Creighton Basketball 2020: Takeaways from heartbreaking loss to Kansas

Free throws, free throws, free throws…

You don’t expect to receive the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the officiating calls and other uncontrollables when on the road in Allen Fieldhouse. This makes it even more important that Creighton needed to do the little things right and shoot the ball at a high percentage.

They did neither.

Everyone watching that game knows of Creighton’s woes at the charity stripe, going 9-18. In these big games, this simply cannot happen for a team like Creighton. Zegarowski’s final miss will be the one people remember, but just about everybody struggled at the line today for Creighton.

The Jays also turned the ball over at a much higher rate than what we have seen from them in the past. Of course, it was their first road game and the first game with fans, but 14 turnovers against Kansas just won’t get it done. You don’t expect this from Creighton, where their guards handle the ball more than 80% of the time. Five from Zegarowski and four from Bishop especially hurt.

They also just didn’t make the uncontested threes Creighton usually does. There were six three-point attempts in the ‘completely uncontested’ category in the second half, and Creighton only made two of them. Shooting 33% on uncontested threes is just not a way to beat a top-5 team on the road.

Regardless, they were within one and played quite sloppy basketball. I applaud McDermott for scheduling this game, as it does nothing but benefit Creighton moving forward. It would really do the Midwest good if this game became something of an every-year tradition.