Bracketology 2023: Christmas wishlist for 5 potential tournament teams

Creighton’s Christmas wish: November’s shooting touch

Creighton began on a roll, jumping out to a 6-0 start and reaching the finals of the Maui Invitational after beating Texas Tech and Arkansas. In that final, they fell to Arizona 81-79 and since then the Bluejays have lost five more in a row to fall to 6-6.

For me, there are a couple of big reasons why they have suddenly hit the skids. First, their most important player, Ryan Kalkbrenner had been playing through and has since missed the last three games with an illness. Couple that with some of their best shooters Baylor Scheierman, Trey Alexander, and Ryan Nembhard have hit a slump that has been tough to break out of. In their first six games, that trio averaged 36 points and shot 49% from the field, but in their last six, they’re looking at 33.6 ppg and just 34% shooting. Now granted not having Kalkbrenner takes away a big focal point of the defense and affects the spacing but the shooting has certainly fallen off.

In the three games that Kalkbrenner has missed, all losses, both Nembhard and Alexander have struggled to shoot the ball. In those games, Nembhard and Alexander have shot just 33%, getting Kalkbrenner back healthy and soon is the biggest wish that Creighton needs to ask for as they get ready for league play.