02.03.2010 / Creighton Heads Home to Play Evansville After Another Tough Loss on the Road. From the Creighton Athletic Office, The Voice of Billy Bluejay
A short handed Bluejay squad saw things get away from them early in the first half in Des Moines on Saturday as the Drake Bulldogs came out firing on all cylinders, building an early 15 point lead on the back of absolutely torrid shooting throughout opening twenty minutes. The Jays were able to claw back into the game with a 43-35 halftime deficit, but with Drake shooting fifty percent from both the floor overall and from the three-point line, there was not exactly an air of confidence that the Jays were going to have the ability to recover.
This was compounded by the fact that CU was missing two of their top three scorers on the night. The indefinite suspension of guard P'Allen Stinnett has received its fair share of attention but junior guard Darryl Ashford was unable to make the trip due to the funeral of his grandmother on Saturday.
In the second half, the shooting percentages began to even out as Drake only shot 33% while the Jays were able to hit seven three-pointers. This drove a run by the Jays that tied the game at 58 with a Josh Jones trey at the 8:53 point. However, the inside play of Seth Van Deest for Drake helped fuel a quick seven point run for the Bulldogs and Drake was in control from that point on, as Drake pulled away for a 79-74 win. Van Deest joined guards Josh Young and Ryan Wedel in putting up 20 points on the night in a game that Drake lead wire to wire.
This game snapped the modest two game win streak of the Jays, who is now 11-11 on the season and tied for third place at 6-5 in Missouri Valley play.
Creighton will look to make home sweet yet again on Wednesday night as the Purple Aces of Evansville come to town. UE is 6-15 on the year and is winless in 11 games in MVC play. Evansville is averaging just 60 points in Valley play, while giving up 71, and are led by the freshman forward Colt Ryan and sophomore guard Denver Holmes, who are both putting up 14 a game in the Valley. The high point for the Aces this season was a hard fought four-point loss at home to Butler, who was ranked in the top 10 at the time. However, since that point the Aces have struggled mightily and haven’t threatened their opponents for the most part in league play. The Jays are certainly expected to not change this trend on Wednesday night, but with the team’s own inconsistencies, Creighton doesn’t have much margin for error in any game they will play for the rest of the season.
Can the Jays still salvage the rest of season? The MVC Tournament is just around the corner, are you planning on going? Share your comments with other Jays fans.
Interesting Creighton Facts
- At 250lbs, Kenny Lawson Jr. is the heaviest player on the Creighton team.
- Coach Dana Altman played college basketball at Eastern New Mexico and Southeast Junior College.
