2015-16 Creighton Men’s Basketball 2015-16 Creighton Men’s Basketball Recap SID Contact: Rob Anderson • Office Phone: (402) 280-5544 • Cell Phone: (402) 660-5854 • Fax: (402) 280-2495 • E-mail: [email protected] Picked to finish ninth in the BIG EAST in preseason polls, the 2015-16 Creighton Men’s Basketball team exceeded expectations to finish sixth while winning 20 games for the 16th time in 18 years. Creighton’s run to the NIT quarterfinals marked the team’s 18th postseason bid in the last 19 years. The departure of four starters from an uncharacteristic 14-19 season had preseason hype low for a Bluejay program that has become synonymous with tremendous success in front of sold-out home crowds. (20-15) The season began in late July with workouts that preceded a 10-day trip to Italy. While in Italy, the team spent time in Milan, Lake Como, Florence, Venice and Rome while sightseeing, embedding themselves August into the Italian culture and winning three lopsided exhibition games. 7 at Oleggio (Ex.) W 119-47 The regular-season opened in mid-November, with four of CU’s first five games being part of the 2015 11 at All-Star Rome (Ex.) W 109-31 Men Who Speak Up Main Event. Creighton would cruise to the title in that event, winning all four games 12 at Foligno Basket (Ex.) W 101-49 by double-figures, with Cole Huff earning MVP honors. In the middle of that five-game stretch was a non-conference road test at No. 14 Indiana as part of the November Gavitt Tip-Off Games. The Bluejays suffered their first loss against the Hoosiers, who ended the year in the 6 UPPER IOWA (Ex.) W 113-77 Sweet 16 after winning the regular-season title in the Big Ten. 2015 Men Who Speak Up Main Event Creighton closed out a 5-1 month of November with a 97-67 demolition of a Western Illinois team that 14 TEXAS SOUTHERN (FS2) W 93-70 proved its worth with a season-opening victory at Wisconsin. 17 UTSA (FS2) W 103-78 Arizona State rallied late to hand Creighton a rare home non-conference loss on December 2nd before 19 at #14 Indiana (BTN) L 65-86 a 68-65 loss at Loyola Chicago dropped CU to 5-3. The Bluejays responded with its fifth straight double- digit victory over Nebraska, an 83-67 triumph in which CU never trailed. The Bluejays followed that win 2015 Men Who Speak Up Main Event with another one over IUPUI before falling late in an 87-74 loss at No. 3 Oklahoma. The Sooners would end 23 vs. Rutgers W 85-75 the year in the Final Four, with Co-National Player of the Year Buddy Hield leading the way. 25 vs. Massachusetts (ESPN2) W 97-76 CU closed out non-conference play with lopsided romps over North Texas and Coppin State to head 28 WESTERN ILLINOIS (FS2) W 97-67 into BIG EAST play with a 9-4 mark. Creighton opened league play with an 80-70 victory at St. John’s before coming home to host No. 16 December Villanova. CU was down just five at the half, but in the end could not overcome the 68 percent shooting 2 ARIZONA STATE (CBSSN) L 77-79 from the floor by the Wildcats. Villanova would go on to win its third straight BIG EAST regular-season title, 5 at Loyola Chicago (CSN Chicago) L 65-68 9 NEBRASKA (CBSSN) W 83-67 and its first national title in 31 years, by year’s end. 12 IUPUI (FS1) W 90-65 CU improved to 3-1 in league play with double-digit wins over Georgetown and Seton hall before 19 at #3 Oklahoma (ESPNU) L 74-87 dropping a 50-48 game on Jan. 9 vs. Providence in a game that saw Friars All-American guard Kris Dunn 21 NORTH TEXAS (FS1) W 105-82 sink a game-winner at the buzzer. The Jays responded with victories over DePaul and Butler to surge to 28 COPPIN STATE (FS1) W 102-77 31 at St. John’s* (FS1) W 80-70 5-2 in league action, eclipsing last year’s win total in conference play. A three-game losing streak was snapped with three straight wins in early February, as CU crushed January DePaul by 22 points before a 70-56 win over fifth-ranked Xavier. The win over the No. 5 Musketeers was 2 #16 VILLANOVA* (FS1) L 71-85 5 GEORGETOWN* (FS1) W 79-66 Creighton -- Most Frequent Starters 9 at Seton Hall* (FS1) W 82-67 Khyri Thomas • G • Returned to starting line-up vs. Alabama and had 15 points, 8 12 #12 PROVIDENCE* (FS1) L 48-50 2 6-3 • 200 • Fr. • Omaha, Neb. rebounds and 3 steals in his best game of 2016. 17 at DePaul* (FS1) W 91-80 • Explosive dunker had 12 slams this season, third on the team. 23 #18 BUTLER* (FS1) W 72-64 PPG RPG FG% FT% • Made 9-of-10 shots from the field and scored a season-high 22 26 at Georgetown* (FS1) L 73-74 30 SETON HALL* (FSN) (Pink Out) L 65-75 6.2 3.7 .471 .521 points at Loyola (Chicago) on December 5th. • His 229 assists were second-most in Creighton single-season February Maurice Watson Jr. • G 3 at #3 Villanova* (CBSSN) L 58-83 10 5-10 • 170 • Jr. • Philadelphia, Pa. history, were ninth nationally this year, and led the BIG EAST. 6 DEPAUL* (FSN) W 88-66 • Career-high 32 points in win over #5 Xavier (Feb. 9) 9 #5 XAVIER* (CBSSN) W 70-56 PPG APG FG% FT% • Led team in scoring by a wide margin. 13 at Marquette* (FSN) W 65-62 14.1 6.5 .475 .714 • BIG EAST & National POW on 2/15 after 25 ppg, 7.5 apg & 6 rpg. 16 at Butler* (FS1) L 75-88 24 MARQUETTE* (CBSSN) L 61-66 Cole Huff • F • Highly-skilled transfer from Nevada who ranked second on the 28 ST. JOHN’S* (FS1) W 100-59 13 6-8 • 215 • Jr. • Altadena, Calif. team in scoring. • Also ranked second on the team with 62 three-pointers. March PPG RPG 3FG% FT% • Scored 10+ points in nine of the last 12 games. 2 at Providence* (CBSSN) L 66-70 5 at #5 Xavier* (FOX) L 93-98 11.3 5.1 .363 .790 • Career-high 35 points vs. Seton Hall (March 10), making 7 treys. • Led team in both three-pointers made with 70 and in free-throw BIG EAST Tournament Isaiah Zierden • G 21 percentage (min. 50 FTA) with 83.8 percent. 10 vs. Seton Hall (FS1) L 73-81 6-3 • 185 • Jr. • Minneapolis, Minn. • Missed four of final five games with a shoulder injury that National Invitation Tournament PPG RPG 3FG% FT% required postseason surgery. 15 ALABAMA (ESPN) W 72-54 10.2 3.3 .385 .838 • Drained 8 three-pointers at DePaul (Jan. 17), scoring 31 points. 19 WAGNER (ESPN) W 87-54 22 at BYU (ESPN) L 82-88 Geoffrey Groselle • C • Ranked 2nd nationally in field goal percentage (minimum 5 FGA/ *BIG EAST Conference regular season games 41 7-0 • 240 • Sr. • Plano, Texas game), and had a streak of 21 straight made FG earlier in year. All times listed are Central and subject to change • Had 4 double-doubles, and 22 point/11 rebound game on Feb. PPG RPG FG% FT% All games can also be heard on KOZN (1620 AM) 28 vs. SJU made him 1st with dbl-dbl. on Senior Day since 1997. Home games in BOLD CAPS at CenturyLink Center Omaha 11.2 6.1 .702 .697 • His 2015-16 totals exceeded his career totals entering the year. 2015-16 BIG EAST Standings (Final) the highest-ranked team CU had beaten at home since 1970. BIG EAST only All Games CU then lost games to Marquette and Butler before its largest Senior Day romp since 1961 in a 100-59 Team W L W L victory over St. John’s. The win put CU alone in third place in the league standings, but narrow losses at #6 Villanova 16 2 35 5 #9 Xavier 14 4 28 6 Providence and Xavier ended the regular-season with CU in sixth place. #20 Seton Hall 12 6 25 9 Creighton entered the BIG EAST Tournament with high hopes, but ran into a red-hot Seton Hall team. Providence 10 8 24 11 The Bluejays fought back from an early 14-point deficit to tie the game late, but the third-seeded Pirates Butler 10 8 22 11 scored the game’s final eight points in an 81-73 victory over CU. Seton Hall would go on to win the BIG Creighton 9 9 20 15 EAST Tournament. Marquette 8 10 20 13 Georgetown 7 11 15 18 The loss to Seton Hall put Creighton squarely on the postseason bubble with an RPI in the low 90’s and DePaul 3 15 9 22 an 18-14 record. St. John’s 1 17 8 24 Creighton would be selected to the National Invitation Tournament, earning a No. 4 seed, where it would host Alabama just 48 hours later. 2015-16 Honors & Awards Creighton would dispatch Alabama 72-54, then earn another home game when top-seeded St. Geoffrey Groselle Most Inspirational Award Bonaventure was upset by eighth-seeded Wagner. Creighton walloped Wagner, 87-54, to reach the 20-win milestone once again. Cole Huff The victory advanced Creighton to the quarterfinals of the NIT, where it would face BYU.