NIT Game 1 vs. Creighton
Tuesday, March 19, 2019 8:00 p.m.
CHI Health Center Omaha, Omaha, Neb.
On Tuesday night, Loyola returns to the NIT for the first time since 1980. Loyola was a successful fixture in the NIT prior to winning the National Championship in their first NCAA Tournament in 1963. The Ramblers finished second in the 1939 NIT, second in the 1949 NIT, and third in the 1962 NIT. Add in a one-and-done loss to Illinois in 1980, and Loyola’s all time NIT record is 6-4.
The opponent for the 7-seed Ramblers is the 2-seed Creighton Blue Jays. Yes, of all the teams that could possibly be the opponent for Loyola, the NIT folks chose to put Loyola up against the team they putatively replaced in the MVC, and the school where Loyola’s coach played his college ball. Creighton earned a 5 seed and finished tied for third in the Big East with a 9-9 record, but got bounced out of the Big East conference tournament in their first game against 4th seeded Xavier. A win over Xavier for their 18th D-1 win of the year and a subsequent loss to Villanova for their 14th D-1 loss might have been enough to get them into The Dance instead of fellow Big East 9-9 team St. John’s.
Will the Blue Jays fret at their NIT bid, thinking they’re deserving of much better? Will the loyal, loud and legion Creighton fans show up Tuesday night in full force, or will the mood be muted? Will the Ramblers be “just happy to be there” or fierce, fired up and ready to play? How the teams approach the NIT has a lot to do with how they fare, that’s been made obvious over the past several years. For the past three years, 4th seeds have won the tournament.
Creighton starts 6’4” sophomore guard Ty-Shon Alexander, 6’9” junior forward Martin Krampelj, 6’5” junior guard Mitch Ballock, 6’3” junior guard Davion Mintz, and 6’2” freshman guard Marcus Zegarowski. All five starters average double figure points; Alexander leads the team in overall scoring with 16.2 points per game on the season, but big man Krampelj has led the team in offense since conference play began.
It must be made clear how much the Blue Jays depend on the three. Creighton has attempted 883 three-point shots this season, 23rd most in the country. That’s 60.8% more three-point attempts than Loyola this season, and 13.8% more than the most prolific three-point shooting team in the Valley. The Jays connected on 39.4% of their threes, tops in the Big East. For comparison, Loyola shot 36.6% from three-point land, ranking 2nd in the MVC. Creighton made 24 or more three-point shots in 23 games this season, and hit the 30 mark in three-point attempts 11 times. In two games they made THIRTY EIGHT three-point shots; the Ramblers had one game this year where they only got off 35 shots total. Loyola had 24 attempts twice this year, and that was their season high. This season, the NIT is experimenting with the three-point line, moving it back 20 inches from the NCAA standard. How that will affect Creighton’s reliance on three-point shooting will be interesting.
On the defensive side, the Jays don’t focus on on-ball or superlative athleticism for defense, rather they use control of the tempo to rattle opposing players and seek out transition baskets on turnovers. Creighton was last in the Big East in field goal percentage defense, second-to-last in blocks, middle of the pack in steals, and break-even in turnover margin.
Creighton is primarily an offensive team, more so than perhaps any other team Loyola has faced this season (Nevada might be pretty close). They finished second to Georgetown in Big East team offense, averaging 78.8 points per game. But the Blue Jays also played many games where their offense couldn’t get out of the 60s-- those games were usually losses. In games where Creighton scored 76 or more points, they were 15-3. In games scoring 75 or less, they were 3-11. The determining factor in getting their scoring up was usually pace and free throw attempts; shooting percentage was rarely a determining factor. Using defense to control the tempo and keeping the Jays off the free throw line was the path to victory, even amid the friendly crowds and whistles in Omaha.
The Ramblers have a similar effectiveness on defense this year, but their defensive effectiveness lags when they work excessively hard on defense. The most important question in Loyola’s NIT run might be how the stretched out three-point line will affect the Ramblers’ offense. The Ramblers will need to hit some shots from long distance to spread the court and open the game inside. When the defense collapses and helps on inside shooting or drives to the basket, that’s where Loyola’s offense has faltered.
Creighton has a very imposing coaching staff when it comes to facing MVC teams. Head Coach Greg McDermott coached at UNI and Creighton in the MVC; first year assistant coach Paul Lusk coached Missouri State for seven years; big man assistant Alan Huss was part of three MVC tournament champions while playing at Creighton; and assistant to the head coach Steve Merfeld coached Evansville for five years before joining Bradley as an assistant.
There’s going to be a lot of basketball brain power and experience on the sidelines in this game, and a lot of it will be expended on how to control the tempo of this game. If the teams routinely get deep in the shot clock, it’s going to benefit Loyola. If there are steals and pull-up threes, Creighton will likely be moving on. In terms of the emotional component, Loyola has two prolific graduating seniors potentiall playing their last college games, and Creighton has no starting seniors.
Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/news/2019/3/ ... round.aspxCreighton game notes: TBD
TV/Streaming video: ESPN U /
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... =401123715Live stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=259831Vegas odds: Creighton by 10