Creighton Bluejays
With less than 7 weeks from us having a bracket in our hands, let us begin to countdown and break down this years March and the madness behind it.
Every day we will look at a different angle of the beauty that is the bracket. From top seeds to bubble teams and every team in between. Which styles of play can be a problem for teams and which teams are on my radar for wearing the glass slipper.
This season more than any in recent time have lower seeds with the talent to reach the second weekend. Speaking of which, why don’t we start there. Today we will look at the teams currently sitting in the 8-10 seed range and break them down.
With still 7 weeks to go standings can and will change.
March Madness, Creighton Bluejays
- Creighton Bluejays
The current 8 seed in the West bracket, Creighton. The Bluejays have a 14-6 overall and are 7-2 in the Big East conference, currently 3rd in the conference.
A five game winning streak with a huge win over a struggling UConn at UConn. Big wins over Kansas and St. John’s as well. The Bluejays are 3-3 in quad 1 games and 2-3 against quad 2, good news is that they are 9-0 over quads 4 and 5. Creighton is sitting at 39th in the NET ranking.
Defensive efficiency ranked at 37th in the nation giving up 0.95 points per possession. Creighton plays defense without fouling, being ranked 2nd in the nation in opponents free throws to field goals.
This teams is ranked 81st in the nation in pace with an offensive efficiency ranked 77th in the nation scoring 1.14 points per possession. This is a great free throw shooting team, shooting around 80% from the charity stripe. However, they are in the bottom half of teams in actually getting to the line.
They shoot threes on 51% of their possessions. And are 4th in the nation in shooting percentage inside the three point line shooting 61% inside the arc. True shooting effective field goal percentage of 55% meaning this is a veteran team that takes good shots.
Veteran Creighton Bluejays
Four of their players average double digits with three of them averaging north of 16 points per game led by Ryan Kalkbrenner with 17.7 ppg. Creighton has 4 seniors starting, and as we know experience matters come March.
I project the Bluejays to be seeded around 6-8 in a bracket and this is one of the teams I believe can make a run to the final 4. More realistically, a sweet 16 is the floor, anything after that would be a success. I expect second weekend exit weather it be the sweet 16 or elite 8.
Sets at a Glance
When hot, their is no team better than Creighton on offense. Veteran players take great shots and are patient on offense, yet do not hesitate if an open shot comes available. They play transition ball looking for a quick hit with a beautiful transition into the post game off of it. Once the ball is in the post, Kalkbrenner is an assassin whether he is scoring or passing out of the double team. This team can get loose and go up 20 on anybody in the postseason.
Defensively, they do not gamble for turnovers, being ranked 355 out of 360 teams in turning the opposition over. However they play great sound defense, forcing the other team into a bad or at least contested shot. Near the top 100 in defensive rebounding, this team can just wear you out with up in your grill defense. Great switching and rotating as well to fluster the opponent.
With the seven footer in the paint, the guards send the offense to the baseline and force a tough contest. Kalkbrenner is the absolute best in the nation at contesting shots at the rim and not fouling. I do not have a state for it, however not only has he NEVER fouled out of a game, he has never had 4 fouls in a single game.
Final Thought and Projection
It would be an upset if this team does not make it to the sweet 16 at minimum. Once in the second weekend, anything is possible. This team has great experience in both the players and the coaching staff and should be poised to go on a run come March.
If the shots are falling, I would not be surprised to see this team in the final four, however, I do not expect it. I look for a one possession game in the sweet 16 or elite 8 to be the heartbreaking end of the road.
Similar to the past two seasons which ended in a one point loss to San Diego State in the Elite 8, and a 7 point loss to Tennessee in the Sweet 16.
Whenever this ride ends for Creighton, it will be one full of tears as the three starting seniors will have played their final collegiate game.
Rowan Donaghey, Sports Reporter and Betting Analyst for Stare Down Sports. You can follow him on X via @RowanDonaghey
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