NCAA Basketball: Baylor’s ceiling, Michigan’s return and more weekly takeaways
By Brian Rauf
4) Creighton is the Final Four contender no one is talking about
On the flip side, a team that no one has really talked about making a Final Four run – even though they’ve proven they’re good enough to – is Creighton.
When you talk about Final Four contenders from the Big East, Seton Hall is the inevitable team that gets mentioned, and rightfully so. Then you may go down to Villanova given their pedigree, or to Butler given how good they were early in the season. You may even mention Marquette before you get to Creighton simply because of Markus Howard.
Yet the Bluejays have beaten three of those teams this month alone (everyone but Butler, who they host today), highlighting a red-hot streak in which they have won eight of their last nine games.
Offensively, Creighton is once again among the nation’s leaders in efficiency due to their plethora of talented guards and three-point shooting. Ty-Shon Alexander has been the star he developed into last year while sophomore point guard Marcus Zegarowski has made a huge leap this season, averaging 15.8 points and 5.1 assists per game. They are two of the four players on the team averaging over 12 points per game, showcasing the depth and balance of this attack.
That said, the reason why Creighton has improved so much over the last month has been their play on the defensive end. They traditionally haven’t been great on that end under head coach Greg McDermott due to a lack of size – something this group doesn’t have, either – but they have been able to lock down on the perimeter in conference play.
During this nine-game stretch, they have held five opponents below 70 points and have caused the Big East’s best players – Myles Powell and Markus Howard – to have their worst scoring outputs of the conference schedule.
The Bluejays still aren’t Virginia on that end, but they don’t have to be. Their offense has always been really good and they now have the defense to match – and that combination could take them further than they’ve ever been before.