the best mark by a Bluejay since Benoit Benjamin averaged 14.1 rebounds per game in 1984-85.
   Scheierman remains on pace to become the first man in school history to average at least 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 three-pointers per game.
   Earlier this year Scheierman became the first Bluejay with four straight double-doubles since Doug McDermott from Nov. 25-Dec. 10, 2011.
    Since the 1994-95 season, Scheierman, Ryan Hawkins, Martin Krampelj and McDermott (twice) are the only four Bluejays to record three straight double-doubles.
   Here's a list of the Creighton players with seven or more double-doubles in a season under Greg McDermott:
Most Double-Doubles, Season, Since 2010-11
   D-D   Creighton Player   Year
   11   Doug McDermott   2011-12
   11   Ryan Hawkins   2021-22
   10   Doug McDermott   2012-13
   10   Baylor Scheierman   2022-23
   9   Doug McDermott   2010-11
   7   Doug McDermott   2013-14
   7   Martin Krampelj   2018-19

Fantastic Five
Much has been written about Creighton's starting five this season, and the success CU has had when Ryan Nembhard, Ryan Kalkbrenner, Trey Alexander, Arthur Kaluma and Baylor Scheierman are on the floor together.
   The quintet has played 379:29 (of a possible 920 minutes) together this season, outscoring the opposition 759-613 in those minutes.
   In eight games against ranked foes, the group has been paired together for 178:27 (of a possible 320 minutes), and outscored opponents 372-320.
With All 5 Regular Starters On the Floor
Opponent   CU Pts.   Opp Pts.   Diff.   Time
St. Thomas   36   34   +2   20:10
North Dakota   41   31   +10   18:42
Holy Cross   24   11   +13   9:28
UC Riverside   37   14   +23   17:31
#21 Texas Tech   58   49   +9   22:36
#9 Arkansas   33   25   +8   19:36
#14 Arizona   50   51   (-1)   21:17
#2 Texas   44   40   +4   24:49
Nebraska   17   22   (-5)   15:22
Butler   20   19   +1   13:09
DePaul   40   24   +16   14:57
Seton Hall   28   15   +13   14:51
#4 Connecticut   41   40   +1   24:51
#12 Xavier   58   55   +3   23:19
#19 Providence   40   21   +19   19:19
Butler   27   23   +4   14:00
St. John's   35   32   +3   11:28
#13 Xavier   48   39   +9   22:40
Georgetown   36   23   +13   23:34
Villanova   46   45   +1   27:50
TOTAL   759   613   +146   379:29

3-Ball Falling For Scheierman
Baylor Scheierman nation-leading streak of 22 straight games with multiple three-pointers made was snapped on Jan. 7 at UConn, when he shot 1-for-7 from distance.
   Scheierman has still drained at least one triple in each of his last 33 contests dating to last season, and has made multiple three-pointers in 28 of his past 30 performances.

Big Fred's Big Night
Making his second career start, freshman center Fredrick King had career-highs with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots in the Dec. 12 game vs. Arizona State.
   King was just the second Bluejay of any age in Greg McDermott's 13 years on the CU sideline to post a game with at least 16/11/5, joining Gregory Echenique (18 points, 14 rebounds, 5 blocks) vs. Houston Christian on Dec. 17, 2011.
   Per Basketball-Reference.com, King is the seventh different freshmen with 16 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks and no turnovers in the same game since 2010-11, a list that includes Chet Holmgren, Armando Bacot, Mo Bamba, Anthony Davis (twice), Thik Bol and Chris Horton.
Freshmen With 16 Pts., 11 Reb., 5 Blk, 0 Turnovers
(Since 2010-11)
Name, School   Date   PTS   REB   BLK
Anthony Davis, Kentucky   01/17/12   27   14   7
Anthony Davis, Kentucky   03/25/12   18   11   6
Chris Horton, Austin Peay   12/05/12   21   11   5
Thik Bol, Southern Illinois   02/19/17   19   11   6
Mo Bamba, Texas   12/29/17   22   15   8
Armando Bacot, N. Carolina   11/29/19   23   12   6
Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga   03/17/22   19   17   7
Fredrick King, Creighton   12/12/22   16   11   5

King Him!
After 38 total points and 25 total rebounds in the first 10 games of his college career, Fredrick King put together back-to-back double-doubles after being pressed into a starting role when Ryan Kalkbrenner was sidelined by a non-COVID illness in mid-December. King had 16 points and 11 rebounds vs. Arizona State on Dec. 12th, then added 16 points and 10 rebounds at Marquette four days later.
   King is CU's freshman with multiple double-doubles in a season since Justin Patton had three in 2016-17.
   King is CU's first true freshman with multiple double-doubles in a season since Doug McDermott had nine in 2010-11. McDermott had also been the last Bluejay freshman with back-to-back double-doubles, having done it on Feb. 1 and Feb. 5, 2011.
   For his efforts, King was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Dec. 19.
   After shooting 8-for-8 vs. Marquette, King was 3-for-3 from the field against Butler to move him to 11-for-11 in league play with eight dunks. He is currently 21-for-31 from the field with 12 dunks in conference contests.

Simply Perfect
Below is a list of Creighton players to shoot 100 percent from the field on eight or more attempts in a game since the start of the 1991-92 campaign:
Most FGA, 100% Shooting, Since 1991-92
   FGA   Name, Opponent   Date
   11   Anthony Tolliver vs. Illinois State   01/01/07
   10   Ryan Kalkbrenner vs. Holy Cross   11/14/22
   8   Geoffrey Groselle vs. Coppin State   12/28/15
   8   Justin Patton vs. Loyola (Md.)   12/07/16
   8   Fredrick King at Marquette   12/16/22

Trèy's Bien
Sophomore Trey Alexander scored a career-high 32 points in a Christmas Day win over DePaul, easily surpassing his previous high of 18 points.
   Alexander had 14 points in the first half and 18 more after the break. He made a career-high seven three-pointers.
   Creighton's largest lead of the game was 17, done four times. Each came after an Alexander hoop.
   Alexander is the first Bluejay in more than 55 years to have a game with 30 or more points before finishing a game with 20-29 points.

Trèy's Bien, Part II
Creighton made 16 three-point shots in its Christmas Day victory over DePaul, including 10 in the first half.
   It was Creighton's most three-pointers in a game since sinking 17 trifectas at Seton Hall on Jan. 27, 2021.
   CU made 10 triples in the first half of that Seton Hall contest, which was also the last time CU made 10 treys in one half.
   Individually, Trey Alexander made a career-high seven three-pointers. That's the most by any Bluejay since Ryan Hawkins made eight shots from downtown at Georgetown on Feb. 12, 2022.

Paul Silas Passes Away at 79
Paul Silas, Creighton's first Academic All-American and one of the top players in Bluejay men's basketball history, passed away at the age of 79 on Dec. 11th.
   Silas was recruited to Creighton by John J. "Red" McManus out of McClymonds High School in Oakland, Calif., the same high school that produced Bill Russell. Silas arrived on campus in 1960 when freshmen were ineligible to play for the varsity but quickly made a difference a year later when he led CU to the 1961-62 NCAA Tournament and the team closed with a 21-5 record. His 1963-64 team returned to the Big Dance and finished 22-7.
   Silas is the only player in NCAA history with three or more seasons of 557 rebounds and owns the top three single-season rebound totals in Bluejay annals, including 631 as a senior in 1963-64. That figure remains fifth-most in NCAA history and is the most by any player since 1960. He's first in CU history with 1,751 rebounds, ninth in career points (1,661), third in career scoring average (20.51) and also in the top-10 in field goals made (8th) and free throws made (6th).
   Silas' 21.6 career rebounds per game are third-most in NCAA history and his 1,751 rebounds are sixth in NCAA history as well as the most ever by a three-year player. Silas, along with Bill Russell, Julius Erving, Artis Gilmore and Kermit Washington is one of five players to average at least 20 points and 20 rebounds for an NCAA career. Silas owns the top 29 single-game rebound performances in Creighton history, including a 38 rebound effort vs. Centenary on Feb. 19, 1962 that ranks tied for ninth-most in NCAA history.
   He was the first Creighton student-athlete to be named a CoSIDA Academic All-American in 1963-64, was a member of Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit Honor Society, and received the College of Business Administration's Alumni Merit Award in 1993.
   In an old article, Silas boasted about his education, saying "I'm more proud of my academic success at Creighton than of all my athletic accomplishments. What Creighton University does for an athlete or any student is that they teach you how to think, how to deal with everyday living. What I learned at Creighton has helped me close the gap between professional sports and the business world."
   A two-time All-Star and five-time NBA All-Defensive team member, he scored 11,782 points and grabbed 12,357 rebounds while winning three titles (Boston 1974 & 1976, Seattle 1979) during a 16-year NBA career from 1964-80. He later coached 12 seasons in the NBA for the Clippers, Hornets, Bobcats and Cavalier organizations. He was LeBron James' first NBA head coach. His son, Stephen Silas, is the current head coach of the NBA's Houston Rockets.
   Silas was inducted into the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame in 1974, the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame in 2012 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.

Sophomores Standing Tall
Legendary Marquette coach Al McGuire once said that the best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores. The Bluejay trio of Arthur Kaluma, Trey Alexander and Ryan Nembhard were all part of the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team last season, and all three are off to fantastic starts as sophomores.
   This year the trio have combined to average 37.5 points per contest.
   Collectively, they shoot 42.6 percent from the field (295-693), 34.9 percent from downtown (95-272) and 78.7 percent at the line (177-225) while also contributing 321 rebounds and 208 assists against just 123 turnovers.
   Creighton is 20-3 in the last two seasons when all three men play and they combine for 13 or more rebounds.

An Area for Improvement
One area that Creighton will look to improve in 2022-23 is its marksmanship from behind the arc, as last year's 30.8 percent shooting from deep was its worst as a team since 1993-94.
   The Creighton staff is confident those numbers can improve as its talented freshman class is now sophomores. Thus far, Creighton is fourth in the BIG EAST with 8.5 three-pointers made per game and sixth with 34.6 percent marksmanship from deep.
   Last year's freshmen combined to shoot 27.2 percent from deep (85-313), but they're not the first Bluejay freshmen to struggle early on from downtown, as seen in the chart below of some other prominent marksmen.
   Even that chart is a little misleading, as Doug McDermott shot 15-of-53 (.283) from deep in his first 20 games of his freshman year before finishing 32-of-63 (.508) in his last 19 games. Likewise, Kyle Korver was shooting 11-for-41 (.268) from downtown after his first 14 contests before blistering the nets to the tune of 52-of-104 (.500).
   As a Freshman   Other College Years
Name   3FG-3FGA   3FG%   3FG-3FGA   3FG%
Ky. Korver   63-145   .434   308-674   .457
McDermott   47-116   .405   237-482   .492
Ty. Alexander   32-96   .333   178-469   .380
Ballock   44-135   .326   264-638   .414
Tr. Alexander   18-64   .281   38-94   .404
Kaluma   27-102   .265   26-84   .310
Nembhard   33-106   .311   31-94   .330

Big Fred's World
Fredrick King had four points (on two dunks) and three blocked shots in his first career start on Saturday vs. BYU.
   King was the first Bluejay true freshman to start a game at center since Kenton Walker on Feb. 5, 2008, when the Jays topped UNI, 74-50.
   One of the other Creighton starters that night was Nick Bahe, who was on the call for FS1 for each of King's first two starts.
   King is the first true freshman center to make multiple starts for Creighton since Joel Templeman in 1994-95.

Holiday Hoops Proves Popular
Creighton's Christmas Day victory over DePaul scored 2.99 million viewers on FOX - the network's most-watched college hoops game ever.
   Per FOX Sports PR, it was the most-watched college basketball game on any network this season, far ahead of the Kentucky/Michigan State game on ESPN (2.03 million).
   In the last three years, the only regular-season game higher was North Carolina/Duke in Mike Krzyzewski's final home game last March (3.98 million) on ESPN.

Wooden Award Watch List
The Creighton duo of Baylor Scheierman and Ryan Kalkbrenner have been named to the Preseason Top 50 Watch List for the John R. Wooden Award® presented by Wendy's®.
   The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2023 John R. Wooden Award Men's Player of the Year presented by Wendy's. Players not chosen to the preseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award™ midseason list, late season list, and the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award. Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games. The Wooden Award All American Team™ will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2023 John R. Wooden Award will be presented in Los Angeles in April.
   Scheierman and Kalkbrenner give Creighton nine Preseason John R. Wooden Award Watch List recognitions in 13 seasons under Greg McDermott. Marcus Zegarowski made the list in 2020-21, one year after Ty-Shon Alexander was listed prior to the 2019-20 campaign. Others to make the list include Marcus Foster (2017-18), Maurice Watson Jr. (2016-17), Doug McDermott (2013-14, 2012-13 and 2011-12). Creighton's lone recipient of the John R. Wooden Award® is Doug McDermott, who was recognized following the completion of the 2013-14 campaign.

Speaking Of Assists
Ryan Nembhard's 12 assists vs. Holy Cross were the second double-figure assist game of his Bluejay career, joining the 10 helpers he dished in his collegiate debut last November vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
   Nembhard is the seventh different Bluejay with 10 or more assists in a game under Greg McDermott, joining Maurice Watson Jr. (12 times), Grant Gibbs (4), Marcus Zegarowski (4), Austin Chatman (3), Antoine Young (2) and Malik Albert (1).
   Also worth noting regarding Nembhard's big night? He played just 19 minutes in the win, making him the nation's only player with 12 assists against a Division I opponent this year while playing less than 30 minutes.

Turnover Free At The Point
Ryan Nembhard's 12 assists without a turnover vs. Holy Cross on Nov. 14 made him just the fourth player in Bluejay history to accomplish that feat. He's the first to do it inside CHI Health Center Omaha and the first Bluejay to do it at any site since 2002.
   Here's the single-game assist leaders at Creighton, along with their turnover statistics on that night:
Ast.   Name, Opponent   Date   TO
17   Ralph Bobik vs. Bradley   01/22/74   0
   Ralph Bobik at St. Francis (Pa.)   02/23/73   ??
16   Ralph Bobik vs. BYU   12/17/73   4
14   Maurice Watson Jr. at Providence   01/07/17   2
   Maurice Watson Jr. at Seton Hall   01/09/16   4
13   Maurice Watson Jr. vs. Washington St.   11/18/16   4
   Maurice Watson Jr. vs. Akron   12/03/16   5
   Jason Bey vs. Southern Illinois   02/27/95   1
   Latrell Wrightsell vs. Nebraska   12/07/91   1
12   Ryan Nembhard vs. Holy Cross   11/14/22   0
   Grant Gibbs vs. Northwestern   12/22/11   4
   Tyler McKinney at Nebraska   12/21/02   0
    Ed St. Fleur at CS-Sacramento   01/13/96   0
    Latrell Wrightsell vs. N. Iowa   02/01/92   4
    Duan Cole at Iowa State   01/16/90   5
    Vernon Moore at Southern Illinois   01/17/85   2
    Randy Eckker at Gonzaga   01/14/77   2
   Randy Eckker at Bradley   01/12/77   4

Kalkbrenner Up For Naismith Award
Ryan Kalkbrenner has been named one of 50 players to watch during the season-long competition for the 2023 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Men's Player of the Year honor, as announced by The Atlanta Tipoff Club.
   A junior from Florissant, Mo., Kalkbrenner averaged 13.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.6 blocked shots per game while starting CU's first 34 contests last season. He was an Honorable Mention All-BIG EAST choice, BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year and named to the All-BIG EAST Tournament Team while ranking fourth nationally in both field goal percentage (.646) and offensive rebounds per game (3.9). He was the lone Bluejay named Preseason First Team All-BIG EAST last month for ninth-ranked team in the nation, who are predicted to win the BIG EAST.
   Kalkbrenner's recognition makes him the fourth different Bluejay in 13-year head coach Greg McDermott's tenure to be on a Naismith Award watch list. Doug McDermott was on the Preseason watch list in 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 and was a finalist in 2012-13 before winning the award in 2013-14. Marcus Foster was named to the Midseason watch list in 2016-17, then made the Preseason and Midseason watch list in 2017-18. More recently, Marcus Zegarowski was on the Preseason and Midseason watch list in 2020-21.
   The midseason 30 team will be announced in February, and then the competition will be narrowed down to 10 national semifinalists in early March. Following those results, four finalists will be named on March 21, 2023, and the winner of the 2023 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy for Men's Player of the Year will be announced on April 2, 2023.

Top 10 Under McDermott
Prior to Greg McDermott's 2010 arrival, Creighton had spent one week ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll in program history (10th on Jan. 20, 2003, when Dana Altman's team led by Kyle Korver lost at Steve Merfeld's Evansville team).
   Under McDermott, Creighton has spent 21 weeks in the top 10, including at least one week in five different seasons (1 week in 2012-13; 8 weeks in 2016-17, 3 weeks in 2019-20, 5 weeks in 2020-21 and 4 weeks so far this year).
   Creighton's best AP ranking ever is seventh, done five times (Jan. 16, 2017; March 10, 2020; March 18, 2020; Jan. 7, 2021 and Nov. 28, 2022).

CHI Health Center Omaha Success
Creighton has played 335 regular and postseason contests at CHI Health Center Omaha all-time in the 20-year-old facility.
   The Bluejays own a 276-59 (.824) record all-time at the facility, and have never lost there on a Friday (22-0).
   Creighton's Nov. 25, 2017 win over SIU Edwardsville was the program's 200th at the facility, coming in its 242nd home game. CU's 100th win came on Nov. 17, 2010, a 63-58 win over Louisiana.
   Creighton has outscored its opponents 26,192-21,942 in games at CHI Health Center Omaha, an average margin of 12.69 points per game. Creighton has not trailed 88 different times, including twice this year (Holy Cross, DePaul).
   Incredibly, Creighton hasn't trailed in its home opener in 10 of the past 23 seasons (2000-01, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2009-10, 2011-12, 2014-15, 2016-17 and 2019-20).
   Creighton is also 32-35 all-time in the 67 games at the arena in which it's fallen behind by double-figures at any point, 8-11 when down by 10+ points at halftime in the facility, and 40-29 when trailing at halftime at CHI Health Center Omaha.
   Creighton is 179-41 (.814) at CHI Health Center Omaha under Greg McDermott and hasn't trailed in 63 of those games. In that same span, CU owns a 95-9 home record vs. non-conference teams.
   Factor in a 17-0 home mark at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in 2002-03 and two wins at the Civic in the 2010 CIT, and the Bluejays are 295-59 (.833) at home since the start of the 2002-03 campaign.

Home Run
Under Greg McDermott Creighton is averaging 80.45 points per home game (17,698 points in 220 home games), a figure that climbs to 83.84 points in non-conference home games (8,719 points in 104 home games).
   Creighton is 134-6 all-time at CHI Health Center Omaha when scoring 80 or points.

Who's Back?
With Creighton returning eight of the 13 men who appeared in a game last season, it's no surprise that a similar ratio of the production from 2021-22 is also gone. Below is a breakdown of what is back:
Stat   Returners   Departures
Blocks   118 (79.2%)   31 (20.8%)
Assists   284 (60.9%)   182 (39.1%)
Starts   104 (59.4%)   71 (40.6%)
Points   1,360 (56.2%)   1,062 (43.8%)
Minutes   3,881 (54.9%)   3,194 (45.1%)
Charges Taken   7 (53.8%)   6 (46.2%)
Rebounds   663 (53.3%)   580 (46.7%)
Steals   98 (51.0%)   94 (49.0%)
3FG Made   83 (35.3%)   152 (64.7%)

Youth Is Served
In case you've forgotten, Creighton had at least one freshman on the floor for every second of every game last season, and actually had a late stretch of 1:28 vs. Colorado State when all five of its players on the floor were freshmen.
   All told, 3171:36 of Creighton's 7,075 total minutes (44.83 percent) were played by freshmen last season.
   By comparison, in 2020-21 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). Only 7.5 percent (465:52 of 6250) of CU's overall minutes were played by freshmen in 2020-21.
   Through 23 games this season, Creighton's freshmen have played 553:43 of 4,600 possible minutes (12.04 percent).
2021-22 Minute Breakdown
Freshmen   Time   Score   Margin
0 freshmen:   Never   --   --
1 freshman:   34:23   59-49   +10
2 freshmen:   962:14   1,692-1,578   +114
3 freshmen:   347:15   611-407   +4
4 freshmen:   45:54   54-85   (-31)
5 freshmen:   1:28   5-2   +3

Watch This
Creighton has four men that made a preseason watch list for their respective position.
   Ryan Nembhard is one of 20 candidates on the watch list for the 2023 Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation's best point guard. Nembhard is the fourth different Bluejay in the last 12 years named to the Bob Cousy Award watch list, joining Antoine Young (2011-12), Maurice Watson Jr. (2016-17) and Marcus Zegarowski (2020-21).
   Baylor Scheierman is one of 20 candidates on the watch list for the 2023 Julius Erving Award, given to the nation's best small forward. Scheierman is Creighton's first player in the nine seasons of the Julius Erving Award to be named to the watch list at any point.
   Arthur Kaluma is one of 20 candidates on the watch list for the 2023 Karl Malone Award, given to the nation's best power forward. Kaluma is Creighton's first player in the nine seasons of the Karl Malone Award to be named to the watch list at any point.
   Ryan Kalkbrenner is one of 20 candidates on the watch list for the 2023 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, given to the nation's best center. Kalkbrenner joins Justin Patton (2016-17) as Creighton's second player in the nine seasons of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award to be named to the watch list at any point.
   Creighton (4) is one of six schools with four or more MBB players on a watch list, joining Duke (5), Kentucky (5), Arizona (4), Gonzaga (4) and UCLA (4).
   CU's four watch list student-athletes match the totals of the rest of the BIG EAST combined (Xavier 2, Villanova 1, UConn 1).

Fun Fact
Creighton is the only school in the BIG EAST with 12 or more league wins each of the previous three seasons.
   Among the other BIG EAST or "Power 5" Conference schools, only Baylor, Illinois, Kansas, UCLA and Virginia have done so.

20 Wins, Again
Creighton had 23 wins in 2021-22, securing a seventh straight 20-win season.
   Creighton is one of six schools with 20 or more wins in each of the previous seven seasons, joining Belmont, Gonzaga, Houston, Kansas and Oregon.

22 of 24 Seasons With 20 Wins
Creighton has won 20 or more games in 22 of the last 24 seasons, a feat that puts the Jays among an exclusive group, nationally.
   Just two schools have had 20 or more wins each of the last 24 years: Gonzaga and Kansas. Duke has done it 23 times, Creighton and Kentucky 22 times.
Most 20-Win Seasons, Last 24 Seasons
Team   20-Win Seasons       2021-22 W-L
Gonzaga   24   28-4
Kansas   24   34-6
Duke   23   32-7
Creighton   22   23-12
Kentucky   22   26-8

We're Jamming!
Ryan Kalkbrenner owns 139 dunks in his career, including 69 last year. He has more career dunks than any other Bluejay player since Greg McDermott's arrival in 2010.
   Here's a look at the Creighton student-athletes with 20 or more dunks in a season, and 25 or more dunks in a career, under McDermott:
Most Creighton Dunks, Season, Since 2010-11
Dunks   Name   Year
74   Martin Krampelj   2018-19
72   Justin Patton   2016-17
69   Ryan Kalkbrenner   2021-22
50   Christian Bishop   2020-21
41   Ryan Kalkbrenner   2022-23
38   Christian Bishop   2019-20
36   Gregory Echenique   2012-13
33   Martin Krampelj   2017-18
30   Gregory Echenique   2011-12
29   Marcus Foster   2017-18
29   Ryan Kalkbrenner   2020-21
24   Gregory Echenique   2010-11
23   Marcus Foster   2016-17
22   Kenny Lawson Jr.   2010-11
22   Fredrick King   2022-23
21   Alex O'Connell   2021-22
21   Arthur Kaluma   2021-22
20   Khyri Thomas   2017-18

Most Creighton Dunks, Career, Since 2010-11
Dunks   Name   Years
139   Ryan Kalkbrenner   2020-Pres.
121   Martin Krampelj   2015-19
103   Christian Bishop   2018-21
90   Gregory Echenique   2010-13
72   Justin Patton   2016-17
52   Marcus Foster   2016-18
51   Khyri Thomas   2015-18
38   Will Artino   2011-15
34   Arthur Kaluma   2021-Pres.
33   Zach Hanson   2013-17
25   Geoffrey Groselle   2012-16
25   Damien Jefferson   2018-21

Most Creighton Dunks, Team, Season, Since 2010-11
Dunks   Year   Team W-L
144   2016-17   25-10 (NCAA)
132   2021-22   23-12 (NCAA)
107   2017-18   21-12 (NCAA)
106   2018-19   20-15 (NIT)
90   2020-21   22-9 (NCAA)
81   2022-23   15-8 so far (Postseason TBD)
60   2019-20   24-7 (Postseason Canceled)
58   2015-16   20-15 (NIT)
56   2010-11   23-16 (CBI)
54   2012-13   28-8 (NCAA)
42   2011-12   29-6 (NCAA)

Among The Nation's Best
Below is where Creighton ranks nationally since the start of the 2010-11 season among teams to have played 100 or more Division I games, per Basketball-Reference.com.
2010-11 to Feb. 5, 2023
Category   CU Stat   CU Rank
3FG Made   3,820   4th
FG Percentage   .476   4th
Assists   6,947   6th
3FG Percentage   .375   7th
FG Made   11,883   8th
Points   33,219   10th
Wins   291   29th
Winning Percentage   .667   33rd

Big Deficits, No Big Deal
Creighton owns 27 victories since the start of the 2010-11 season after trailing by double-figures at some point, including four such rallies last season. In its NCAA Tournament win vs. San Diego State, Creighton trailed 35-21 late in the first half.
   Thirteen of those 27 comebacks have come away from home.
   If you're curious, CU's largest comeback win since 2000 came on Jan. 28, 2006, when the Jays trailed 25-6 early before rallying to beat Wichita State on a buzzer-beater by Anthony Tolliver.
CU's Double-Digit Comebacks Under McDermott
Deficit   Opponent   Date
18   #18 Oklahoma   11/19/14
17   at San Diego State   11/30/11
16   at Evansville   02/16/13
16   at Seton Hall   01/27/21
16   SIU Edwardsville   11/27/21
15   Arkansas-Pine Bluff   11/09/21
14   Evansville   02/21/12
14   vs. San Diego State   03/17/22
13   at Saint Joseph's   11/16/13
13   Xavier   01/12/14
13   #22 Xavier   12/23/20
12   Saint Joseph's   12/11/10
12   at DePaul   01/17/16
12   East Tennessee State   11/11/18
11   at Wichita State   12/31/11
11   Northern Iowa   01/10/12
11   vs. Alabama   03/16/12
11   vs. Ole Miss   11/21/16
11   vs. Connecticut   03/12/21
11   DePaul   01/22/22
10   UAB   11/14/12
10   vs. Drake   03/02/12
10   at Nebraska   12/07/14
10   South Dakota   12/09/14
10   St. John's   01/03/18
10   at DePaul   02/07/18
10   Bemidji State   02/13/18

McDermott Ranks Second On CU Wins List
Greg McDermott has 291 victories at Creighton, good for second place on CU's all-time wins list.
   McDermott's .667 winning percentage is Creighton's best since Arthur A. Schabinger's .714 win rate more than 85 years ago.
   Below is a list of the most victorious Creighton coaches in program history.
Most Coaching Wins, Creighton History
Rk.   W-L   Name   Years
1.   327-176   Dana Altman   1994-2010
2.   291-145   Greg McDermott   2010-Pres.
3.   165-66   Arthur A. Schabinger    1922-1935
4.   138-118   John J. "Red" McManus    1959-1969
5.   130-64   Tom Apke   1974-1981

Super Seven
Greg McDermott joined some select company when he directed his troops to a seventh NCAA Tournament last season. That put him in the company of some of the greatest coaches in CU Athletics history.
   McDermott is one of five head coaches in Creighton history to lead seven different NCAA Tournament teams.
Name   Sport   NCAA's @CU
Kirsten Bernthal Booth   Volleyball   12
Bob Warming   Men's Soccer   11
Dana Altman   Men's Basketball   7
Brent Vigness   Softball   7
Greg McDermott   Men's Basketball   7

McDermott's Coaching Tree
A bunch of former Greg McDermott protégés are thriving at the Division I level.
   Eric Henderson led South Dakota State to the first 18-0 season in Summit League history. The Jackrabbits went 30-5 after winning the Summit League Tournament and clinching an NCAAA bid.
   North Dakota State's Dave Richman went 23-10 overall and finished as the runner-up in the Summit League standings and Summit League Tournament to Henderson's SDSU team.
   Ben Jacobson won the MVC regular-season title while coaching Northern Iowa. The Panthers went 20-12 and reached the NIT.
   Drake's Darian DeVries led the Bulldogs to a 25-11 mark and runner-up finish in the MVC (to Jacobson's UNI team) in the regular-season and the league tournament. Drake played in the CBI.
   Steve Lutz led his Texas A&M-Corpus Christi team to a 24-12 record and a Southland Conference Tournament title in his first year as a head coach, with the Islanders reaching the NCAA Tournament First Four. He inherited a 5-19 team that hadn't won 20 games or had a winning record since 2016-17.
   TJ Otzelberger turned around Iowa State in his first year in Ames. He inherited a 2-22 team (0-18 Big 12) and turned it into a team that reached the Sweet 16 and finished 22-13.
   Patrick Sellers led Central Connecticut State to an 8-24 record in his first season with the Blue Devils, including a victory in the Northeast Conference Tournament.
   Paul Sather is the head coach at North Dakota after successful tenures at Black Hills State and Northern State.

#ProJays
Former Creighton All-American Doug McDermott is back for a second season with the San Antonio Spurs, giving Creighton at least one NBA player in 39 of the last 40 seasons. McDermott is in his ninth season in the NBA.
   Other famous Bluejays to play in the NBA in the past include Paul Silas, Kyle Korver, Benoit Benjamin and Anthony Tolliver.

Firing On All Cylinders
Creighton finished last season ranked 50th overall by KenPom.com. That included the nation's No. 112 offense, and No. 19 defense. Creighton's No. 19 defense was its best mark in the 20 seasons of the KenPom era.
   Creighton has had a top-25 offense per KenPom in six of the previous 11 seasons.
   Here's where Creighton ranked after games of Feb. 5.
Year   Off. Rating   Def. Rating   Overall Rank
2010-11   66   174   98
2011-12   5   166   28
2012-13   5   66   15
2013-14   2   124   17
2014-15   59   138   79
2015-16   43   76   40
2016-17   32   46   28
2017-18   25   58   30
2018-19   47   83   55
2019-20   3   78   12
2020-21   25   32   22
2021-22   112   19   50
2022-23   29   16   12

CHI Health Center Omaha Dramatics
Creighton is 8-8 in contests with a game-winning go-ahead score in the final 10 seconds at CHI Health Center Omaha, which opened in 2003.
   The last time such a game happened was in 2020 when Creighton's Marcus Zegarowski hit a shot with 3.2 seconds left to beat Providence.
Creighton's Go-Ahead Scores in Wins at
CHI Health Center Omaha, Last 10 Seconds
Date   Opponent   Score   Player/Score   Time
11/26/05   Dayton   W 91-90*   Funk FG   :5.7
01/28/06   Wichita St.   W 57-55   Tolliver FG   :0.0
11/25/06   George Mason   W 58-56   Watts FT   :7.5
03/18/08   Rhode Island   W 74-73   Witter 3FG   :3.2
01/13/10   Southern Illinois   W 71-69   Young FG   :1.3
02/18/12   Long Beach St.   W 81-79   Young FG   :0.3
01/28/14   St. John's   W 63-60   McDermott 3FG   :2.8
01/18/20   Providence   W 78-74   Zegarowski 3FG   :3.2
*double-overtime

Opponent Go-Ahead Scores in CU Losses at
CHI Health Center Omaha, Last 10 Seconds
Date   Opponent   Score   Player/Score   Time
03/20/06   Miami (Fla.)   L 53-52   G. Diaz FT   :2.6
01/20/07   Southern Illinois   L 58-57   B. Mullins FG   :4.1
01/10/15   #19 Seton Hall   L 68-67   S. Gibbs 3FG   :2.2
02/16/15   #19 Butler   L 58-56   R. Jones FG   :1.9
03/07/15   Xavier   L 74-73   D. Davis FT's   :6.3
01/12/16   #12 Providence   L 50-48   K. Dunn FG   :0.0
02/22/17   Providence   L 68-66   K. Cartwright 3FG   :2.4
02/10/18   #5 Xavier   L 71-72   Q. Goodin FT's   :0.3

Top-20 Crowds
Here's a look at Creighton's top-20 home crowds all-time.
      Rank   Att.   Opponent   Date
   1.   18,868   Providence   03/08/14
   2.   18,859   Georgetown   01/25/14
   3.   18,831   #1 Villanova   12/31/16
   4.   18,797   #6 Villanova   02/16/14
   5.   18,759   #1 Gonzaga   12/01/18
   6.   18,742   Seton Hall   02/23/14
   7.   18,735   Wichita State   02/11/12
   8.   18,613   Wichita State   03/02/13
   9.   18,525   Marquette   12/31/13
   10.   18,519   #8 Seton Hall   03/07/20
   11.   18,518   Georgetown   01/27/18
   12.   18,509   Villanova   02/04/23
   13.   18,495   Marquette   02/17/18
   14.   18,494   Illinois State   02/09/13
   15.   18,458   Evansville   12/29/12
   16.   18,436   Bradley   01/28/12
   17.   18,323   DePaul   02/07/14
   18.   18,321   #3 Villanova   02/24/18
   19.   18,294   #19 Iowa State   12/04/21
   20.   18,277   #13 Xavier   01/28/23

Preseason BIG EAST Poll
The Creighton men's basketball team was picked to win the BIG EAST Conference in the annual survey of league coaches, which was unveiled as part of BIG EAST Media Day on Oct. 18th at Madison Square Garden.
   It's the first time since 2012-13 that Creighton has been chosen as a preseason favorite in its league, though that recognition came in CU's final season in the Missouri Valley Conference.
   This is the 10th time Creighton has been tabbed as the preseason favorite (also 1989-90, 1990-91, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2006-07, 2008-09, 2011-12 and 2012-13), though the first nine occurrences all happened in the Missouri Valley Conference. Four of those MVC teams finished first (1990-91, 2000-01, 2008-09, 2012-13), while the other five took second place. Six of those nine Bluejay squads went on to win the MVC Tournament (1990-91, 1998-99, 2002-03, 2006-07, 2011-12, 2012-13) and seven of the nine squads played in the NCAA Tournament (1990-91, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2006-07, 2011-12, 2012-13).
   The Bluejays collected eight first-place votes and earned 98 points in the poll. Xavier was picked second in the poll with 86 points, including two first-place votes. Villanova, the defending BIG EAST Tournament champion, was one point behind Xavier with 85 points and received one first-place vote from the men's basketball head coaches, who did not vote for their own teams. Connecticut was picked fourth with 77 points and Providence was fifth with 62 points. St. John's and Seton Hall finished sixth and seventh with 62 and 52 points, respectively. Butler was eighth with 36 points, four points ahead of ninth-place Marquette with 32 points. Georgetown was 10th with 21 points and DePaul 11th with 12 points.
   Creighton is the only school in the league that has met or exceeded its preseason BIG EAST prognostication every year since joining the league, as seen below:
Creighton's BIG EAST Preseason Poll History
Year    Preseason    Actual    Preseason All-BIG EAST
2013-14    3rd    2nd    Doug McDermott (1st)
2014-15    9th    T-9th    -
2015-16    9th    6th    -
2016-17    3rd    T-3rd    Maurice Watson Jr. (1st); Marcus Foster (HM)
2017-18    5th    T-3rd    Marcus Foster (1st); Khyri Thomas (HM)
2018-19    9th    T-3rd    Martin Krampelj (HM)
2019-20    7th    T-1st   Ty-Shon Alexander (1st)
2020-21    2nd    2nd   Marcus Zegarowski (1st); Mitch Ballock (2nd)
2021-22   8th   4th   None
2022-23   1st   ??   Ryan Kalkbrenner (1st); Arthur Kaluma (2nd)
           Ryan Nembhard (2nd); Baylor Scheierman (HM)

Release, Rotation, Splash, Repeat
Creighton has made at least one three-pointer in 971 straight games. The streak is the nation's 13th-longest active streak.
   Creighton's last game without a three-pointer came at Illinois State on Feb. 20, 1993, when the Jays were 0-for-5. Creighton's last win without making a three-point basket came on March 3, 1991 when the Jays went 0-for-2 from three-point range in a 71-66 win over Southern Illinois in the championship game of the MVC Tournament.
   Below is a list of the nation's longest active three-point streaks.
Longest Active 3-Point Streaks (through 2/5)
   Rk.   Streak   School   Next Game
   1.   1,184   UNLV   2/8
   2.   1,174   Duke   2/6
   3.   1,118   Western Kentucky   2/9
   4.   1,108   East Tennessee State   2/7
   5.   1,087   Oakland   2/9
   6.   1,084   Pacific   2/9
   7.   1,080   Texas   2/6
   8.   1,028   Marshall   2/9
   9.   1,019   Baylor   2/8
   10.   1,009   Princeton   2/11
   11.   1,006   Gonzaga   2/9
   12.   979   Long Island   2/9
   13.   971   Creighton   2/8
   14.   965   Mount St. Mary's   2/10
   15.   955   Tennessee State   2/9

Triple Trouble
During Creighton's current streak of 971 straight games with a three-pointer, the Jays have drained 7,651 trifectas, an average of 7.88 treys per game.
   That's not surprising since during the streak, Creighton has made exactly 7 three-pointers 145 times, more than any figure.
   Only five times in the streak has Creighton made just one three-pointer, but on 276 occasions the Bluejays have made 10 or more trifectas, including three games of 20 or more.
   Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Bluejays are 56-14 when making eight or more three-pointers, compared to a 26-21 mark when making seven treys or fewer.
Team 3FG Made During Creighton's 3-Point Streak
1:    5 times   2: 18 times   3: 35 times
4:    75 times   5:   101 times   6: 101 times
7:   145 times   8:   123 times   9: 92 times
10: 80 times   11: 56 times   12: 54 times
13: 44 times   14: 19 times   15: 7 times
16: 8 times   17: 3 times   19: 1 time
20: 1 time   21: 1 time   22: 1 time

Ticket Information
Single-game tickets for the 2022-32 season went on sale on October 14th. Fans can purchase single-game tickets at CHI Health Center Omaha Box Office, Ryan Athletic Center, by calling Ticketmaster or visiting Ticketmaster.com.
   For more information, call the Creighton Ticket Office at (402) 280-JAYS.

#23 Men's Basketball Visits Seton Hall on Wednesday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Trey Alexander

Francisco Farabello

Ryan Hawkins

Ryan Kalkbrenner

Arthur Kaluma

Fredrick King

Ryan Nembhard

Alex O'Connell

Baylor Scheierman