Big East Basketball Power Rankings: Should Villanova remain No. 1?

Record: 8-3

KenPom Rank: 63

NET Ranking: 77 (Q1: 1-2, Q2: 0-0, Q3: 3-1, Q4: 4-0)

Best non-conference win(s): BYU (neutral)

Bad loss(es): Arizona State

I felt a lot better about this Creighton team before they lost at home to Arizona State. You can probably argue they shouldn’t be behind DePaul, but Arizona State? One game can’t define them, but that was a game they should have won to give them a boost heading into conference play.

Despite the loss, the Bluejays are quietly sitting at 8-3, which is not bad considering you really didn’t know what you were getting with such a young team. They don’t look like your typical Creighton team, but the potential is there. They made some games a little uglier and closer than they needed to be, but that’s what happens with young teams who are still learning how to win. Will the Bluejays be able to figure things out during Big East play?

Entering the season, it seemed like most people thought the Bluejays would go as far as freshman guard Ryan Nembhard could take them. That’s still probably true, but he has gotten some much-needed help along the way.

Nembhard (12.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.9 apg, 42.4% from three) has shown that he is certainly the point guard of the future. As freshmen will do, he has made his fair share of freshmen mistakes. Turnovers kill momentum, but if Nembhard can cut down on turnovers (3.5 per game), Creighton will have a much higher ceiling.

Ryan Hawkins is listed as a forward, but the DII transfer does a bit of everything for Creighton. Hawkins (13.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 36.4% from three) has really showed his potential heading into conference play. He had an off night against Arizona State but put up 25 points in back-to-back games against Iowa State and BYU. I don’t know if this is sustainable production, but Hawkins has been a welcomed veteran presence on an otherwise young team.

Speaking of young, freshman Arthur Kaluma (8.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 18.5% from three) has gotten a lot of run for the Bluejays. Like the rest of the team, he struggles with turnovers and shooting from distance. It feels weird to say that about anyone on Creighton, let alone most the team.

Ryan Kalkbrenner (12.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.6 bpg) knows what he can do and excels at it. He doesn’t try to do too much and ranks highly in several statistical categories, including 5th nationally in effective field goal percentage (74%). KeyShawn Feazell (4.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg) rounds out the frontcourt for the Bluejays. He knows his role and has given solid minutes as the backup center.

Creighton is normally one of the more potent offensive teams in the country, especially shooting from range. This year, Creighton’s offense has made them frustrating to watch. As a team, they are shooting just 30.3% from beyond the arc, but 58% from 2 (courtesy of Kalkbrenner).

Being a poor shooting team is one thing but being a poor shooting team that doesn’t value the basketball is another. Creighton averages 14 turnovers a game (not the worst), but the Bluejays rank 312th in non-steal turnover percentage which seems like a fancy way to say unforced turnovers. Basically, this is a turnover where no one gets credit for a steal.

The building blocks are there and I’m sure Creighton will pull off some nice upsets in conference play. I just don’t see them competing for the top of the league quite yet. That may change if Hawkins can carry the team a bit more to take some pressure off the freshmen.