DePaul tries to end an eleven game losing streak to the Creighton Bluejays. When the Blue Demons last played the Bluejays, the team and fan base were coming off of the great Butler win. All were hoping that it would be the start of something new. But no, Creighton snuffed out all hope of a quick turnaround by shooting 40% from 3pt land, while DePaul shot 18%. In the end, it was the most lopsided defeat of the season.
The three game gauntlet against Villanova, Butler, and Creighton, teams that had beaten DePaul a combined 40 times, is over. However, two of the long streaks are still alive. A diminished Blue Demon squad, missing starter Jaylen Butz, and sixth man, Devin Gage, succumbed to Creighton’s 3 point shooting in the second half.
The Blue Demons took an early lead on Nick Ongenda’s dunk. It was the only lead of the night for DePaul. At the ten minute mark of the 1st half, the Bluejays had taken a comfortable 8 point lead on Denzel Mahoney’s 3 point shot. The Demons stayed within striking distance keeping the deficit under 10 for the remainder of the half, and closed the half being down only 3.
This writer was ecstatic to only be down 4, because the Demons did not look right.
In my preview, I thought that Romeo Weems would draw Creighton sharpshooter, Mitch Ballock, but he ended up on point guard Marcus Zegarowski. In general, Weems disrupted him and kept him to having an average night with 9 points, 10 assists, and 3 turnovers.
Ballock did turn into an issue as the night went on going 5 for 11 from 3 point land, ending up with 19 points. It was the supporting cast of Creighton that did the damage. Five Bluejays scored in double figures. As a team, the Bluejays shot 40% from deep going 10-25.
If you watch the makes below, Ballock really had only 2 open shots. The guy is a shot maker.
Mitch Ballock’s made 3s against #DePaul last night. The Blue Demons only truly lost him twice. Dude can just shoot, and sometimes gets lucky. #Creightonpic.twitter.com/0KHu0inN5W
DePaul made three 3 pointers in the game, all by Jalen Coleman-Lands, who went 3-7 on the game, but that was it. The rest of the team went 0-9. As a team, the Demons shot 3-16 or 18.75%, which was a season low. Simple math explained the whole game in one tweet.
When I write my blog on this game all I need to say is #DePaul brought a knife to a gun fight, right? If you look at all stats to explain the game, it really came down to one team making 10 3-pointers and the other team making 3. 30-9 equals 21. #Creighton won by 15. #dpubb
If your opponent averaged 1.2 points per possession on possessions that ended in a 3-point shot, and your team averaged .56 points per possession in which you shot a 3-pointer and your opponent took 9 more 3 point shots? You are going to lose. The end.
It didn’t help that when Creighton wasn’t shooting 3’s they made 53.5% of their 2 point shots (1.07PPP), while DePaul made 51% (1.07PPP).
Always remember boys and girls, 3 is greater than 2, and when you have an elite group of shooters who take a ton of 3s, you are going to come out ahead a lot of the time.
Coming off of the massacre of the Butler Bulldogs, ending an eleven game losing streak to the boys from Indianapolis, DePaul tries to end a ten game losing streak to the Creighton Bluejays. This will be the third game in a row against teams that the Demons had a combined 40 game losing streak. At least now, DePaul have snuffed out one of them. This game could put the Blue Demons right back on track to relevance in the Conference standings and NCAA Net ratings.
The last time, and only time, that DePaul beat the Blue Jays in Big East play was when Forrest Robinson, with lighting bolts shooting out of his fingers, made 5 three pointers in the first 5 minutes of the game and made 6 three pointers on the night at Omaha on January 7th, 2015.
Forrest Robinson Murdered The Blue Jays in January 2015
Creighton Holds Blue Demons to 4th Worst Shooting Performance Of the Year
In a game that quickly deteriorated after 5 minutes of the first half, Creighton shot lights out and kept DePaul from matching them. A 7-0 run towards the end of the half by the Demons kept the game respectable at halftime. Down 10 to start the 2nd, Creighton quickly advanced the score to 20, and it was game over.
DePaul plays the Creighton Blue Jays on Wednesday, 2/26/2018 at 8:00 pm Central in Omaha, Nebraska at the CentruryLink Center. It will be carried on FS1 (Channel 237 on Comcast) and on the WIND (Radio 560).
The Blue Jays come into the game with 20 wins and 9 losses overall, with a 9-7 record in Big East games after beating Villanova in Overtime on Saturday.
Creighton Hits 3 Pointer after 2 Offensive Rebounds on Final Offensive Sequence to Defeat The Demons by One
In a great game that DePaul lead by as many as ten points, the Blue Demon fell apart at the very end. After going up by 2 points on a Marin Maric basket with 1:03 left in regulation, the most excruciating possession of the season occurred. It seemed like it would never end. It turned into 4 separate mini-possessions, that ended in the worst of ways for the Demons.
DePaul plays the Creighton Blue Jays on Wednesday, 2/7/2018 at 8:00 pm Central at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago’s South Loop, in front of thousands of blue seats. It will be carried on FSN1 (Channel 237 on Comcast) and on the Score (Radio 670).
The Blue Jays come into the game with 17 wins and 6 losses overall, with a 7-4 record in Big East games after losing at Villanova last Thursday.