Creighton Basketball: 2020-21 season preview for the Bluejays

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 12: The Creighton Bluejays huddle before the start of the first half against the St. John's Red Storm during the quarterfinals of the Big East Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 12, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

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Creighton Basketball Denzel Mahoney Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /

A look at Creighton’s bench

Last season McDermott rode his starting guards pretty hard, the trio all averaged over 34 minutes per game, of the 120 minutes per contest they could’ve played, Alexander, Zegarowski, and Ballock accounted for all but 14.7 of them.

I don’t expect much to change for Zegarowski and Ballock, but the minutes for that third spot should be swallowed by Jones and Mahoney, the latter of which was the only one of the Bluejays’ three top reserves to average more than 14 minutes per game.

When one of the two pillars needs a breather, sophomore Shereef Mitchell and freshman Rati Andronikashvili should be able to provide a decent bridge in the short spurts they will be asked to play.

The Creighton frontcourt is where you could see some diversity in who comes off the bench behind Bishop and Jefferson. Jacob Epperson is a 6’11 senior who has been riddled with injuries over the last two seasons, limiting to just 21 games over the last three years. His length is much needed for Creighton as the 6’7 Bishop is the only other returning player taller than 6’5.

Epperson will be battling a pair of freshmen for reserve minutes, Ryan Kalkbrenner is another 6’11 forward who should add some rim protection and Lithuanian Modestas Kancleris is an athletic 6’9 wing who could also see some minutes in a smaller lineup.

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