Creighton Basketball: 3 keys to beat Kansas Jayhawks in Round of 32

Foul trouble will mean big trouble

Creighton’s starting five can compete with Kansas. Even without Nembhard and Kalkbrenner, they can. As far as matchups go, this is a pretty good one for the depleted Jays.

However, they are one person getting early foul trouble away from some real problems. Outside of Rati Andronikashvili, there’s not a lot of depth there right now. As I stated earlier, Kancleris, the Lithuanian, is the first (and only) big man off the bench. After those two, sophomore walk-on Devin Davis is likely the next option for the Jays.

Greg McDermott will be pretty loose with keeping guys on the floor with a couple early fouls. There are just not a lot of options right now for Coach Mac. The unfortunate thing here is how much Kansas gets to the line. They attempt the 29th most FT’s per game in the country. However, with the masterful job he has done this year, it won’t surprise me at all if he comes up with something creative.

Last season, Creighton played Kansas at Phog Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas escaped with a one-point win following a missed free throw by Creighton legend Marcus Zegarowski in the final seconds. The only player on that team that will play for Creighton tomorrow on Saturday is Alex O’Connell. O’Connell put up 15 points and eight rebounds before fouling out in overtime in the Round of 64. O’Connell played 41 minutes in the win over SDSU. Ryan Hawkins played all 45. The two seniors showed every bit of their leadership and tenacity in that one.

One final parting shot — Ryan Hawkins needs to find a way to get going for the Jays. When he plays well, Creighton plays well. It has been that same story the entire season. If Hawk can get it going early and Creighton can dictate the pace, that’ll sure help.