December, 2017 IN THIS ISSUE: Wooden Watch List Marcus Foster was named to the Wooden Watch List. Foster Named to Wooden Watch List LOS ANGELES, CA (November 14, 2017) - Creighton senior guard Marcus Foster landed a spot on the Preseason Top 50 today for the Freshmen of the Week John R. Wooden® Award presented by Wendy's®. Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts, the list is comprised of Alexander and Ballock go back to 50 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for college basketball's most prestigious individual honor. back earning BIG EAST Freshman of the week honors A senior from Wichita Falls, Texas, Foster has scored 23 points in each of Creighton's first two games this season while shooting 77.3 percent from the floor and 70 percent from three-point territory. The Preseason All-BIG EAST selection averaged 18.2 points a year ago to rank third in the BIG EAST while becoming CU's highest scoring newcomer in history with 638 points. Bluejay Updates Returning from the 2016 Wooden Award™ All American Team, Grayson Allen of Duke headlines this year's Wooden Award Preseason Check up on the professional Top 50 list. The list also highlights stars from the 2017 NCAA Tournament: Joel Berry II of the NCAA National Champion North Carolina; careers of some former Bluejays Johnathan Williams of NCAA Runner-Up Gonzaga; Arizona's Rawle Alkins and Allonzo Trier; Butler's Kelan Martin; Cincinnati's Jacob Evans; Creighton's Foster; Duke's Allen; Florida's KeVaughn Allen; Kansas' Devonte' Graham; Louisville's Deng Adel; Miami's Bruce Brown Jr.; Michigan's Moritz Wagner; Michigan State's Miles Bridges; Minnesota's Nate Mason; Northwestern's Bryant McIntosh; Notre Plays of the Week Dame's Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell; Oklahoma State's Jeffrey Carroll; Purdue's Vincent Edwards; Saint Mary's Jock Landale; Seton Check out a couple of plays from Hall's Angel Delgado; SMU's Shake Milton; South Dakota State's Mike Daum; UCLA's Aaron Holiday; USC's Jordan McLaughlin and the Bluejays' Playbook Chimezie Metu; Villanova's Jalen Brunson; West Virginia's Jevon Carter; Wichita State's Landry Shamet; Wisconsin's Ethan Happ; and Xavier's Trevon Bluiett. Featured Player Several universities boast multiple players on the list: Arizona (Alkins, DeAndre Ayton, and Trier) and Duke (Allen, Marvin Bagley III, #2 Khyri Thomas and Trevon Duval) lead with three candidates apiece, while Kansas (Graham and Malik Newman), Kentucky (Hamidou Diallo and Kevin Knox), Michigan State (Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr.), Notre Dame (Colson and Farrell), and USC (McLaughlin and Metu) each have two players on the Preseason Top 50. The trend of recognizing outstanding freshmen continues with ten named to the list: Arizona's Ayton, Bagley III and Duval of Duke, Mohamed Bamba of Texas, Kentucky's Diallo and Knox, Michigan State's Jackson Jr., Michael Porter Jr. of Missouri, Collin Sexton of Alabama, and Trae Young of Oklahoma. The Preseason Top 50 list represents 11 conferences. The ACC leads all conferences with 9 selections, followed by the Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC with 7 selections apiece, Big 12 (6), Big East (5), The American (4). The WCC has two selections and the Atlantic 10, Mountain West, and The Summit League each have one selection. The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2018 John R. Wooden Award Men's Player of the Year presented by Wendy's. Players not chosen to the preseason list are 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 are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players, who have been qualified as meeting the standards set forth by Coach Wooden and the Wooden Award Steering Committee. Voting will open prior to the start of 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 2018 John R. Wooden Award will be presented during the ESPN College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy's on Friday, April 6, 2018. Creighton's Doug McDermott won the Wooden Award following the 2013-14 season. Alexander and Ballock Pick Up Weekly Honors Creighton University guard Ty-Shon Alexander has been Creighton guard Mitch Ballock was named BIG EAST honored as the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week (week of Freshman of the Week, the second straight week a Bluejay November 12-19). freshman has been honored after Ty-Shon Alexander's recognition on Nov. 20th. Ballock averaged 11.0 points, Alexander had 14 points, three rebounds and two assists 3.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds as Creighton went 2-1 last in just 21 minutes in Creighton's 92-88 win at No. 20 week. Northwestern last Wednesday. Alexander made 5-of-8 shots from the field and 4-of-6 three-point tries. Playing 35 minutes from his hometown, Ballock electrified Sprint Center with 22 points in 30 minutes The Charlotte, N.C., native had 11 points and an assist off the bench as Creighton defeated No. 23 UCLA on during a span of 3:49 as Creighton bolted to a 44-29 lead Monday. He had a personal 7-0 run to end the first half in the first 15 minutes. Alexander's only bucket of the to give CU the lead for good, then later went on 10-2 run second half was a three-pointer with 11:37 to play after in the second half to help CU pull away. Ballock made Northwestern had closed within one point (66-65). The 7-of-14 shots and added three assists, three rebounds and bucket ignited a 7-0 run as the CU lead never dropped a steal. below two again. One night later, Ballock had five points, two rebounds and Alexander's four three-pointers were the most by a a steal in 14 minutes vs. No. 22 Baylor. Creighton freshman in one game since Khyri Thomas drained four treys in 2015 at Loyola (Chicago). He closed his week with six points, and a team-high six assists in 21 minutes vs. SIU Edwardsville, adding four Alexander was CU's first BIG EAST Freshman of the rebounds. Week since Justin Patton won the award three times (Nov. 28, Dec. 5, Jan. 9) last season en route to earning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year accolades. In his first full season with the New York Knicks, McDermott has become a vital bench piece and one of the team’s best outside shooting threats. In 22.9 minutes per game, McDermott is averaging 7.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. McDermott is also shooting a career-high 48.5% from the field and 41.1% from the three-point line, second best on the team. McDermott scored a season-high 20 points off the bench in a November 7 win against Charlotte. McDermott’s role with the Knicks has been the most prominent of his NBA career and NBA given him a chance to be aggressive and make plays on offense. "Just coming out and being confident and trusting everyone out there on the floor. Whenever that happens it allows me to get to more open spots," McDermott said. Doug has also worked to take strides as an improved defender. “Just be a good team defender,” he said. “I think that’s going to get me more minutes”. The Knicks currently sit with an 11-10 record and eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Doug McDermott Will Artino Justin Carter After collecting All-Danish League Honorable Carter enters his first season of basketball in the Mention last year, Artino has moved to Cyprus to Kazakhstani basketball league with Astana. In seven Overseas continue his basketball career. As a member of Apop- Asia Champions Cup games, Carter led the team with Paphou of the Cyprus A division, Artino has scored 20.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and shot 38.6% 14.0 points per game and leads the team with 9.3 from the three-point line. Carter has also appeared in rebounds per game. Artino has also added the three- six of the team’s seven league games where Astana holds point shot to his offensive game since graduating from a 2-5 record. Carter leads the team in minutes (31.3), Creighton and is shooting 41.7% from three. Artino is points (22.2), and assists (4.2) and also has recorded also teammates with former Creighton player James 1.8 steals per game. Carter is also shooting 47.4% from Milliken, who leads the team in scoring at 19.0 points the field and 75.4% from the line. per game and shooting 45.2% from three. Play of the Month: 1 2 3 4 SLOB Play of the Month: 2017-2018 Schedule Date Opponent Location/Result Date Opponent Location/Result Oct 26 Nebraska-Omaha W: 96-67 Jan 6 Georgetown Washington, D.C. Nov 3 UNC-Pembroke W: 93-70 Jan 9 Butler Century Link Center Nov 10 Yale W: 92-76 Jan 13 Xavier Cincinnati. OH Nov 12 Alcorn State W: 109-72 Jan 17 Seton Hall Century Link Center Nov 15 Northwestern W: 92-88 Jan 20 Providence Providence, R.I.